Great weather, good growth and a cautionary tale

Things were going great for sequoias over last two weeks. Warm but not hot weather (70-85F) with regular intense but not flash flooding rains (1-2" over 4-8 hours) let the trees grow nice and steady.

Here is a chart of the last three measurements from last fall before snow, mid May when first vertical growth became apparent, and the most recent sample at the end of May. My younger daughter assisted me with collection of the height data this weekend:

There were no changes in the first top eight in the last two weeks, with nine and eleven trading spaces and the bottom ten fluctuating widely. On average 20 sequoias added 1.6" for this period. Local variations are quite large, but they are due to the two trees (#15 and CA1) that lost significant height and are now bouncing back with their lower branches. The current leader #34 is struggling due to still barely recovering top branches but lower branches are catching up.

As stated before, #38 is growing fastest. Although it still ranks number five it will most likely outgrow others over next 4-6 weeks given that it was planted in a much larger "container". It's closest rival is #31, which grew even faster than #38 in last two weeks, but it remains in a 6-inch container for now. Another advantage of #38 is that it gets 2-3 hours of more sunlight than the rest of the samples because of its new less shady location.

Other samples to watch are #118 and #63. They are both over 1 foot tall now and added over 2" over last two weeks. There is also a handful of samples in 208-215 range that grew reasonably fast for their still young age, with one #215 posting a very strong 3" growth. This placed #215 above all 200-range samples, which are one year younger than 15-118 surviving older samples.

A new member of the tracked trees was added to the line up. #208 was migrated from 3" container to an 6" one. Unlike other 6" container samples, this one was placed outside of the 4x5 patch. At the current observed growth rate and as reported elsewhere on the Internet, the current trees will outgrow their 2 feet spacing between containers this summer. The distance between some of the existing trees is beginning to shrink to just a couple of inches:

There is sufficient amount of space available at this time to move some of the bigger sequoias away from each other similar to #208:

Finally, a cautionary tale of a promising sequoia that was grown in Iowa. I discovered it a few weeks back and finally got detailed pictures that "Hardy Jim" posted on forums and Photobucket. Amazingly, this sequoia was grown just 80 miles south west from my location. I am very grateful that Jim posted these pictures over 5 years given very close geographical conditions to my experiment.

It appears to be a 7-8 year old sequoia that was planted in Fairfield Iowa in 2010 at the age of about two. It had its share of trouble over the years but was able to bounce back with some moderate branch loss:

Hardy Jim sequoia, about 3 years old, showing some damage after winter

It grew steadily for the next 4 years, turning into a beautiful 10' tree:

Hardy Jim sequoia in 2013, 10' tall at 5-6 years old

The cold winter of 2013-2014 severely damaged the tree:

Hardy Jim sequoia damaged by the 2013-2014 winter

If there was any hope that it would bounce back from the lower trunk and branches, all hope is gone judging by this picture taken this May 2015:

Hardy Jim sequoia, 2015

It appears Jim put about 4-6" of mulch around the tree in attempt to keep the temperatures higher. Apparently it did not work and it's likely that additional mulch would not make much of a difference by itself. Judging by its planting location it was on a flat surface and constrained on two sides by a road and a sidewalk. The root system probably was not able to expand enough to get access to sufficient supply of water during winter. There was likely little of the underground water flow during those cold winter months given flat location and freezing ground levels in Fairfield Iowa.

To combat unforgiving Iowa winters, my approach was to create a very deep planting hole that would penetrate approximately 4' Iowa freezing line, giving the tap root a chance to grab on to some of the liquid water. This was the reason for 4.5' overall depth of the hole and a foot of river rock at the bottom. Second strategy was to place sequoias on a reasonably steep slopes that facilitate flow of water from higher elevations. Finally, currently planted #38 will also be able to reach into a very small stream that goes approximately 50' from the planting location. I did not place the tree any closer to the stream since there is evidence of flash floods cutting pretty deep into the ravine created by the stream.

