Catscratch
5 year old buck +
J- I would watch for tap root circling or hooking in your potted trees. I don't think the long term is good for oaks that have a circled tap root (but I'm not sure).
j-bird
Moderator
I will keep that in mind when I transplant them - I suspect the potting soil will come free of most of the root mass when that time comes so I should have a decent idea of what that tap root looks like. I have a bigger fear of not digging the transplant hole deep enough at that time as that seems to be a far bigger risk to trees from what I have seen. I also have larger (deeper) containers available if I need to step that up as well. I may start looking into that already....... Anyway - we got some "catscratch oak" growing in the Hoosier state!
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
"catscratch oak"... I love it! :)
Bill
Administrator
Looking good! I haven't gotten squat done yet. It almost the end of May and looks to wet for the next week anyway.
I keep looking at the forecast and postponing a trip. Was going to head out Wednesday but there to much rain in the 7 day.
Catscratch,
Did any of that MG survive? Curious how it over wintered.
I keep looking at the forecast and postponing a trip. Was going to head out Wednesday but there to much rain in the 7 day.
Catscratch,
Did any of that MG survive? Curious how it over wintered.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
I have some in pots that is still going and I think I'm seeing signs of live in some of what I planted. I would say it's doing great! I bet in a yr or two I'll have more than what I know what to do with.
Thanks again!
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Thanks again!
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
j-bird
Moderator
SO - Memorial Day weekend is a big deal here in Indiana because of the Indy 500 race......if your into racing great....I'm not. However this weekend is typically the weekend I plant my summer annual plots and this weekend wasn't any different.
So I wanted to do something this year I have never done. I wanted to broadcast my beans just to see how things would go. I have a row planter and have played with different things with it, but I wanted to try something different. So I borrowed the tiller and headed for the plots. Plots have been mowed to chop up remaining corn stalks from last year and to keep weeds to a reasonable height.
This is my SW plot - this is what it looked like when I started. Using a tiller is slow going, but my only other option is a old school plow and disc. With scattered rain in the forecast I prefer to do it in one pass if possible.
As part of my little experiment I tried to collect some info. I was able to obtain roughly 70 lbs of fresh soybean seed (for free) and then mixed in roughly 30 lbs of some old corn seed - the ratio may sound steep, but I don;t look for much of the corn seed to germinate because of it's age (it's at least 2 years old). I then had an acre total to cover so I pulled out 25 lbs to apply to this plot (as it's only about a 1/4 acre). I simply broadcast the mixed seed and then packed the seed in with the tractor tires.
Speaking of broadcasting seed......if you even get a conical broadcaster - get a poly one if you plan to broadcast fertilizer. Fertilizer is very hard on metal and I had to do a bit of red-neck fix'n. I'll fix it properly here at some point, but I was in a hurry!!!! That is duct tape , backed up with gorilla tape.....it worked.....for the time being!
We got some good rain Sunday night so all should be well. I will follow up with an application of gly once the weeds start to challenge my plot plants, but typically I only need one application and that is it.
I also tried to monitor my apples.....which was disappointing. Of my 5 trees only one shows any signs of actual apples this year.
I'll throw 200 lbs of a balanced fertilizer and 50 lbs of urea over the plots yet this week and we should be good to go. If for some reason these don;t turn out I will simply adapt and make the plots fall annual plots come late summer. Being surrounded by ag crops allows me to try different things and know my deer are not going to starve at least thru the summer months!
So I wanted to do something this year I have never done. I wanted to broadcast my beans just to see how things would go. I have a row planter and have played with different things with it, but I wanted to try something different. So I borrowed the tiller and headed for the plots. Plots have been mowed to chop up remaining corn stalks from last year and to keep weeds to a reasonable height.
This is my SW plot - this is what it looked like when I started. Using a tiller is slow going, but my only other option is a old school plow and disc. With scattered rain in the forecast I prefer to do it in one pass if possible.
As part of my little experiment I tried to collect some info. I was able to obtain roughly 70 lbs of fresh soybean seed (for free) and then mixed in roughly 30 lbs of some old corn seed - the ratio may sound steep, but I don;t look for much of the corn seed to germinate because of it's age (it's at least 2 years old). I then had an acre total to cover so I pulled out 25 lbs to apply to this plot (as it's only about a 1/4 acre). I simply broadcast the mixed seed and then packed the seed in with the tractor tires.
Speaking of broadcasting seed......if you even get a conical broadcaster - get a poly one if you plan to broadcast fertilizer. Fertilizer is very hard on metal and I had to do a bit of red-neck fix'n. I'll fix it properly here at some point, but I was in a hurry!!!! That is duct tape , backed up with gorilla tape.....it worked.....for the time being!
