larch in Texas... you cant do that !!!

[Velodog2]

Wow all that energy, both from you and the electric company, just so you can have a larch. I admire your dedication but I don’t think it’s well directed. Nonetheless good luck - shame if it doesn’t work after all that effort.

 

[River's Edge]

Thought I would start a post weather it works or it fails. I would love to have a nice larch but they just dont work out well in texas. I bought a small one to give a try. Going to keep it cold in the winter and keep it from baking in the summer and hopefully it will thrive. Not looking to just exist.
I used a foam packing cooler and frozen gel packs this past winter. Soil stayed in the 30's for over 3 months. When it starts to get real hot I will put it into the small greenhouse which has an ac unit. Plan to keep it around 80 to 90 degrees along with shade cloth. Will also be moving it to more shade the warmer it gets.
May not work but I'm enjoying trying.
This is what it looked like when I got it.
View attachment 138931
This is it sticking out of the cooler.
View attachment 138933
Soil temp.
View attachment 138935
I let it warm up slowly by removing the lid but still keeping the frozen gel packs in. Starting to bud out nice now. Just need to keep from baking it now. May or may not work.
View attachment 138937
Not to worried about shaping and trimming much. Just going to let it attempt to be healthy first. Maybe I will get lucky and have a mild summer.

Is that a larch serpent on the right top picture? Or perhaps new form of small critter protection.

 

[c54fun]

Is that a larch serpent on the right top picture? Or perhaps new form of small critter protection.

Correct. Critter protection. Little rubber snakes help scare off some of the bigger birds from landing on the trees.

 

[River's Edge]

Correct. Critter protection. Little rubber snakes help scare off some of the bigger birds from landing on the trees.

Do " shiners" protect trees? I see them as well in all the pictures. I am not sure i understand Texas techniques?

 

[just.wing.it]

Do " shiners" protect trees? I see them as well in all the pictures. I am not sure i understand Texas techniques?

I dunno if they protect the trees, but they sure do help the artist!