More detailed sequoia update

It is getting a bit harder to keep track of the sequoias as the time goes by. The plastic labels occasionally get lost, trees grow and make it hard to get close to the labels. With a significant variety of sequoia sources and kinds it is also somewhat challenging to remember which one is which.  The goal of this post is to classify and record sequoias so it would be easier to track later.

Most of the sequoias are grouped into one of four patches. There are also a few individual sequoias spread outside of the patches. Here is simple numbering scheme.

HS - Hazel Smith, 2016-17, all from Crowfoot Nursery

EB - Exceptionally Blue, 2016-17, Crowfoot nursery

OR - Scenic Hill, OR 2016

Patch 1 contains 6 trees:

The info for sequoias on Patch 1 is as follows - 

1. P1.365 - 45". Germinated from a seed from JL Hudson 2013 batch in December 2016.
2. P1.HS1 - 15"
3. P1.HS2 - 15"
4. P1.HS3 - 41"
5. P1.Glaucum  - 36"
6. P1.EB - 46"

Patch 2 contains 9 trees:

1. P2.534 - 41"
2. P2.540 - 46"
3. P2.OR08 - 56"
4. P2.OR09 - 57"
5. P2.OR10 - 50"
6. P2.OR11 - 39"
7. P2.HS01 - 15"
8. P2.HS02 - 48"
9. P2.EB - 60"

Patch 3 contains 12 trees:

1. P3.OR01 - 40"
2. P3.OR02 - 22"
3. P3.OR04 - 54"
4. P3.OR06 - 30"
5. P3.HS01 - 29"
6. P3.HS02 - 24"
7. P3.HS03 - 38"
8. P3.HS04 - 15"
9. P3.HS05 - 34"
10. P3.HS06 - 24"
11. P3.HS07 - 16"
12. P3.HS08 - 31"

Patch 4 contains 3 trees:

1. P4.HS01 - 47"
2. P4.HS02 - 43"
3. P4.EB - 41"

And another view from above but a bit different angle:

Summer 2021 update

Hard to believe but it's already August. This year is exceptionally good for sequoias in Iowa. It is not very hot nor too humid to cause fungus. Elsewhere in the USA the weather is extremely hot and dry but Iowa so far has been spared. Several very warm weeks in the low 90s, interspersed with a few cooler rainy days so far this summer. 

All sequoias continue to grow at a fast pace. There are total of 4 "patches" with 3-12 trees per patch. Some are doing better than others, specifically Exceptionally Blue ones. The tallest one of them was 54 inches on July 20 as depicted below. Today, on August 1 it stands at 60 inches. It is the tree in the middle of the subsequent picture.

July 20, 2021

August 1, 2021

Some regular (not cold hardy) sequoias are growing very large volumes. The tree on the picture above on the right looks almost like a ball, with side branches going practically at 90 degrees to the trunk. Each branch looks like an individual sequoia only weirdly growing parallel to the ground. I have not seen it so clearly exaggerated before with other trees. This depicted patch is starting to look like a mini-forest. 

Here is a typical Hazel Smith. Not as tall or full as some others but still very very respectable growth.

All sequoias have irrigation system installed now. Water is turned on once early in the morning 4-8AM and another time 4-8PM. The 0.5 gallon per hours sprinkler heads distributed between the trees on the patches with roughly two heads per tree. Very roughly, each tree gets 8 gallons (30 litres)  per day. This seems high as compared to previous years of the experiment, but the results so far speak for themselves.

Blue 0.5 gal/hour sprinkler head

Here is a very nice bright orange bark of one of the sequoias 

All tree have been treated with Daconil once a month since the growing season started.