Spring 2014 Move to the Woods

Finally it got warm enough in Iowa to move 1.5 year old sequoias outside.

I believe that mid-spring when the temperatures are in 50-70 range would stress the plants the least.

There are 16 stable sequoias at present in 6" containers and another 16 young ones in 3".

For the move outside I implemented a plan that I came up with last year. Here is what the temporary home looks like:

Forrest Patch April 2014

The idea was simple and not too difficult to implement. Here is a repeat of the basic idea:

Temporary housing

I cleared a patch of forrest behind the house to create a clearing for enough sunlight to reach the plants. What is not obvious from the picture above is that the patch is located on a fairly steep slope of about 15 degrees facing North-West. As I took the picture from the second floor deck of the house, it made it look like it's flat.

I put the patch on a slope for two reasons: water run off and shielding from the winds.

For future reference, here is a map of the samples - I am sure the rain and sunlight will quickly fade out writing on the labels:

Forrest patch map April 2014

Since these containers sit in one place for at least one summer (and possibly longer) and hoping my house is not destroyed in the meantime, it will be possible to make a time lapse of the growth. The setup for picture taking is as follows:

Focal length

Center of image

Tripod placement

I set the lens at 55mm focal length, centered on sample #63. The tripod was placed as pictured. I tried doing time lapses before but did not have much luck. Hopefully, it will be an interesting result.