Well its me been busey as a one -legged man in a butt kicking contest working on my place so far. Anyway planted about a 1000 trees last weekend of april and today when I went o check them they were about 60% that were dead and dying. Some were just rusty looking with no life and other were a bit rusty but had a new bud on them. With all the rain we been getting the soil seems to be a bit loose around some of the trees. Was this my problem did the rain loosen up the soil? Thanks......marty ::)
Hi jeff 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
What kind of trees were they and how were they planted? They weren't dried out before planting were they?
White spruce and red pine. Nope they were still wrapped in wet newspaper. Also made sure they were J rooted. With all the rain we've been getting I wouldn't think anything could dry out.
Any ideas Ron??.........marty 8) 8)
I'm no expert (duh!) but aren't you supposed to avoid J rooting the trees?
::)
Meant to say not J rooted. See old age is getting to me. Thanks rav.....marty :o
Phew! I'm glad I asked! I could just see myself planting my paulownia (if they ever get big enough to plant) and taking pains to make sure they were J rooted.
::)
Must be nice to have a paulonia plant to plant!
Well, they're not all that big. About 2.5 inches tall with 2.5 pairs of real leaves and the little "starter" leaves. Some are even less vigorous.
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Marty,
I assume that you had certified stock and hand planted them with enough scarification. Did the white spruce and the red pine both die equally, not just the pine? Something went wrong with the planting or else a heavy disease or grub problem in the soil. I agree, there should have been adequate moisture with the present rains.
Why don't you have the local service forester in your area check them out. You don't want a repeat performance on future plantings.
I has her out last week and she thought they were too lose in the ground but when they were planted I make double sure that they were tight. Yes seems they both died about the same. I'm going to try it this fall again. I notice yesterday that a few that seem to be dead had a new bud on them so maybe they'll live you think??? Also is it better to plant seedlings inn the fall or winter. Seems to me the trees I plant in the fall do a bit better. Also what about moving bigger trees say 1-3 foot. I dug them up like a ball and brought them with as much soil as I could. Can you move these now or is it too late and maybe wait till fall?? thanks...Marty
Marty
When you planted them, did you happen to notice a musty odor or any discoloration of the needles? If your mortality is as high as you indicate it would almost seem to indicate that snow mould or some similar agent is at work.
If you carefully scrape away some of the outer bark you can check to see if even the "dead" trees are still viable. If there is green inner bark there is still life in the stem and hence a chance the tree will come back.
I've seen lots of trees planted loose over the years and have yet to see entire blocks die off as a result of being too loose.
A you sure that you had all the roots in the planting hole? To me that would cause more concern than the trees being loose in the hole. Exposed roots make a great wick and the air will pull all the moisture out of the tree and this will lead to mortality.
As far as time of year, I've found spring before the bud flush is the best time to plant. That way you are planting a dormant tree. Once the roots and buds start to grow it stresses the tree and planting then can lead to increased mortality. Planting in the fall after the trees have stopped growing and hardened off if acceptable but up here we have to contend with increased frost heaving because the trees haven't had a chance to root properly.
If you want to plant 3 foot trees I would dig a trench around them now just outside the drip line of the largest branches, this should concentrate the new root growth within the root ball, take as much as the native soil as possible and try to minimize root disturbance. Once you transplant them water them really well and hopefully they will take.
Good luck
Bill
Fall planting is permissible, but spring planting is best. We only fall plant when we have many acres to plant and can't get enough stock or can't get all the acres done in the spring.
Be sure you have adequate soil moisture when you transplant. Water the trees well. Fall is usually more favorable for transplanting, however, when the trees have hardened off.
Thanks for the info all. The seedlings really looked good when I picked them up they were very wet in newspapers and had no odor other than a pine smell. They all were put in very carefully as I went back and double check them. As for water we got rain next day. I did notice that a few had a new bud although the rest of the seedling look brown and dead so maybe they will be ok.Others have already lost their needles and look like a stick in the ground. Maybe I'll just have to wait and tell Thanks again......marty