I travel a lot so if it doesn't rain the trees do not get watered. A few months ago I came across these tree diapers. I bought one (expensive) to experiment with. The one I bought was 24 in. I had to soak it in water for an + or - an hour to fill in the whatever they use inside. I placed it around a burr oak seedling. We had an exceptionally dry December. I kept my eye on it throughout december and it kept shrinking. I left on a 3 week job and when I came back it was full. We had some good rain in Jan. so I guess it filled back up. Since my return we get about .10-.50" of rain per week. It stays full. I know this doesn't mean anything until summer rolls around, but I am looking forward to summer just to see how these things work. Look them up. As I said, they are expensive. Especially for a bunch of seedlings. I am in e. Texas so the temps range from 25 to 80 F in Dec. What got me interested in them is that their web site states "If your region has much less precipitation, we recommend you check on your tree every two weeks. Generally, TreeDiaper® only needs to be watered once every month if there is less than one inch of rain." Man if these work as advertised I am hooked. Plus they suppress weeds. I will fill you guys in on how they work during our brutal Aug-mid Oct. Thanks.
Has anyone tried one of these? or heard of?
- Thread starter ethompson
- Start date
Jordan Selsor
5 year old buck +
Never heard of them
Post some pics if you get time
Post some pics if you get time
Here is a link to their web site.
https://www.treediaper.com/index.cfm
https://www.treediaper.com/index.cfm
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I wonder if mold would be a problem under them if it cant get air?
just a little update of the diapers I am using. Initially I had to soak them in a container of water to fill up. Took around 6 hours. I think I have around 8 of them. One got destroyed by hogs. Left the cage off only one freakin night. After filling them up, there was nothing else to do. I check the soil underneith the diapers at least once a week and it's damp. Perfect. Then came May where I thought we were going into a drought. .25 here .10 there at least once a week. Not enough for pre-summer. The Diapers went way down but still held moisture. They were not quite flat, but close. The soil was still damp after not doing a dang thing to it since the diapers were put on. Then came a 2.5 incher. The diapers filled back up as promised. So far I give them a 2 thumbs up. But SUMMER isn't here yet. So we will see what happens. The only negative thing I have against the diapers are that fire ants love to build mounds around the trunk of the tree. So far no noticeable mold. They come in round and square I recommend the square for better coverage.
June 16.
Checked trees last weekend. Diapers are still working like AD say. Still damp for a ways under the diaper. No rain since 2.5 inches around 3 weeks ago. I removed one to control a fire ant colony. The soil was damp. I filled diaper back up. In my original post I stated it took an hour to fill one up, it was a error in typing. They take somewhere between 4-6 hours to soak up water from the start. A small walmart pool is all you need. I have one for my dog.
Checked trees last weekend. Diapers are still working like AD say. Still damp for a ways under the diaper. No rain since 2.5 inches around 3 weeks ago. I removed one to control a fire ant colony. The soil was damp. I filled diaper back up. In my original post I stated it took an hour to fill one up, it was a error in typing. They take somewhere between 4-6 hours to soak up water from the start. A small walmart pool is all you need. I have one for my dog.
