Now and then

This is "now and then" episode that compares a few sequoias since their birth till now.

This is the post from Dec 28, 2012:

Dec 28, 2012 lineup 

And completing 2012 germinations are 71 and 72:

Feb 10, 2013 lineup

Now, here is what we have today:

#4 has not survived making #15 the oldest surviving tree:

#15 May 7, 2016. 3 and half years old

#15 had a close call with death last winter where the top completely died. The old black trunk can still be seen in this picture to the left of the main trunk. It recovered exceptionally well last summer when one of the lower branches took the lead.

#24 moved to a neighbor's house. It was not protected this past winter and there is significant damage to the tree. However, it does seem to start recovering. A picture will be posted later.

The mighty-30s line up. For some unknown reason out of the first 100 seedlings the thirties produced the largest number of outstanding trees: #31, #33, #34, #38 and #39. Only #36 did not survive.

#31 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#31 is permanently planted in the ground.

#33 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#34 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#38 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#39 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#39 is the weakest of this 30s lineup but appears to recover from the troubles of the last year.

All 40s and 50s are gone.

From the 60s there are two samples: #63 is slightly below average of the 2012 germination batch while #65 is the shortest of all of them:

#63 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#65 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#65 although shortest, appears to be doing very well after second outdoors winter.

#71 and #72 used to be "twins" but over last two years their development diverged significantly. #71 was going through a very rough time but appears to have slowly overcome its troubles. #72 remained steady, not an exceptional sample but definitely above average.

#71 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#72 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#104 that also belongs to the very late 2012 germination:

#104 May 7, 2016. 3 and a half years old

#112 and #118 are the sole survivors that are 3 year old at this time:

#112 May 7, 2016. 3 years old

#118 May 7, 2016. 3 years old

The late 2013 germinations (2.5 year old at this time) produced a few solid samples: #207, #208, #212, #214, #215, #219, #220,  #221 and #222.

#212 May 7, 2016 2.5 years old

#214 May 7, 2016 2.5 years old

#222 May 7, 2016 2.5 years old

A somewhat surprising revelation is that all 2014 and 2015 germinated sequoias are dead. Although there were not a lot of germinations in 2014, in 2015 I was germinating quite a bit. It seems somewhat counterintuitive that later sequoias did not fare as well. In fact the last 2015 sequoia died this month after I took it outside with the rest of the newly germinated 2016 batch.

For the 2016 I keep germinating more seeds with the goal to have 100 seedlings surviving going into the 2017 winter:

"Brown Patch", May 7 2016 new seedlings

Although I call them "2016 seedlings", in reality they include late 2015 samples as well as winter and spring germinations.