jaximus
5 year old buck +
we are starting some LOOOOONG term habitat improvements on a piece of land my brother purchased.
currently the 60 acres has no oak trees at all, and we have some we started indoors this year that we plan to plant in cages later this spring/early summer.
he also plans to have a portion logged. some will be clearcut to promote a poplar thicket and some mature wild pines will be select harvested to let some of the seedlings grow and make better ground cover.
we planted 15 fruit trees in a small orchard area and i grafted 14 apples to crab apple roots i salvaged from some trees the city removed to put in a new sidewalk.
i had approximately 50 scions left after grafting that were too good to just throw away. a mix of pear and apple. being that the land is already undergoing some very long term habitat goals, i figured if i could get some cuttings to root, i would have some standard size trees that would produce down the road.
i soaked the scions in rooting hormone and then stuck them into the smaller wafer type things that they sell for starting tomato plants. my plan is to water them with a rooting hormone mixture probably every 3rd watering. the little netting bags that hold the dirt/peat together seem like they would airprune quite nicely. my thought is that i will let the roots fill the bags (they are 2" diameter and about 3" tall) and get a nice root ball started. my assumption is that i will lose a few along the way that dont root. once i notice a few with nice rootballs, then i can move them to bigger containers or plant them at my brothers land in the area we fenced off to protect them from critters.
we fenced an area with concrete wire approximately 50 ft by 100 feet. we then ran chicken mesh around the bottom and burried about 8" of it to keep rabbits out also. the 13 trees inside the enclosure are also screened. one pear, a golden spice (7 ft tall) is outside the fence as it will be mainly a deer tree. inside that fenced area we have a lot of area between the trees that is protected and gets good sun. i can utilize that area to plant the cuttings once they get some established root mass. then, once they are of acceptable size, move them to their final destination around the property. after the logging (this coming winter) we plan to plant a wildlife orchard in another location. that orchard will be mainly crab and pear trees (most of my cuttings are centennial crabs and golden spice pear).
pretty much what im asking, is if the cuttings stabbed into those little tomato starter things and watered with rooting hormone will actually result in anything? i know it will be a long slow process if it even works at all.
currently the 60 acres has no oak trees at all, and we have some we started indoors this year that we plan to plant in cages later this spring/early summer.
he also plans to have a portion logged. some will be clearcut to promote a poplar thicket and some mature wild pines will be select harvested to let some of the seedlings grow and make better ground cover.
we planted 15 fruit trees in a small orchard area and i grafted 14 apples to crab apple roots i salvaged from some trees the city removed to put in a new sidewalk.
i had approximately 50 scions left after grafting that were too good to just throw away. a mix of pear and apple. being that the land is already undergoing some very long term habitat goals, i figured if i could get some cuttings to root, i would have some standard size trees that would produce down the road.
i soaked the scions in rooting hormone and then stuck them into the smaller wafer type things that they sell for starting tomato plants. my plan is to water them with a rooting hormone mixture probably every 3rd watering. the little netting bags that hold the dirt/peat together seem like they would airprune quite nicely. my thought is that i will let the roots fill the bags (they are 2" diameter and about 3" tall) and get a nice root ball started. my assumption is that i will lose a few along the way that dont root. once i notice a few with nice rootballs, then i can move them to bigger containers or plant them at my brothers land in the area we fenced off to protect them from critters.
we fenced an area with concrete wire approximately 50 ft by 100 feet. we then ran chicken mesh around the bottom and burried about 8" of it to keep rabbits out also. the 13 trees inside the enclosure are also screened. one pear, a golden spice (7 ft tall) is outside the fence as it will be mainly a deer tree. inside that fenced area we have a lot of area between the trees that is protected and gets good sun. i can utilize that area to plant the cuttings once they get some established root mass. then, once they are of acceptable size, move them to their final destination around the property. after the logging (this coming winter) we plan to plant a wildlife orchard in another location. that orchard will be mainly crab and pear trees (most of my cuttings are centennial crabs and golden spice pear).
pretty much what im asking, is if the cuttings stabbed into those little tomato starter things and watered with rooting hormone will actually result in anything? i know it will be a long slow process if it even works at all.