We got some good rain Sunday night so all should be well. I will follow up with an application of gly once the weeds start to challenge my plot plants, but typically I only need one application and that is it.
I also tried to monitor my apples.....which was disappointing. Of my 5 trees only one shows any signs of actual apples this year.
I'll throw 200 lbs of a balanced fertilizer and 50 lbs of urea over the plots yet this week and we should be good to go. If for some reason these don;t turn out I will simply adapt and make the plots fall annual plots come late summer. Being surrounded by ag crops allows me to try different things and know my deer are not going to starve at least thru the summer months!
j-bird
Moderator
With work done (we even cleaned the house for Mom that morning) , Monday was a day for family..... I took my kids out to my folks pond to do a little fishing and it must have been a good idea, because my dad and my brother and his little girls where there as well. I like getting especially my girls outside. They seem to enjoy the slower pace of fishing and the weather was great....... even caught some fish. In this pond.....you can't help but catch fish!
My middle daughter Jenna and my niece where putting there feet into the water.....I told them their stinky feet would chase the fish away!
My youngest caught some fish and we had a little lesson on removing her own fish from the hook......she wasn't real keen on that idea. She kept commenting on how they don;t stay still!
To boost her confidence, my niece showed her how it was done! But she prefers to hold them by the moth.....because "they are icky"!
There was also 4-wheeler rides and feeding the fish as well. It was a nice day well spent fishing in the shade and enjoying some time outside with the kids.
My middle daughter Jenna and my niece where putting there feet into the water.....I told them their stinky feet would chase the fish away!
My youngest caught some fish and we had a little lesson on removing her own fish from the hook......she wasn't real keen on that idea. She kept commenting on how they don;t stay still!
To boost her confidence, my niece showed her how it was done! But she prefers to hold them by the moth.....because "they are icky"!
There was also 4-wheeler rides and feeding the fish as well. It was a nice day well spent fishing in the shade and enjoying some time outside with the kids.
j-bird
Moderator
It's always great to fish with your kids. My boy fishes on his own for the most part and that is fine, while I help the girls. I tried to give him some advice during this last trip..... He tossed his lure up into a tree limb and he was "agitated". I shouted to him....."Tom - works better in the water." He responded with a simple hand gesture! Yep....that's my kid!!! When I take the girls fishing we don't get too serious. Playing with worms, splashing in the water, tossing stuff in the water and the like is all par for the course. As long as they have fun....that's what it's about.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
J-bird - I can relate to your son and him being frustrated when something goes wrong while fishing. My oldest was the shortest fuse when a lure got stuck or a tangle happened in the line. They grow out of it. Now he laughs at himself for bad casts, flies in the trees, etc. I guess he figured out that just being out fishing is a reward in itself. The fact that he laughs at himself now is proof of some level of " maturing " ?? !! No need to get all jacked up - he could be working instead !!
Cool stuff with the family activity, J-bird. Nothing like those good times !!
Cool stuff with the family activity, J-bird. Nothing like those good times !!
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
Fishing with the family! Great stuff.
Food plots going to do well?
Trees doing ok? I threw away a bunch of sawtooth today that didn't get taken home from school. Only so much room...
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Food plots going to do well?
Trees doing ok? I threw away a bunch of sawtooth today that didn't get taken home from school. Only so much room...
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
j-bird
Moderator
Clover plots are doing fine.....plots I just planted should show signs of life here in a week or so. The "Catscratch" oaks in the bottles as doing fine.....until someone brought up the "hooking issue"......wonder who that was????? Rain on my parade like that! Some in my plots have sprouted, but are lagging behind.....I think it's ground temp related. Last I checked - the ones in the woods had not shown signs of life yet. I'll take a peak this weekend if the weather and chore list permit.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
Lol, sorry about that. You should have no problems though if you cut the circles off when you plant them.
I sent you a message. I tried to on the other website but it wouldn't let me. You have me blocked or something (I think, maybe there is something on my end but I can send messages to other people).
I sent you a message. I tried to on the other website but it wouldn't let me. You have me blocked or something (I think, maybe there is something on my end but I can send messages to other people).
j-bird
Moderator
Well since I live on the property regular updates are not a big deal. If I bore some of you I apologize, but I figure these posts may be a good reference to look back on at some point for me as well.
Sorry - no pic, but my beans are already showing signs of life. They are still very small but I am certain that is what I am seeing. I will get a pic in the next week or so to see how they did from a density perspective.
I was out over the weekend getting some work done and took a few pics of the sawtooth/catscratch progress as well.
