Jack,
Did the sequins in the 18s feel "light" using the weight method you have previously discussed?
Also, Im using Promix HP this year this year for my 18s and i can tell a difference in frequency of watering
bill
Bill,
Yes, the one with droopy leaves was light. The real issue is the tight time window and the volume of trees. When I'm dealing with hundreds of chestnuts or ACs, I don't take time to lift and water individually. I will lift several cells in random locations in the trays and kind of mentally average to determine when to water. So, some of the trees are probably watered a little too frequently and some a little too infrequently. 90%+ percent of the trees do very well this way as they are in the middle of the bell shaped curve. I'll lose a few trees each year on either end of the curve...no big deal.
Since I only have 5 seguins, I could pick them up individually and water accordingly. That requires me to check them pretty much daily and with other things going on in my life they can go a few days without being checked. My watering is also influenced by my schedule. If I'm heading to the farm a few days, I may water before I leave even though it may be a bit early because if I wait until I return and something comes up and I don't get back when planned, it could be way too late.
With 1 gal RB2s and indoor conditions, I don't even water once per week, even with actively growing trees. This gives me more flexibility with my schedule. I went back and looked at my records and I planted them in early Jan. In my first year working with rootmakers and chestnuts, the top growth was much faster than I was expecting. I transplanted a bunch at 9 weeks. They did fine in 1 gals. It just wasn't an efficient use of space since they had plenty of room to grown in 18s. With only 5 seguins space is not an issue.
You are right about the mix making a difference in the frequency of watering. I use promix in 18s, but to save money I was using a 50/50 mix of promix and mini pine bark nuggets for my larger containers. Someone in the neighborhood had a tree taken down and the crew chipped all the small stuff. I tool them that if they were looking for a place to dump the chips they could use my back yard. I started using those instead of the pine bark nuggets. When I mowed the grass, I'll put the clippings in the pile and use the FEL on my little tractor to mix it. Over time it composted. I continued using it in the 50/50. I noticed a big difference in water retention as the percentage of chips changed to compost over time.
Here is my sense right now:
Using a very well drained mix like promix (HP is great) is most important in 18s. It works great in larger containers but is expensive and requires frequent watering. I seemed to get the most growth mixing it with the mini pine bark nuggets but found watering had the be more frequent and complete (dunking container in a tub). When I mixed 50/50 with compost, I seemed to get somewhat less (but still good growth). However, I could wait longer between watering. This can be an advantage if you are growing lots of trees and have limited time and a bad back.
Thanks,
Jack