j-bird
Moderator
Well my intent was to install the liner and tidy up some this weekend, but mother nature laughed at my plan again and it rained some today....and I am forecast to get rain nearly everyday over the weekend. I guess I will get to see what of it will hold water on it's own.......Maybe I will be surprised. I'll take a walk out and take a look for myself and take some pics. If it holds water on its own - great, but I fully expect to need the liner.....I guess we will see. I figure the hole will draw in all sorts of critters beyond just the deer and that is fine. Many of the projects we do for deer benefit other critters as well.....they all need homes too!
j-bird
Moderator
Well my youngest wanted to take a walk this evening so we went to check out "the hole". I was curious if any of the rain we had earlier in the week actually collected.
Well, some has. I'm not sure how long it will last and to be honest I really had more work to do to dig it out a bit more and put down the liner.....but, if it holds water on it's own.....I'll take it. Again not part of the "plan" but oh, well...it made mother nature chuckle I guess! We are forecast for more rain over the holiday so we will see how that goes. If it rains and fills more I'll take more pics. There is less than a foot of water in it now, maybe more like 6"....and apparently "stinky" needed to cool down - she was pleased!!!
It has been visited by the target audience as well......not a lot but some. My cams have issues with them right now or I would put one up to catch some pics.
Well, some has. I'm not sure how long it will last and to be honest I really had more work to do to dig it out a bit more and put down the liner.....but, if it holds water on it's own.....I'll take it. Again not part of the "plan" but oh, well...it made mother nature chuckle I guess! We are forecast for more rain over the holiday so we will see how that goes. If it rains and fills more I'll take more pics. There is less than a foot of water in it now, maybe more like 6"....and apparently "stinky" needed to cool down - she was pleased!!!
It has been visited by the target audience as well......not a lot but some. My cams have issues with them right now or I would put one up to catch some pics.
j-bird
Moderator
Actually the bottom was pretty firm so there is a chance I may just let it fill and see what I get. I do need to put in an "overflow" of some sort. I will see what the weekend brings. There is a chance I hit enough clay to hold water......we will see.
j-bird
Moderator
Well, if I am anything, I'm cheap. So as part of my sawtooth plantings I also saved a dozen of them to grow at the house. So that being said....I bought a 1 cubic foot package of potting soil and saved some 2 liter pop bottles. I cut the top off the plastic bottles and drilled a small hole in the bottom of each. I filled the bottles with potting soil (12 bottles consumes just a bit shy of a a whole bag I could have done 13 or 14 but I only had a dozen acorns. I pushed the acorns into the soil and watered. These now sit on the back porch in full sun. I knew the chance of them being screwed with was pretty great so I figured.....if the kennel/cage can keep squirrels in.....it should be able to keep them out as well!
j-bird
Moderator
I smacked the crap out of my yard with some crossbow/crossroad over the weekend and in the process hit some JBH and mulberry with it as well......just to see what happens. 2% rate was what I used (1 gallon of chemical to 50 gallons of water). I figure that should smoke the clover and dandelions and all the other stuff in the yard......I may not have much of a yard left when it's all over, but what will be left will be grass!
I did go up and check the water hole. It's still got water in it but we didn't get much rain for me to tell if it is filling or if it is just holding at the current level. I hope it just fills at this point.
Planting season is starting up in my area. Lots of farmers getting corn and beans into the ground. Sounds like the deer will have plenty of summer forage again in my area as most farmers are planting beans this year because the price of corn is down because of the national surplus.
I did go up and check the water hole. It's still got water in it but we didn't get much rain for me to tell if it is filling or if it is just holding at the current level. I hope it just fills at this point.
Planting season is starting up in my area. Lots of farmers getting corn and beans into the ground. Sounds like the deer will have plenty of summer forage again in my area as most farmers are planting beans this year because the price of corn is down because of the national surplus.
j-bird
Moderator
That's funny.....I know a guy who sprayed some "ground clear" on his gravel driveway to kill weeds and that night it rained and washed the chemical into his yard! Yep....dead as shit....he said it took over a year for anything to grow. I also know another guy who killed several white pines by fertilizing too much and at the wrong time. Yep - got him fired! He was supposed to be a professional groundskeeper for a large corporation. I just mowed the grass. He killed them trees by the end of summer, they where nice 10 to 12 footers too! I hate dealing with my yard.....I got better things to work on.....like plots! My wife however seems to think the yard is important......I tell her to take care of it, but she runs the lawn mower into and over shit that I then have to repair....so that theory didn't work so well in my favor either....still consumed my time and cost me more!I burned the crap out of my yard one summer using urea to late when it was hot.
Well heat and I used way to much.
j-bird
Moderator
Well I went out today...between rain storms just to see how things where progressing.
North waterhole......with all the rain has filled nicely and I now can see where the low spot is and where the "overflow" needs to be. IF it holds this water level I may not need the liner. Turns out the access path that leads to it channels water directly into it as well.
I also checked up on some of my sawtooth oak acorns I planted. The ones in the woods have not done, much. Those on the back porch don't seem to be doing much either. I did find some that where in the plot and caged that had sprouted a radical.
The north annual food plot that was planted to brassica and clover has exploded! The brassica is showing sings of producing seed and the clover has exploded to over knee high as well. Lots of deer food.
My chestnuts are also looking good. I think they are showing signs of what I hope will be the catkins as well.
