Collected Fir and Spruce from northern NM

Hartinez

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Went collecting in Carson National Forest today. Permit in hand and dragging my 8 and 9 year olds along. They enjoyed themselves, even while I was digging trenches! Glad they came along. Scored 2 engleman spruce and 1 cork bark fir (possibly Douglas fir). 1 spruce and the fir have great shape, branching and had a very shallow and root filled ball. 1 spruce is a 50/50 call. Quite a few feeder roots but I heavily disturbed the ball. During the extraction several large rocks pulled the ball apart. The 1 fir has a great shape and deadwood. Great natural unicorn spike shooting out the top with a 2.5-3” trunk or so. Excited with the finds. 38B94E85-0085-401D-9AFF-022C3E0C4C98.jpeg612EB279-4E6C-4434-BAF9-5D3639044D7D.jpeg4BFDA0F0-AAF2-4DA7-BE8D-6C7B3BE56644.jpeg
 

PiñonJ

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Hey, I was out collecting today too, but in the Jemez! Nice haul there. Your unicorn is a Doug Fir. I got an Englemann raft that I geotagged last fall. I didn’t remember it being that big - my pack weighed 90 pounds! After hauling it over endless deadfall trees, I was too exhausted and it was too late to get any more. I’ve been looking for a dougy. I’m envious of yours!
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Maros

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Hey, I was out collecting today too, but in the Jemez! Nice haul there. Your unicorn is a Doug Fir. I got an Englemann raft that I geotagged last fall. I didn’t remember it being that big - my pack weighed 90 pounds! After hauling it over endless deadfall trees, I was too exhausted and it was too late to get any more. I’ve been looking for a dougy. I’m envious of yours!
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90 pounds is hell of a weight in tough terrain . Did you used some special pack like hunters are using?
 

Potawatomi13

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Doug Fir for sure. Good trees and collecting. Excellent aftercare will ensure survival;)
 

Potawatomi13

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Hey, I was out collecting today too, but in the Jemez! Nice haul there. Your unicorn is a Doug Fir. I got an Englemann raft that I geotagged last fall. I didn’t remember it being that big - my pack weighed 90 pounds! After hauling it over endless deadfall trees, I was too exhausted and it was too late to get any more. I’ve been looking for a dougy. I’m envious of yours!
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Great workout. Make sure tree survives to make worthwhile;).
 

Hartinez

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Hey, I was out collecting today too, but in the Jemez! Nice haul there. Your unicorn is a Doug Fir. I got an Englemann raft that I geotagged last fall. I didn’t remember it being that big - my pack weighed 90 pounds! After hauling it over endless deadfall trees, I was too exhausted and it was too late to get any more. I’ve been looking for a dougy. I’m envious of yours!
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Nice! Up near hopewell lake the short spruce and fir we’re EVERYWHERE. With more time and another permit I would have snagged more for sure.
 

Hartinez

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Here’s the second spruce. Great double trunk. Root ball was small but on closer inspection it had lots of feeder roots.

Here’s my question. Does anyone think with a smaller root ball, which dropped quite a bit of its original soil and microbes, that I should also trim back the foliage some? Less for the roots to take care of? All the success I’ve had collecting is with junipers and I’ve been great at keeping the original root ball intact.
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PiñonJ

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Here’s the second spruce. Great double trunk. Root ball was small but on closer inspection it had lots of feeder roots.

Here’s my question. Does anyone think with a smaller root ball, which dropped quite a bit of its original soil and microbes, that I should also trim back the foliage some? Less for the roots to take care of? All the success I’ve had collecting is with junipers and I’ve been great at keeping the original root ball intact.
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No, leave the foliage alone. Spruces store their energy in the vascular system for the winter. Hopefully, yours has enough to grow roots. It needs the photosynthetic surface area to build up new reserves.
 

Hartinez

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No, leave the foliage alone. Spruces store their energy in the vascular system for the winter. Hopefully, yours has enough to grow roots. It needs the photosynthetic surface area to build up new reserves.
Good man. Thank you. Where in NM are you?
 

River's Edge

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Yes, it has a cargo shelf. I think I moved at around half a kilometer per hour! Too extreme.
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I use the same pack! Works very well, but if find it slow going too;). It is a big improvement over the gunny sack method. The last two fir i grabbed were heavy as well. These are sub-alpine fir collected around 4,600 feet. At least the heavy load is on the way down. But i lack the four footed friend to help.
For conifers do not remove any foliage that is healthy. As noted the more needles for photosynthesis the better.
 

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Maros

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Here’s the second spruce. Great double trunk. Root ball was small but on closer inspection it had lots of feeder roots.

Here’s my question. Does anyone think with a smaller root ball, which dropped quite a bit of its original soil and microbes, that I should also trim back the foliage some? Less for the roots to take care of? All the success I’ve had collecting is with junipers and I’ve been great at keeping the original root ball intact.
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According to my experience with Norway spruce, they drop all needles except last year foliage during following weeks after collection. So, maybe your spruce will react similarly, no need to worry.
 

Hartinez

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According to my experience with Norway spruce, they drop all needles except last year foliage during following weeks after collection. So, maybe your spruce will react similarly, no need to worry.
I’m confident they’ll survive, and your comments sure help!
 
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