Itasca Greenhouse Plugs

[BuckSutherland]

I like to get the biggest plugs I can. This year I got 100 Norway ABP, 50 Cannan Fir ABP, 20 White Pine ABP, and 15 swamp white oaks.

The whites are caged and have an average of 1 foot of new growth. (planted 60 days ago)
The norways are doing very good. They are a little more challenging cause our deer browse them hard.
The cannan fir are doing awesome. Many of those appear to have nearly doubled in size in under 2 months.
Swamp white oak started ROUGH, but now look much better. Lost 3 of the 15.

And of course my acorn into oak trees experiment seems to be going well. I would like to transplant some this fall if conditions are good.

 

[Tree Spud]

You really planted pines 60 days ago and have recorded 12" of growth on them?

Hats off to you, you overcome all odds ... we are all looking for that magic pill you seem to have found. Normally trees put all their 1st year energy into the their root development. Second year is more root development also ... survival thing as they are seeking water and nutrients.

The next 12-24 months will tell the story of their development ....

 

[BuckSutherland]

You really planted pines 60 days ago and have recorded 12" of growth on them?

Absolutely. The central leader on my 20 white pines was on average 1 foot taller on July 8th than it was on May 8th. Look at the pictures of the plugs on my landtour thread. They were short when I planted them with a fairly thick stem. I have been commenting how good they look since I planted them.

http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/my-place.10948/


Then look at these pictures and all the new vertical growth. The new growth is plain to see.






I shoved a bunch of this stuff in the hole, along with leaves, rotten wood and mixed it all up like a compost with black soil. I also stab my shovel far down into the hole below the roots so they could easily send the roots down the trail I made for them. Figured it might pool a little water down there and give less resistance to send the roots down.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Hey Tree Spud,

I was up at the hunting land over the weekend and took some pics of my white pines for you. Out of the 20 that I planted and caged I have 3 of them with under 8" of new growth since planting. About 10 of them are right at the 10-13" mark. The rest are at about 14"+ and one of them is at an amazing 18". I'm as impressed as you are. These are all plugs from Itasca (ABPs). I am not getting too much growth out of the ones that I transplanted and will just be happy to see them survive. I am gonna put a piece of cardboard around the base of every single conifer I planted for the last couple years as soon as the snow melts next spring.


Everything with that light green color is brand new growth since planting. The dark green is the way they looked when I planted them. My Cannan fir are really kicking ass from them too. ABPs also. Could really use a good soaking rain. Hope they all survive the winter.


Enjoy

 

[BuckSutherland]

I bud capped 300 trees that I planted the last two years from Itasca. They had exceptional growth this year. The cannan fir and white pine plugs absolutely kicked ass. White pines are all in cages and most of everything else is in the open with bud caps on them. Hopeful that some of them will reach 4 feet 1 year from now. Next spring I plan to put 4 feet by 4 feet of cardboard from the lumberyard around each tree to suppress weeds, grass and ferns.

 

[bwoods11]

Plugs are the ticket!!

 

[BuckSutherland]

Plugs are the ticket!!

The biggest plugs you can get are the ticket. The small ones we planted for years with dibble bars and plug tools are worthless. You couldnt give me 1,000 free size 4-10 plugs. I wouldnt waste my time. These ABPs were the cats ass.

 

[bwoods11]

The biggest plugs you can get are the ticket. The small ones we planted for years with dibble bars and plug tools are worthless. You couldnt give me 1,000 free size 4-10 plugs. I wouldnt waste my time. These ABPs were the cats ass.

How much were the spruce and oak?

 

[BuckSutherland]

I paid $2.10 per plug last year. I had 98-99% survive the last two years from their plugs. Price is up again this year to $2.30. They were 10x the plug of the puny 4, 6 and 10 plugs of the past, especially the 2019 cannan firs.


I want to plant fewer trees and take better care of them. Complete opposite of what we did in the past. Our success of planting LOTs of small trees in the past is well under 15%. It was pathetic.

 

[bwoods11]

I agree with your strategy. I’ve had good luck with both small and big plugs, probably 75~80%?

For me, it’s going to be bigger trees, fewer numbers. Protect them with tubes, cage.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I agree with your strategy. I’ve had good luck with both small and big plugs, probably 75~80%?

For me, it’s going to be bigger trees, fewer numbers. Protect them with tubes, cage.

Hell yes. Trees respond to care and sunlight, especially young ones. I already have a plan for next year. The cardboard around the base helped immensely, and if you get enough shit from amazon its free to do.

30 white pines going into cages
5 swamp white oak going into tubes
50 oaks that I am growing in the basement from acorns going into tubes
250 white spruce transplanted out of the road ditch- zero protection cause the deer dont seem to bother them
500 dogwood cuttings.


Think I can do it all in 4 days pretty easy.

 

[Freeborn]

I paid $2.10 per plug last year. I had 98-99% survive the last two years from their plugs. Price is up again this year to $2.30. They were 10x the plug of the puny 4, 6 and 10 plugs of the past, especially the 2019 cannan firs.


I want to plant fewer trees and take better care of them. Complete opposite of what we did in the past. Our success of planting LOTs of small trees in the past is well under 15%. It was pathetic.

Nice work on the trees. Does Itasca have a minimum qty your required to purchase, they use to?

 

[bwoods11]

I like the red oak, and swamp white oak plugs...had some farily good success with those. Black Hills Spruce have been outstanding.

 

[bwoods11]

I have hundreds of plugs that have taken off. This is 2017 I think, we also re-plant on some of our windbreaks with plugs, some are bare root and some are planted plugs.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Nice work on the trees. Does Itasca have a minimum qty your required to purchase, they use to?

I do believe the minimum is $250.00

 

[BuckSutherland]

This is what they looked like the day I picked them up from Itasca last spring (2019).

 

[bornagain62511]

Does anyone know of another source that sells containerized seedlings like Itasca Greenhouse? they are sold out of white cedar for spring 2019. I did a internet search for other sources and there's nothing that I could find like Itasca. thanks.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Not sure where your located, but North Central Reforestation is just getting going at their Marshall, MN site. Their website isnt even complete so no idea what they have to offer.

 

[scott44]

Does anyone know of another source that sells containerized seedlings like Itasca Greenhouse? they are sold out of white cedar for spring 2019. I did a internet search for other sources and there's nothing that I could find like Itasca. thanks.

Not sure about NCR after they were sold but I ordered from them before and the trees were good.
https://www.ncrtrees.com/
I've also ordered from U of Idaho
https://www.ncrtrees.com/

 

[John-W-WI]

Not sure where your located, but North Central Reforestation is just getting going at their Marshall, MN site. Their website isnt even complete so no idea what they have to offer.

Hell yes. Those kick ass.

-John