Hello all!
I purchased some seedlings from Matt Owinga in Dec. of 2009. I killed most of them but about 15 survived my ignorance.
In the Spring of 2010 I planted the remaining seedlings in the ground and through plastic wood tiles.
The variation in the growth was tremendous...in 2 years I had several over 12' tall and most were about half that size.
I dug them all in the Spring 2012...did root work on all and put a few in pots, which were eventually sold, and the rest back in the ground.
In the Spring of 2014 I dug the trees again. Two went into containers and the rest back into the ground. The tree I am entering went into an anderson flat for further development...apex and branches.
Each year the trees in the ground were pruned at least twice...for some leaders were allowed to extend without pruning...others were chopped to build taper.
What I learned from growing out these seedlings...
1. Growth rate varies tremendously...realize this and plan the future of individual trees accordingly
2. Don't plant the tiles too deep...roots will form above the base
2a. Growing on a tile does not guarantee good roots.
2b. Chop big roots early and short
2c. Working on the roots every other year seems to work well...giving 2 seasons of growth.
3. It is very easy to develop to reverse taper in the ground...strong growth has to be monitored and checked frequently.
4. It is much harder to develop quality stock that it might appear...use the numbers method if possible...grow as many as you can and a few will turn out well.
With all that said here is my entry...
As of March 8, 2015
Maybe only 2 7/8" but this was up the trunk more than 1".
I think this material is still 5 or more years from becoming a really quality tree but since this contest seems to have the potential to go one for more than one year I will document its progress.
John
I purchased some seedlings from Matt Owinga in Dec. of 2009. I killed most of them but about 15 survived my ignorance.
In the Spring of 2010 I planted the remaining seedlings in the ground and through plastic wood tiles.
The variation in the growth was tremendous...in 2 years I had several over 12' tall and most were about half that size.
I dug them all in the Spring 2012...did root work on all and put a few in pots, which were eventually sold, and the rest back in the ground.
In the Spring of 2014 I dug the trees again. Two went into containers and the rest back into the ground. The tree I am entering went into an anderson flat for further development...apex and branches.
Each year the trees in the ground were pruned at least twice...for some leaders were allowed to extend without pruning...others were chopped to build taper.
What I learned from growing out these seedlings...
1. Growth rate varies tremendously...realize this and plan the future of individual trees accordingly
2. Don't plant the tiles too deep...roots will form above the base
2a. Growing on a tile does not guarantee good roots.
2b. Chop big roots early and short
2c. Working on the roots every other year seems to work well...giving 2 seasons of growth.
3. It is very easy to develop to reverse taper in the ground...strong growth has to be monitored and checked frequently.
4. It is much harder to develop quality stock that it might appear...use the numbers method if possible...grow as many as you can and a few will turn out well.
With all that said here is my entry...
As of March 8, 2015
Maybe only 2 7/8" but this was up the trunk more than 1".
I think this material is still 5 or more years from becoming a really quality tree but since this contest seems to have the potential to go one for more than one year I will document its progress.
John
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