How often do you water newly planted fruit trees?

[OhioJeremy]

I planted 20 apple trees this spring from April until mid June. The ones planted in April are thriving and the ones planted in June seem to show some signs of stress.
How often do you all water newly planted trees? Right now I am watering once per week if no rain. We've been extremely dry here in NW Ohio over the past 6 weeks, literally no rain over a half inch. Clay Soil.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

June is pretty late to plant trees in my opinion. Unless at home where you can spoil them. I water once a wk during warm spells in July, Aug an Sep. obviously skip a wk if you’re lucky an catch a good rain. But bottom line if a tree looks stress you better water the heck out of it to save it. Native Hunter posted some pretty interesting tricks for planting trees during the summer. He somewhat shaded them if i remember right. Not sure which thread i read that in but I’m sure you could track it down.
Are you doing anything for weed competition? Weed mats, spraying gly etc???? This is the point in the growing season where that makes a huge difference.

 

[OhioJeremy]

June is pretty late to plant trees in my opinion. Unless at home where you can spoil them. I water once a wk during warm spells in July, Aug an Sep. obviously skip a wk if you’re lucky an catch a good rain. But bottom line if a tree looks stress you better water the heck out of it to save it. Native Hunter posted some pretty interesting tricks for planting trees during the summer. He somewhat shaded them if i remember right. Not sure which thread i read that in but I’m sure you could track it down.
Are you doing anything for weed competition? Weed mats, spraying gly etc???? This is the point in the growing season where that makes a huge difference.

All my rows are grass/weed free and have 2-3 inches of mulch on top. The trees that look stressed are the Honeycrisp, the Winesap, Lodi, Gala's are very healthy but where planted several weeks earlier then the Honeycrisp. Since planted, it's been very warm here, lots of 90 degree days with less then a half inch of rain over the past 6 weeks. The only thing I am worried about is watering them too much but right now they are getting about a 5 gallon bucket every Sunday evening.

 

[Skelly]

How are you watering them?

Are you just taking the 5 gallon bucket and dumping? If the ground is hard pan due to drought like conditions some of the water is probably just running off.

I’ve taken my watering 5 gallon bucket and drilled 3-4 1/8” holes so it trickles on the tree I raise the bucket up with an upside down bucket and move around the tree as necessary.

I asked this same question last year when I had a couple apples starting to stress when I had a late planting. The above trick was suggested and also I was told 5-10 gallons per tree.

S

 

[sandbur]

I planted some trees on our light soil many years ago during a dry summer. Five gallons of water just about matched maintenance, 15 gallons led to a growth spurt.

On the June planted trees, were they potted? Were the roots circling and did you have to free them up? Did you prune at planting or did you have to significantly manipulate the dirt ball?

Lots of variables...


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[OhioJeremy]

How are you watering them?

Are you just taking the 5 gallon bucket and dumping? If the ground is hard pan due to drought like conditions some of the water is probably just running off.

I’ve taken my watering 5 gallon bucket and drilled 3-4 1/8” holes so it trickles on the tree I raise the bucket up with an upside down bucket and move around the tree as necessary.

I asked this same question last year when I had a couple apples starting to stress when I had a late planting. The above trick was suggested and also I was told 5-10 gallons per tree.

S

That'd be a pain in the rear with 60 trees, 20 new ones. When the rest of my trees are in next spring, I will put in an irrigation line to them when we have weeks with no rain.

 

[OhioJeremy]

I planted some trees on our light soil many years ago during a dry summer. Five gallons of water just about matched maintenance, 15 gallons led to a growth spurt.

On the June planted trees, were they potted? Were the roots circling and did you have to free them up? Did you prune at planting or did you have to significantly manipulate the dirt ball?

Lots of variables...


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They were bare root. My only concern is giving them too much water and killing them that way. Is 5 gallons not enough for a no rain in 6 weeks with temps in the upper 80's and 90's? I kinda feel like 15 gallons would be too much for them but maybe I am wrong.

 

[Turkey Creek]

You really need to find out how deep that 5 gallons of water is getting, especially on clay soils. They hold water longer but are also harder to get hydrated without a slow addition of water. The bucket with a small hole in it is going to be more effective than dumping a bucket on them.

HoneyCrisp can look pretty weak compared to other apples.

 

[Skelly]

That'd be a pain in the rear with 60 trees, 20 new ones. When the rest of my trees are in next spring, I will put in an irrigation line to them when we have weeks with no rain.

Yep. Can’t say I enjoyed it.

 

[sandbur]

I planted some trees on our light soil many years ago during a dry summer. Five gallons of water just about matched maintenance, 15 gallons led to a growth spurt.

On the June planted trees, were they potted? Were the roots circling and did you have to free them up? Did you prune at planting or did you have to significantly manipulate the dirt ball?

Lots of variables...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They were bare root. My only concern is giving them too much water and killing them that way. Is 5 gallons not enough for a no rain in 6 weeks with temps in the upper 80's and 90's? I kinda feel like 15 gallons would be too much for them but maybe I am wrong.

Were the bare root trees leafed out?

From SLN catalog .. Each tree should receive 5-10 gallons of water per day until the end of May, and the same amount at least two or three times per week until mid-July (August in a dry year.)


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[Charman03]

For what it's worth, my trees that grow and look the best get watered a little each day via a long hose at my house. My trees that don't get this treatment don't grow nearly as well

 

[Barndog56]

I've been watering my new trees twice a week during this hot dry spell, and I still think I've lost a couple. I have enough hoses to reach them all, so give them a long soaking that is at least 5 gallons. I also have them all mulched to hold moisture as long as possible.

 

[Barndog56]

And the nursery near the house gets the sprinkler every other day when not raining.

 

[cavey]

2-3 5 gal buckets with small holes drilled in them... set them on the ground - flat surface so they slowly soak in, toss a decent size rock in the bucket so that the bucket doesn't get blown away once empty. Go to one of your local restaurants and snag some of their empty food buckets (from free to .50-1.00 each). I have a 350 gal slide in unit for my truck with a hose... we have had enough rain this year but in a dry year it has saved my young trees. Ive used it as a nurse tank for my atv too with a smaller tank.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I've used the bucket / tiny holes with rock inside method on our trees. ^^^^^^ It works. Slow trickle doesn't run off - no wasted water or labor. In your situation, I'd be watering twice a week at least, probably 3 times.

 

[buckvelvet]

This is how I water mine when it's hot out, it works great. :)



I do it like everyone says bout once a week when its been hot and no rain, keeps them growing and happy. :)

 

[Boone]

I bought a 65 gallon tank on craigslist just for watering new trees. Works good and I do it maybe once a week.

 

[Skelly]

I bought a 65 gallon tank on craigslist just for watering new trees. Works good and I do it maybe once a week.

Great view to snack on an apple and appreciate.

 

[weekender21]

I planted 24 crab apple and apple trees from NWC the first week of May in western NC. Luckily we get lots of rain in our area. I did put 5-gallon buckets in each cage to take advantage of the frequent summer thunderstorms. I really think the buckets with small holes drilled toward the bottom make a huge difference.

 

[Mortenson]

I've been really lucky this year and only had to water my trees once, and I believe that was in April or May. The longest spell we've gone without rain was 7/5 to 7/15. What size hole do you guys drill in the 5 gallon buckets?

My backyard nursery I've tried to slow down with the garden hose the past month or so and try to just use the rainfall as well, hoping they build good, deep roots. Do you guys think they'd be ok for 10 days or so at the end of the month? Temps look to be moderate, low 80s on average. I could soak the ground really well just beforehand. Could even lay a thin layer of mulch down?