What Tree Shelters?
- Thread starter SwampCat
- Start date
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
I use the solo spray guard 49430 they also make a 4900626-P. Also have a 18x18 inch piece of 55 gallon drum on a stick to cover up overspray. Could make one from a section of drainage pipe, like the 6 inch stuff.
I think the wrap around ones like a spring won't protect from overspray.
You using these in additon to a cage? Or by themselves?
I think the wrap around ones like a spring won't protect from overspray.
You using these in additon to a cage? Or by themselves?
I cage younger stuff and sometimes use a tree guard, but mostly on stuff big enough to remove the cage
I have used the tubes on about 20 trees and had great success. I have also used the window screen and 5 ft welder wire fence on about 80 trees and had great success. I don’t think you can go wrongoin either one if you pick the correct location. That’s more important than the tube / fence.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
Over the last several years I have used around 600 of the miracle tubes from Tree Pro out of West Lafayette, IN. I only use the 60" tubes and I stake them with reflective driveway markers or PVC conduit.
I know many swear by the tree pro tubes (the one that you unroll and assemble). I have tried about 50 of them and I don't think you could pay me to use them in the future. They take much longer to assemble or install in the field and I have had several break down and crumble over time. Tree Pro reimbursed me for the ones that crumbled in just a few months, but I still can't get around the annoyance of assembling and installing them. I would rather pay a premium (extra shipping charges in this case) to be able to quickly move and install the Miracle Tubes in the field.
With that said, my understanding is that the Miracle Tubes are backordered another 7 weeks whereas the Tree Pro tubes can be ordered anytime.
I know many swear by the tree pro tubes (the one that you unroll and assemble). I have tried about 50 of them and I don't think you could pay me to use them in the future. They take much longer to assemble or install in the field and I have had several break down and crumble over time. Tree Pro reimbursed me for the ones that crumbled in just a few months, but I still can't get around the annoyance of assembling and installing them. I would rather pay a premium (extra shipping charges in this case) to be able to quickly move and install the Miracle Tubes in the field.
With that said, my understanding is that the Miracle Tubes are backordered another 7 weeks whereas the Tree Pro tubes can be ordered anytime.
I just want these mainly to protect from herbicide and trimmer string. Most of these trees are out of the cage and five feet to the first limb. I dont use screen on trunks - we dont have damage from mice, voles, or rabbits. We dont hardly have any of them. In 15 years, I have never seen gnawing on any of my trees. I will probably go out tomorrow and a beaver will have chewed them all down
I have used both also and I agree miracle tubes are faster and easier to put on tree but I need to get in there for two years to clean up the first five feet. The trees is planted as a whip but within a few months I have limbs above tube. Chinese chestnuts will fill the 1st 60 inches with a million limbs that I need to remove for about 2 years. Apples and especially crabs will add low limbs that I do not want and limbs with very tight crouch angles inside the tubes, and some branches even below the graft that I must remove. So I end up slitting the solid tube to get to the bad behavior and correcting for about two years and then tree behaves but I leave on tube to keep bucks from rubbing. I want to use the solid tubes like you Hoyt but I can't make it work, how do you make it work?
Tree Bark Protectors | Growing Supplies | Ison's Nursery & Vineyard
Tree Bark Protectors protect new plantings of fruit or nut trees from animals, equipment and herbicides and keep them growing straight.
www.isons.com
I am thinking about these
Those would work great for me on every tree that I plant but not on apples or crabapples. Deer love the leaves too much of apple trees and when the whip pops out of that tube the deer will trim the tip off daily. My deer population is not that out of whack and would not bother pears or chestnuts most likely but apple leaves are candy or at least they are in my area. Thanks for the link though because I am going to buy some for my oak seedlingsTree Bark Protectors | Growing Supplies | Ison's Nursery & Vineyard
Tree Bark Protectors protect new plantings of fruit or nut trees from animals, equipment and herbicides and keep them growing straight.
I am thinking about these
My trees are all at least five ft tall to the first limb. I dont really care if they browse the leaves on the bottom limbs. Not going to use these for grow tubes
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
You bring up nothing but great points! I grow a lot of chestnuts in the miracle tubes as well, in addition to about 20 other tree species. Cleaning out the leaves and trimming branches is absolutely more difficult with the solid tubes. It is two weekends of work in the late winter/early spring to get around to all of my trees that need pruning/cleaning. I don't mind having to be a bit more aggressive with pruning branches to keep a central leader and hopefully get to the top of the tube faster. Some cultivars/biotypes of chestnuts certainly take their time and want to branch more horizontally. For those I just try to switch over to cages with a screen if I have them. Once trees get to the tops of the tubes, I think you get about another season or two with sliding them up/off for cleaning and pruning. After that the branches are too large. At that point I stop pruning and cleaning and just leave the tubes on many trees until the trunk is about to be girdled, at which point I just cut it off (admittedly, I don't have many trees at this point yet).
With your tree pros do you pre-assemble them? I have thought about flattening out the stacks of plastic sheets for a week or two in advance but never get around to it. I just fight them in the field and bitch and moan the whole time swearing them off.
Well sometime I just moan and fight in the field but usually I take all from the box and actually put three zip ties on each but leave the ties loose as possible so they are trained by the time I need them in a few days. After having zip ties for a few days they are just as easy to handle as the miracle tubes but they do clog up my utility room for a few days.
