Collected Lodgepole pine: anyone with relevant experience?

[Tycoss]

I have collected a few lodgepole pines this year in the mountains near me. I left the really nice stuff on the mountainside until I am more sure of my techniques. These were collected before the new growth began to extend. They were put in a very fast draining oil dry and lava mix, with the root balls full of field soil. I am watering quite heavily. I plan to leave them for one to three years to grow, depending on how they respond. Does anyone have some climate relevant information on the species. My climate is rather brutal (zone 3, cold, windy, dry and unpredictable). I have looked through old threads and only found advice to treat them as ponderosa or scots pine. Anything more specific?

 

[Tycoss]

Pics of new growth: two are growing strongly:

 

[Tycoss]

And two much slower:

 

[Tycoss]

I know I can't really know how the trees have fared until next spring at the earliest, but at what point can I begin to breathe easier about tree health as I watch needle extension?

 

[Tycoss]

Some rather poor pics:

 

[Tycoss]

Those were from a month ago, as extension was just beginning. Some close ups of the base of the first one:

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nice looking trees.

You are probably past the most critical period, but you are not completely out of the woods until you get a strong flush of growth in future summers. Summer of 2019 will tell.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Peter44 - Peter has been collecting this year also.

 

[GGB]

No experience with any that age, but the young ones can handle a good amount of abuse. I guess that's kind of always the case.. but for a single flush pine I definitely push mine pretty hard every year. I'm able to get back budding on bare branches with hard cuts BUT AGAIN mine are (is) young. Gave away 2 of my 3

 

[River's Edge]

I do a lot of work with collected Shore pine, Pinus Contorta. Related closely to lodgepole pine. I use a similar approach in that i give them several years to recover before working them. My collection process is different in that i only retain the field soil for the trip home, then bare root and put in Pumice for recovery. Your recovery season is shorter and i would definitely provide extra winter protection particularily the first winter after collection. It looks like you are getting some increased healthier foliage already.

 

[BrianBay9]

I can relate my experience. When living in Ft. Collins, CO I collected over a dozen lodgepole pines along with many ponderosa, most from 7,000 to 9,000 ft elevation. I had a thick bed of pea gravel on the north side of the house, and buried the pots or boxes there. I left them undisturbed until they showed new, aggressive growth for a full season then worked and repotted them as usual. I had about an 80% survival rate over all. Most trees that I lost were poor choices for collecting in the first place.

I had lodgepoles in pots for at least three years in CO before I moved to Indiana. Over the course of the next year every single lodgepole gradually died. The ponderosa pines I had did fine, but all the lodgepoles died. Too humid? Change in elevation? Lower light intensity? All I know is the lodgepole pines could not handle Indiana. Pondy's were happy.

 

[Tycoss]

I've noticed lots of evidence of recent backbudding on these. Over time, they could give me a lot more options:

 

[Tycoss]

Here is a closer pic of the second tree from the first post. It has a lot of character in the lower trunk for such a small tree.
Bark seems to be maturing as well

 

[Arcto]

Lodgepoles were becoming my bread and butter before moving. Right time of season with a decent rootball would give real good success. My one piece of advice is that Lodgepole are an early succession species. Short lived and quite susceptible to disease and insects. Check carefully for borers. I lost 2 of 3 from one collection spot. All appeared healthy at collection, but 2 were already attacked and girdled before I realized what I had dug. Needle fungus can be a real issue too. I never misted.

 

[Tycoss]

The third one from the top post has nice bark, a slight, even taper, and some interesting movement and deadwood right above where the two main trunks diverge. It was the hardest to extract, but seems to be growing the fastest.

 

[Tycoss]

Lodgepoles were becoming my bread and butter before moving. Right time of season with a decent rootball would give real good success. My one piece of advice is that Lodgepole are an early succession species. Short lived and quite susceptible to disease and insects. Check carefully for borers. I lost 2 of 3 from one collection spot. All appeared healthy at collection, but 2 were already attacked and girdled before I realized what I had dug. Needle fungus can be a real issue too. I never misted.

Thanks for the heads up. One of these appears to have suffered from a needle cast infection in the recent past. What can I do to keep this under control with these?

 

[Tycoss]

@Peter44 - Peter has been collecting this year also.

I checked out his collection thread. We will have to compare notes as our trees begin to settle in. Hopefully both collected groups do well.

 

[Tycoss]

I can relate my experience. When living in Ft. Collins, CO I collected over a dozen lodgepole pines along with many ponderosa, most from 7,000 to 9,000 ft elevation. I had a thick bed of pea gravel on the north side of the house, and buried the pots or boxes there. I left them undisturbed until they showed new, aggressive growth for a full season then worked and repotted them as usual. I had about an 80% survival rate over all. Most trees that I lost were poor choices for collecting in the first place.

I had lodgepoles in pots for at least three years in CO before I moved to Indiana. Over the course of the next year every single lodgepole gradually died. The ponderosa pines I had did fine, but all the lodgepoles died. Too humid? Change in elevation? Lower light intensity? All I know is the lodgepole pines could not handle Indiana. Pondy's were happy.

Sorry to hear you lost yours. They seem to like dry air and cold winters (at least in the landscape). Thanks for your insights

 

[Potawatomi13]

Thanks for the heads up. One of these appears to have suffered from a needle cast infection in the recent past. What can I do to keep this under control with these?

Daconil and Copper fungicide. Personally use both alternately couple weeks apart and seems good idea to use before dormancy and at start of spring growth. Ounce of prevention and all that.

 

[Arcto]

Daconil and Copper fungicide. Personally use both alternately couple weeks apart and seems good idea to use before dormancy and at start of spring growth. Ounce of prevention and all that.

Agreed.