2019 growing season is quickly wrapping up. There are no tall sequoias anywhere on the tree farm. Here is an account of all sequoias that are growing.
There are several categories of sequoias, for a total of 64 living seedlings:
- Original experiment, grown from J.L. Hudson seeds in 2013-2016, 200 and 400 series. Qty: 6
- Seedlings purchased in March and October 2018 (2016 germinations). Scenic Hill Farm nursery in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Qty: 11 (out of 30 purchased)
- 2018 germinations 500 series. Qty: 28
- Cold hardy sequoia seedlings purchased in December 2018 from Crowfoot nursery in Oregon, All grafted. Qty: 19
- Exceptionally Blue - 1
- Hazel Smith - 15
- Glaucum - 3
All six 200-400 series and three out of Scenic Hill sequoias are planted in ground and all others are in pots.
The 200 series recovered well from the last winter:
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| 220 Fall 2019, about 2 feet tall |
As you may recall, there was little left of it at the beginning of this growing season:
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| 220 Spring 2019 |
Similar situation with 222:
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| 222 Fall 2019, about 2 feet tall |
214 did not fare as well as the others but it does not appear to be in immediate danger of dying.
207 that was still the most promising tree as of the end of 2018 did not survive the winter.
400 series from 2016 germinations are barely growing. The two remaining survivors stand at about 5 inches:
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| 400, 2016 germination, 5" |
Scenic Hill sequoias had a significant mortality rate after last brutal winter. Out of about a dozen sequoias planted in the ground last Fall and all being kept under foam protectors, only 4 survived well into the middle of the summer. One sequoias unexpectedly died in early September with no usual signs of fungus. It just started turning yellow-grayish color as if from the lack of (or excessive) moisture and finally withered away. The three remaining sequoias look about the same:
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| Scenic Hill OR sequoia planted in ground in Fall 2018, 18". It is one of three planted in ground |
Here is the Scenic Hill sequoias in pots:
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| Scenic Hill sequoias, 2016 germinations |
2018 germinations:
Cold hardy sequoias look as follows:
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| Exceptionally Blue graft, 2018 |
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| Hazel Smith grafts, 2018 |
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| Hazel Smith, 2018 |
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| Glaucum, 2018 |
Most of the potted sequoias are going to spend next winter indoors. Just a handful of new sequoias will be going in the ground in November time frame and all will be protected with thermal foam.
Cool stuff man. gonna try to grow a few in oklahoma. got em in pots.
ReplyDeletePost pictures when you have a chance.
DeleteMy this year's Sequoia saplings (~50), seeds bought from J.L. Hudson, germinated March 2019. Inspiration gotten from reading this blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm going for 200 saplings this year and will plant 30 in their final location next spring.
https://imgur.com/a/kXsZfhJ
This is great to hear!
DeleteWhat location/zone will you be growing them in?
I'm living in Eastern Europe, temperate-continental climate. It is very hard to match that to a US plant hardiness zone. Temperatures rarely go below -15 degrees C where I live during the winter, but will drop below in the mountains near where I live. However, I will plant some saplings in those mountains, where is already a >100 year old Giant Sequoia tree, planted around 1900s.
DeleteI've also planted several and will plant some more in the parks and gardens around the city.
They will definitely thrive there. Please send more pictures in years to come. Thank you !
DeleteI am so glad to have found this thread! I look forward to your updates, and would appreciate any elaboration, and documentation, on the methods used to protect the trees through winter, and get them beyond their first 7 years in ground.
ReplyDeleteI hope to have a parcel of land in the next few years, and would like to try myself, though it can get very cold where I am.
Thanks everyone!