North waterhole......with all the rain has filled nicely and I now can see where the low spot is and where the "overflow" needs to be. IF it holds this water level I may not need the liner. Turns out the access path that leads to it channels water directly into it as well.
I also checked up on some of my sawtooth oak acorns I planted. The ones in the woods have not done, much. Those on the back porch don't seem to be doing much either. I did find some that where in the plot and caged that had sprouted a radical.
The north annual food plot that was planted to brassica and clover has exploded! The brassica is showing sings of producing seed and the clover has exploded to over knee high as well. Lots of deer food.
My chestnuts are also looking good. I think they are showing signs of what I hope will be the catkins as well.
j-bird
Moderator
Perennial plots was also doing well........ Ladino clover and chicory seem to be exploding as well.
Now for the bad news.....I "think" this is my first sign of CAR on one of my young cedar trees. Anyone know if CAR can grow on pines? I saw something VERY similar to this on a pine as well....not sure if that is even possible....
Wrapped up the day with a steak birthday dinner off my new grill (birthday gift) and yes the bottle opener works too!
Now for the bad news.....I "think" this is my first sign of CAR on one of my young cedar trees. Anyone know if CAR can grow on pines? I saw something VERY similar to this on a pine as well....not sure if that is even possible....
Wrapped up the day with a steak birthday dinner off my new grill (birthday gift) and yes the bottle opener works too!
j-bird
Moderator
ever seen CAR on pine trees before? I thought the neighbors had a pine that appeared to have these as well, but I have minimal exposure to CAR so I am not sure if CAR is compatible with pines.Yep that looks like CAR
Looks like the pond might hold water as is. Wouldn't that be luck. August will tell you.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
Hope those sawtooth start to do something for you soon.
I don't know about pine but that sure looks like the car we get on our cedars.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
I don't know about pine but that sure looks like the car we get on our cedars.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
j-bird
Moderator
I hope the sawtooth do as well......we have a "catscratch" cultivar at stake here!!! I hope I didn't keep them in the fridge too long.....I didn't re-float test any of them so I don't know. We are just planting here so I think the ground is finally starting to warm up enough. I figured the ground in the woods would be cooler and expected to see those in the plots "pop" sooner. I'll keep an eye on them and see.
As for the CAR - I am pretty sure that is what is on the cedar I took a pic of. The pine had me stumped, but my fear is CAR as well. I'll see if I can get pics of it. On the pine it was all on the ends of the branches - funny how sometimes you don;t notice things and then something gets your attention for some reason.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
I have faith. The catscratch cultivar will survive! (I can send a bunch more next yr if needed) :)
Bill
Administrator
I walked past a 25 foot tall pear tree on the way to do plots, check cameras and go to a stand for 6 years before I finally looked up and saw "A" pear. Dipshit
, now that I've opened it up it gets loaded..
j-bird
Moderator
thought I would post a little update on the sawtooth (catscratch) oaks.
Well as of Yesterday I have some mixed results depending on application:
The worst application where I direct seeded acorns into the woods without any protection - I am finding zero germination at this time, but I also have not found sign of the acorns being eaten either, so maybe just the cooler ground temperatures is affecting them. My concern is that the woods here have greened up and IF they do germinate I am not sure they will have the ability to get the sunlight they need to stay alive long. But maybe that is what I get for planting trees in the woods!
The better application is where I planted the acorns in some of my clover plots and put small cages on them - In the one plot I checked yesterday I seem to be running about a 50% success rate at the moment. I am concerned that I may need to make bigger cages (you will see why in a minute).
My best application is where they are planted in containers (2 liter plastic bottles with a hole for excess water to drain in potting soil) on the back deck - these have done VERY well. I have 11 of 12 all germinated and some at 8 or 9 inches tall already.
Here you can see the two that are doing the best and the one "dud" so far in this group.
Based on what I have seen thus far I think soil temperature has a HUGE impact on when the acorns germinate and thus how much growth they can put on in their first year. Obviously as the summer goes on and the stress of the heat mounts those in the actual ground should fair better than these in containers. My intent is to transplant these in containers once they go dormant. I will simply cut the container with a sharp knife and plant the entire "plug" so to speak.
Well as of Yesterday I have some mixed results depending on application:
The worst application where I direct seeded acorns into the woods without any protection - I am finding zero germination at this time, but I also have not found sign of the acorns being eaten either, so maybe just the cooler ground temperatures is affecting them. My concern is that the woods here have greened up and IF they do germinate I am not sure they will have the ability to get the sunlight they need to stay alive long. But maybe that is what I get for planting trees in the woods!
The better application is where I planted the acorns in some of my clover plots and put small cages on them - In the one plot I checked yesterday I seem to be running about a 50% success rate at the moment. I am concerned that I may need to make bigger cages (you will see why in a minute).
My best application is where they are planted in containers (2 liter plastic bottles with a hole for excess water to drain in potting soil) on the back deck - these have done VERY well. I have 11 of 12 all germinated and some at 8 or 9 inches tall already.
Here you can see the two that are doing the best and the one "dud" so far in this group.
Based on what I have seen thus far I think soil temperature has a HUGE impact on when the acorns germinate and thus how much growth they can put on in their first year. Obviously as the summer goes on and the stress of the heat mounts those in the actual ground should fair better than these in containers. My intent is to transplant these in containers once they go dormant. I will simply cut the container with a sharp knife and plant the entire "plug" so to speak.
