Underdogs Little Christmas Tree Entry

Underdog

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Well dang, I hope we have a most improved class as I got nowhere to go but up from here. Got these from a friends nursery for free. Pretty rough condition. Norway Spruce and Blvd Cypress.
I even visited the Devil himself (WMart) to find a whole cart of Blvd Cypress for 2.49. They were green as new spring grass. I was excited. Grabbed a branch and it crumbled to dust in my hand...
At least I'm entered as I haven't missed a Ctest yet.
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Pulled the weeds and dead out of them and sat under the bench until spring.
Terrible starters... ugh Might make a road trip tomorrow as I read the rules I have 1 mo day.IMG_20191231_153259177.jpgIMG_20191231_154403697.jpg
 

Warpig

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Looking like the order of the day will be back budding. Finding out the best way to get it for these species. Looking forward to following these. Good luck
 

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Have to get this gem entered in time. 91 cents.IMG_20200101_122201574.jpg
Drove 45 miles for this... Lowes and HDepot had nothing left but this one. And a bunch of NoFuk Pine... too many inside already.

I swore off on buying junk material now for the New Year.
 
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Warpig

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I swore off on buying junk material now for the New Year.
If there's one piece of advice that I have learned here, it would be: You want to keep a good mix of material in different stages of development. It really helps you to develop your craft as awhole better. So having material such as these is good, just look for some nice more developed trees to go with them.
 

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Scrounged up a wood pot just a tad bigger and dropped it in undisturbed. Chopsticked in some used coarse substrate around the edges to firm it up. Cleaned out the old needles in the crotches and back outside until spring/summer. One side is very brown and all of it is pretty dry and brittle to the touch. Still green under the bark.
Will just have to wait and see if all my contestants die before I get a chance to work on them.
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The Blvd cypress trimmed and some wire last month.
I'd like to remove this high root but fear loosing half the tree.IMG_20200628_085911902.jpgIMG_20200628_085924714.jpg
 

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And the Norway spruce for something different. I have a forest full of these and 2 more uprights. ShrugIMG_20200628_085804585.jpg
 

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Updating these three spring wake up calls.
Broken pot "Under a dolla Alberta" got a plastic trainer and de/lava/bark. Looking healthy but just had its first real root reduction.
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Blvd Cypress survived cutting some of that high root discussed above. May try to go further when repot time comes very soon.
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Twisted Norway Spruce is coming alive and will get up potted a bit or into the grow bed and allowed to run wild. I have too many to make another F Upright Christmas tree thing as well as a forest of them. Something different or compost... LOL
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Got the Blvd outa the soggy potting soil, root pruned and into a plastic training pot of my usual DE/Lava mix with some bark. We'll see how it responds. Didn't unwire or trim anything up top as it's really not grown much yet. Hoping the better soil will wake it up so I can cut back the long floppys.IMG_20210510_164257093.jpgIMG_20210510_162950972_HDR.jpgIMG_20210510_164304610.jpg
 

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Blvd needs thinned out. New buds all over alberta and just heavy sigh for the Norway which needs repotting.
 

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Underdog

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For sure the most improved of the three, Grew well this year after a pretty hard prune this summer and now needs wire again. Should be happy in this training pot for several years. Going to work on that straight section of trunk next. It becomes way less noticeable when rotated a few degrees too.
 
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