For the next few winters I also plan to place about a foot of mulch in 10-12' radius of the trunk as soon as the ground starts to freeze in December. In the spring I will remove most of the mulch to allow rain collection and water flow once again. My main bet is on the tree roots reaching into the stream, which should keep it alive.

It's all about #38

This entire post is dedicated to the new growth leader, #38.

As it was stated in the previous post some plants shot new strong branches with #38 showing strongest growth. Although in overall height it ranks only fifth, it's overall volume, bright green color and massive number of new branches shooting along the entire length of the trunk made it the prime candidate for the next phase.

A 5 foot wide and 4 feet deep hole in the ground was dug. The bottom 1 foot was filled with 2" river rock with a drainage pipe positioned down the slope:

The entire volume (approximately 40 cubic feet) was filled with a mix of sand, 0.5" gravel, composted manure, top soil, peat moss, perlite. More sand and gavel was used in lower layers. Premium potting mix and tried and true cactus soil were used in the top layers. Two full 2 cubic foot bags of peat moss were used throughout. This will make the soil fairly acidic and some neutralizer will be added at a later time. The top level containing potting mix contained some fertilizer (green pellets), which was deemed sufficient for the initial planting.

Lower 2 feet of the mixture were thoroughly drenched in water to create consistency of clay slightly sticking to hands, but not muddy.

#38 was removed from the temporary location by attaching two bungee cords through pre-drilled holes on top of the container and pulling it out of the hole:

The wire mesh at the bottom along with the synthetic filter material were removed:

This last part looked somewhat disturbing as the lower roots were snapping off very easily. The hope is that it will not affect the tree too much. In the future plantings the wire mesh will be cut out but the white synthetic material will be left alone in place. The roots penetrate synthetic material very easily and it does not appear leaving it should have any effect on the tree.

The container was placed in a 1 foot deep hole in the center of the new location. Each PVC half side was removed and the gap filled with more cactus soil:

This placed the base of the tree about two feet above the ground level. The reason for that was because a significant soil compression is expected over next several years, which will eventually lower the tree base closer to the ground level.

Finally, more vegetable planting soil (with fertilizer) was added around the base of the tree creating a mound and a "moat" area for watering. The plant was immediately watered with about a gallon (4L) of water:

A net was placed around the planting area and baseline measurement taken:

The first permanent move has been completed:

Since this pant will monitored closely, here is a few detailed pictures:

top

middle

bottom

Finally, here is #38 journey so far:

Going in high gear

The dormancy is over. Every day now adds visible changes of sequoia growth.

First of all, the patch has transformed into bright vivid green. Even compared to last week, the brightness of green is superb. This week also heralded the first time when some plants increased their overall height as compared to the last Fall measurements.

The four younger plants didn't show any new additional needle or branch growth. However, they got completely green, looking like they were before winter. 

38 became the fastest growing plan over last few weeks. Although it stands only at 15" it added over 2" in last 10 days. One reason for success was that it sprouted a new branch very close to the top. 

Some of the plants are growing old fashioned dense needles like the example of #34. Some grow very different long needles like the above mentioned #38. Dense needles occur at the bottom of trunks and on the ends of the broad old branches. 

Long needles appear always on top and represent new forming branches. Long needles also appear lighter colored compared to the darker green dense needles growing at the bottom. 

Prev Rank	Name	9/6/2014	5/11/2015	New Rank
1	34	20.5	21.5	1
3	31	18	17.5	2
4	104	17	17	3
5	72	16.5	16.5	4
8	38	12.5	15	5
7	63	14	14.25	6
6	24	14	14	7
9	39	12.5	12.5	8
10	71	12	11.5	9
12	33	10	11.5	10
13	118	10	10	11
14	112	8.5	9.5	12
15	65	8	8.5	13
16	212	5	5	14
17	214	5	5	15
18	213	4	4	16
19	215	4	4	17
2	15	18	4	18
11	CA1	12	2	19
20	218	4	0	20

Conclusive evidence

The warm weather stayed for over a month now. Daily temperatures are in upper 70s, lower 80s (20-28C). Most trees clearly showed new growth while one was pronounced certainly dead with another two having slim chances of survival and another four in hibernation. Out of 20 that went outside for the winter, 13 are the survivors.

