Bluehill 2025

[marlin]

Id like to see the growth difference between trees watered and trees not watered. Not too big a deal in East central ohio where mine are planted. But now that I bought a house/camp next door, watering might be easier to do if worth while.

That’s something you’re going to have to figure out on your property. I don’t think it’s a true comparison from my soil to yours. If you have decent soil and hold moisture you may not notice slow growth like my bad dry soil.

 

[KY wild]

Id like to see the growth difference between trees watered and trees not watered. Not too big a deal in East central ohio where mine are planted. But now that I bought a house/camp next door, watering might be easier to do if worth while.

I have only watered my young tree to keep them alive, and if I think they will make it another week without water then I don't water. Water work for me has always been to keep alive. I think it is an interesting question....... What If you never allowed your moisture level to drop below a certain percentage under your trees, would it be much bigger, would it produce much more fruit on a yearly basis? interesting

 

[Telemark]

What If you never allowed your moisture level to drop below a certain percentage under your trees, would it be much bigger, would it produce much more fruit on a yearly basis? interesting

Tree growth/production is limited generally by 3 factors: moisture, nutrients, sunlight.

You can't do much about sunlight for a tree planted outdoors. But if you make sure it doesn't lack moisture and nutrients, you'll get the most growth possible.

There's some nuance to it, but basically the less light, moisture, and nutrients a tree has available during the growing season, the less growth it can put on. There's definitely a threshold for when it can be too much, but we're just trying not to let them become deficient.

 

[Teeder]

I only water when planted and maybe 1 or 2 times the first summer. After that they're on their own!
Actually, i wonder if frequent watering makes them less likely to survive a dry time if they aren't getting watered. If they don't have to work for it, their roots don't go deep enough?
I remember a farmer telling me he didn't like it wet when corn was just starting to grow because the roots didn't dig deep and they would have a harder time making it through the dryer part of summer. Who knows?

 

[Telemark]

I only water when planted and maybe 1 or 2 times the first summer. After that they're on their own!
Actually, i wonder if frequent watering makes them less likely to survive a dry time if they aren't getting watered. If they don't have to work for it, their roots don't go deep enough?
I remember a farmer telling me he did like it wet when corn was just starting to grow because the roots didn't dig deep and they would have a harder time making it through the dryer part of summer. Who knows?

It depends on how you water. If you water a small amount often, the water stays shallow, encouraging the roots to stay shallow.

Conversely, if you water seldom and deep, the water drains through the soil, and the roots follow it down.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I’ve used buckets also and they do work fine. The only advantage the bags have is the amount of water they hold and they disperse it on both sides of the tree. I have really bad soil that holds no water. I put down 4 inches of Wood Chips under the bags to help hold moisture.

How much do those bags hold? They look pretty good.

I wish we could put down wood chip mulch like you do. We have too many mice & voles, and the chips would just invite them to build tunnels & move in. For that reason, we used landscape fabric & crushed limestone chips. Wood chips would be great for the soil too - pains me not to have them around our trees.

 

[marlin]

The ones I bought hold 20 gallons.

 

[marlin]

I have only watered my young tree to keep them alive, and if I think they will make it another week without water then I don't water. Water work for me has always been to keep alive. I think it is an interesting question....... What If you never allowed your moisture level to drop below a certain percentage under your trees, would it be much bigger, would it produce much more fruit on a yearly basis? interesting

I don’t have just water versus non-watered trees. I do have pictures of a managed wildlife planting versus a non-managed. Managed being irrigated, soil amended, pruned for wildlife and sprayed. Non-managed trees- planted from the same tree order at the same time with nothing done to them. Same root stock and variety. The managed trees I took pictures every three or four years from approximately the same spot from 2012 until present. The non-managed I can take pictures of and measure the trunks if you’re interested in seeing the difference. Let me know if interested. I’ll start a new thread instead of continuing to mess up this blue hill thread.