Christmas tree Farming, Which planting technique worked best this year. bare root, plugs, auger?
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- East Fork Christmas tree farms planted 2000 more Christmas tree seedlings this year. 1000 noble fir and 1000 Noordman. Half of the noble firs were bare root and half were plugs. The plugs were planted using a 6 inch auger. The noble were planted by a professional crew that used a spade. As of late spring the trees planted with an auger are the most Promising.
Had same kind of results when we switched from dibble interplanted to auger , huge difference in overall survival and vigor.
do you spray herbicide all around trees after planting them? what kind of herbicide do you use?
@@maisetas we do currently spray herbicide. It changes what we spray depending on the weed
Do you trim your bare root before planting or just push them in the hole?
I do not because the nursery I buy them from has a machine they run them through. All the roots are cut to the same length.
How to work top of Xmas tree
I have some videos on my Christmas tree watch list on tying tops
Your last statement hit home. I'll be 52 this July. No time to waste. Haha
We are in this together. Not getting any younger. Thankfully I have some good years left.
Thanks for the update video. Can you link the auger you used and drill bit?
go.harborfreight.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/30271430a.png. This is the auger we bought at harbor freight and used the bit that came with it. We are considering buying another and higher grade brand as this one has become a little temperamental. We will be using it for both planting trees and a vineyard in the future.
I've always noticed xmas tree growers never pot up their small trees first and then transplant later. Is there a specific reason for that? I grow similar evergreens, but sell them as windbreak/ornamental trees, and I will just pot them up each year until their in 10 gallon containers. It seems like small trees (2-0 and plugs) grow better in a potting mix for the first few years compared to when I plant them directly into the ground. They take up a lot less space compared to planting in a field and are much easier to irrigate...although I'm sure they take more attention and water. Was just curious if you've ever experimented with that and had an opinion. Thanks for any input! Jah Bless!
Thanks for the question. I think the biggest reason is we don’t have time or money. I am considered a smaller tree farm. We need to plant over 1000 trees every year. The amount of work toting all these just to move again is not something we have manpower for, especially with other things that need to get done on the farm.
@@FlanaganHomestead That makes sense. Jah!
Great video, apart from the dizzying camera movement.
I hope you find out why those ones are yellow. I would be very interested in knowing what happened.
So it looks like you are only comparing plugs with an auger to 2-0s with a spade, right? I mean there were no dibbled plugs planted last year to compare with the auger?
Lol thanks and sorry for the dizzying camera. I was trying to figure out how to show multiple trees in a short amount of time. I ended up with that. I knew it might not be the best but I am not a pro videographer yet. Yes we were comparing bare root, spaded in trees to plugs with an auger. Also we did auger dig in some bare root. These did much better than the spaded ones. There were no plugs dibble planted this year. We have never done real well with that. My talks with other farmers and my experience here tells me if the grounds was tilled up the dibble planted would do better, as it would get better soil contact. I think that is kind of what the auger accomplished in the packed ground in this video.
Thanks for your videos. I recently retired and have been considering Christmas Trees to supplement our horse & donkey sanctuary in southern Virginia. What do you use to kill the vegetation around the seedlings? I noticed the circle around all your plants.
We have used a variety of herbicides over the years. There s no one answer to that. Usually it has some form of glyphosate in it.
Did you do anything special to close up your augered holes or just shove dirt back in and pack a little? I've been running a 3" auger and then using a dibble bar to crush the hole shut to avoid any air pockets in the soil to dry the roots out. It has been pretty successful but I don't think it would work with a 6" auger very well.
We have a 6 inch auger which gives us more worked up soil. We roll it all back in by hand and compact firmly with hands then feet. It ends up a little lower than original ground level that allows retention of moisture
My Springs have been so brutal with either being too dry or too wet. I've resorted to buying plugs and potting them in gallon pots. That way the root system can get much more robust before planting, plus I can plant them about any time during the year. Plus, I can water hundreds of trees in minutes. Ha. We shall see.
Wow. I can see how that would work but also add a lot of work. Do you just use soil off your property to put in the pots or purchase potting soil? Where are you located?
@@FlanaganHomestead I use potting soil for the pots. I wanted to find better draining soil but, like everything, it's hard to find this year. I'm in southern MI and have clayish soil. My experiment is to develop a better root system before planting so they can scavenge water better after planting. I've never lost a tree that has been grown in a pot, like the ones at the big box stores so what the heck. At this point, I'm only getting a couple hundred trees at the most. My losses at the start were so great that it made me gun shy to place a large order. I have lots to do to improve the soil before planting and this buys me time. Your farm makes me jealous. haha
@@davejsullivan wow never lost a tree in the pots, that is excellent. My soil is almost too good. It drains almost too well. The areas around here that have a little clay tend to hold water a little later into the season. When I met with a county extension agent about starting this, he wanted me to grow something else. Said it was some of the best soil in the county and could grow anything. Due to no irrigation water and the fact trees are what I have always wanted to do I stayed with trees.
@@FlanaganHomestead I have some of the worst soil. haha. Luckily, Pines and Spruce can handle it. The bad part is that Firs don't like it except maybe Balsam. I'm hoping trends change. haha. I'm glad it's just for the joy of it instead of a make-or-break revenue source.
@@davejsullivan the trials of farming are easier to handle when you are not depending on it to feed your family
When you have low inventory do you order trees from a wholesaler to supplement? I've been thinking about that since Firs don't grow great on my land.
We are looking for a wholesaler this year to bring extra in. We don’t want to lower our quality and freshness but we have so many people that want to come back out to the farm and do the petting zoo and hot chocolate etc that we need to gets trees so they can do the rest of the experience. The problem is the entire region is low on inventory.
@ Rowe Tree Farm. I hope your planting goes well and your trees thrive. What area of the country are you in?