In my north plot I have 6 small (germination cages) and ALL 6 have trees sprouted in them. Some are much smaller than others and even some that I doubled up on have doubles in them as well. This one is the smallest in that plot, but it's a tree. My direct seeding success in this plot is nearly 100%.
This is one of the better ones in the same plot.
I also checked those in my bottom plot as well. There I was 6 for 9. These are not caged, and I need to get them protected before the deer find them. I also have the 11 of 12 at the house and they are doing well also. Part of me wants to get these into the ground and another part of me fears I can take better care of them at the house vs in their final location.
These sawtooth have done far better than I had hoped as far as growing from acorns. I need to get in the woods and see if any of those have sprouted yet. Last time I looked I was not able to find any.
My chestnuts are also growing and maybe this year I will actually get a nut.....not sure but I gotta start somewhere.
I was also out screwing around and found myself in my paw-paw patch and recalled a post by Native i think about having signs of fruit. I had never noticed fruit early before, but I looked up and ......there they was! Indiana Bananas! About the size of the first section of your little finger.
Sorry - no pic, but my beans are already showing signs of life. They are still very small but I am certain that is what I am seeing. I will get a pic in the next week or so to see how they did from a density perspective.
I was out over the weekend getting some work done and took a few pics of the sawtooth/catscratch progress as well.
In my north plot I have 6 small (germination cages) and ALL 6 have trees sprouted in them. Some are much smaller than others and even some that I doubled up on have doubles in them as well. This one is the smallest in that plot, but it's a tree. My direct seeding success in this plot is nearly 100%.
This is one of the better ones in the same plot.
I also checked those in my bottom plot as well. There I was 6 for 9. These are not caged, and I need to get them protected before the deer find them. I also have the 11 of 12 at the house and they are doing well also. Part of me wants to get these into the ground and another part of me fears I can take better care of them at the house vs in their final location.
These sawtooth have done far better than I had hoped as far as growing from acorns. I need to get in the woods and see if any of those have sprouted yet. Last time I looked I was not able to find any.
My chestnuts are also growing and maybe this year I will actually get a nut.....not sure but I gotta start somewhere.
I was also out screwing around and found myself in my paw-paw patch and recalled a post by Native i think about having signs of fruit. I had never noticed fruit early before, but I looked up and ......there they was! Indiana Bananas! About the size of the first section of your little finger.
j-bird
Moderator
They produced catkins last year, but no nuts. I put those trees in the ground as 3 gallon trees in 2014, so I am anxious to see them produce and then how the deer react to them as I am certain the deer have no idea what they are. I'll be really pissed if the deer don't take to them!Good luck with that nut
j-bird
Moderator
Well I jumped into another switchgrass project AND took some pics of my broadcast bean and corn plot progress as well.
Well a weekend or two ago I bush-hogged my 3 acre switchgrass area. I then sprayed with gly at a 2% concentration and then broadcast 3.5 lbs/acre of switchgrass seed. Not much difference between before and after but will hopefully see some progress in a few weeks. Rain is forecast early next week as well:D
My south bottom plot with the broadcast bean and corn plot.
Close-up of the plot with my "boonie" hat for scale. I wanted a sparse spacing that way I can overseed cereal grains and brassica later.
Well a weekend or two ago I bush-hogged my 3 acre switchgrass area. I then sprayed with gly at a 2% concentration and then broadcast 3.5 lbs/acre of switchgrass seed. Not much difference between before and after but will hopefully see some progress in a few weeks. Rain is forecast early next week as well:D
My south bottom plot with the broadcast bean and corn plot.
Close-up of the plot with my "boonie" hat for scale. I wanted a sparse spacing that way I can overseed cereal grains and brassica later.
j-bird
Moderator
Here is my SW plot - you can look back at some older posts and see how it has progressed.
I also took some pics of where I try to maximize the area I have. This is at the end of a plot where the corn didn't grow well and I planted some BOB seed. This is crimson clover and chicory.....the deer have hit the chicory and the crimson clover has already produced seed. I have plenty of food on my place, but I try to make every inch of plot space count.
Another spot I use is a tractor access path. It has clover and chicory planted as well.....again using every inch I can where it makes sense.
I also took some pics of where I try to maximize the area I have. This is at the end of a plot where the corn didn't grow well and I planted some BOB seed. This is crimson clover and chicory.....the deer have hit the chicory and the crimson clover has already produced seed. I have plenty of food on my place, but I try to make every inch of plot space count.
Another spot I use is a tractor access path. It has clover and chicory planted as well.....again using every inch I can where it makes sense.
