Collected a few American Beech

[sikadelic]

Hey folks. I found myself with the rare treasure of free time today and decided to try collecting a few smaller American Beech. I did some reading and saw the success rate this time of year is fairly high and I've never had beech before, so what the hell.

In all, I potted up 4 trees with only one having some immediate potential. It has some decent taper and a low second trunk that made it unique to me. I did some light trimming on the branches and got it potted up for next year. I wasn't very pleased with the roots, but most were suckers from bigger ones nearby. If they don't live, they have hundreds of brother and sisters out there for next year. Wish them luck!

P.S. I included my helpers just because they're cute.

 

[Ingvill]

Good luck!
Very cute helpers indeed

 

[sikadelic]

Good luck!
Very cute helpers indeed

Thanks! If I could only teach them to dig in the right place..

 

[defra]

Well hope you got a mild winter over there spring would have been better to collect IMO

 

[sikadelic]

Well hope you got a mild winter over there spring would have been better to collect IMO

Most definitely. I will probably dig a couple then too just so I make sure I have some. I hope these make it but I won't be shocked if they don't. I just wanted a project for the day and that was it after pondering it for too long.

 

[Waldo Street Pottery]

These look cool! Speaking from experience, I'd recommend going for larger trees. They are fairly coarse, the leaves can be pretty big, and you only get one to two flushes of growth per year. There's some nice ones out there and they will tolerate a fair share of abuse at collecting and respond well. I kind of enjoy how slow they are, but for the long haul it's worth it to go for bigger trunks to accommodate the growth habit. Onward and upward!

 

[sikadelic]

A little good news for once! My favorite is the only one showing signs of life so far. There are some fresh buds on the trunk and last year's buds are opening up.

The others I collected had some fresh buds on the trunk but they have lost their color over the last couple weeks. This one looks to be the only one that will make it but I'll keep my fingers crossed.