Tree Tube Recommendations

[Newbie]

Hey all,

Looking for recommendations for tree tubes. I'm planting about 175 bare root seedlings, mixture of ROD, willows, crab apples and pear trees in the upcoming weeks. Many will be planted in bulk sections with a fence, but I'd like to tube and plant 50-75 of them strategically in areas where tubes will be necessary. Any particular brand that stands out or supplier with reasonable pricing would be excellent. Recommendations on stakes would be appreciated too.

Thank you!

 

[RGrizzzz]

Buy 5' or 6' tubes. Everything that came out of the 4' tubes we used got browsed off. TreePro and TubeX are both good. I think BlueX "tubes" should be avoided. Sometimes you can find gently used tubes cheap. Check FB marketplace. If it's hot where you are, the vented tubes are a better choice.

Most of what I have now is the TubeX Combitube.
https://tubex.com/products/tubex-combitube-recyclable-tree-shelters/

For shrubs, something like this could be a better choice, as they want to grow wider than some tree tubes allow for.

Treeguard Mesh for Shrubs Protector - Tubex

TREEGUARD mesh acts as a shrubs protector and is suitable for species that require protection from browsing animals.

tubex.com

 

[Rubee]

I’ve used 5 foot ventilated miracle tubes for seven years now. A few have deteriorated but most are still working great. For stakes I cut pressure treated 2 by 6s
-10 foot long in half (5’) and rip them on a table saw about 1and 1/4 wide to get eight 5 foot stakes.

 

[bwoods11]

5 foot tubes really help. If I do use 3-4 footers I cage them after the tree hits the top of the tube … . That’s a nice combo, but expensive!

 

[Hoytvectrix]

5 ft miracle tubes all of the way. Some like the tree pro tubes that need to be assembled. I think I have 20 or so that are still rolled up because I despise them so much.

I use orange reflective driveway fiberglass stakes. You can get them for about $1 each if you buy them on sale. One of the downsides with this setup is that deer will sometimes pull the tubes up and off the stakes. I haven't quite figured out a good solution to prevent this other than gorilla or duct tape.

With all of that said, I still think cages are eventually needed for most plant types so I only run tubes for a couple of years before switching most things over to cages. Oaks, chestnuts, and persimmons are those that can just stay in tubes until they are the same diameter as the tube.