The dead one was #218. That's what the "certainly dead" one looks like. Absolutely no green, from root to the top:

#218 Dead

The two with slim chances are the oldest #15 and the Californian.

#15 shows quite a bit of the green on the bottom, with a mini-forrest near the root. The #CA 1 shows minimal amount of green but at least it has some:

#CA 1 after first winter outside 2015

The four hibernating ones are all "one year olds". They all look very similar, being pale green with some damaged brown needles:

#214 after first winter outside

The rest show various amount of growth, mostly starting from the bottom. One particularly interesting case is #34. It was the tallest one to go into the winter. It was hit hard with the top part of the trunk turning dark brown. However, there is a very clear evidence of some brand new growth. Not  all the way on the top, but pretty high. This is a very good news, showing that the growth will pick up not from the bottom:

#34 in March 2015

#34 in May 2015

A close examination reveals a strong new branch appearing on the left (second from top), just about where the trunk starts turning brown.

We are alive! Sort of.

The warm weather stayed for about a month now. The grass is green and the trees are starting to get first leaves. Some of the sequoias appear to really survive while some appear to be more dead than alive.

Those that survived did so not in the way I expected. Here is a prime example, the EX-leader of the last year, the mighty #34:

#34 April 12, 2015 2 years 5 months.

The top shows no signs of activity, even after a month of 50-70F weather:

#34 April 12, 2015, top detail

However, if I look at the bottom there is a very different story there:

#34 April 12, 2015 bottom detail

And even greater zoom shows a tiny world of activity:

#34 April 12, 2015 zoom

It looks like a mini-forrest just on the trunk of this one plant.

The picture is similar across about half of the samples. A couple remained mostly green (but not showing activity on top branches) while half a dozen are starting to look thiner and more grey without any activity on top or bottom.

First Real Iowa Winter Assessment

The snow is gone and it's possible to do an assessment of how sequoias survived this winter.

It was their first real winter, which turned out to be typically cold and reasonably snowy. Temperature-wise, it certainly wasn't a record breaking one on either side of scale but it's unlikely that the sequoias will be facing significantly colder conditions. Snow-wise, pretty much the same thing. Although there were several episodes when it was cold without deep snow cover, average amount of snow was not exceptionally low compared to most years and it was certainly far from dry.

February 2015 precipitation deviation from normal. Central Eastern Iowa had about 70% of normal. January was slightly above average.

The verdict is still out on how well sequoias faired but here is first observations the first weekend after intense snow melt. Temperatures jumped from 0F to 50-60F+ in two weeks with the warm weather now staying for about 10 days. Last 3 days the thermometer climbed to 70F with overnight temperatures of 34-38F.

The first observation was that of significant browning of both needles and the trunks. It was very clear that the parts exposed to air got significantly redder than the branches that stayed under snow. I uncovered some branches that were buried under the mix of mulch and ice that looked bright green. Most of the volume of all sequoias that was not solid frozen into that mix got much darker. On a closer examination it appears to be a mix of green and brown streaks, giving overall look of a dark "dirty" green color. 

My biggest concern was with #15, one of the strongest samples. The way how the container was position on the slope it was very difficult to cover the plant with significant layer of snow. Also the "mini-cliff" formed by the ground and container on one side tended to create conditions that were allowing blowing the snow, exposing the plant. It is by far the reddest sample on the patch, with over 50% volume having almost pure light brown color. 

#15 March 14, 2015

On close examination the light brown branches are not as thin as in the case when sequoias are dying due to the diseases. They look normal so to speak from the shape standpoint. Time will tell if it's a wishful thinking.

The tallest sample #34 also has significant browning but not as wide-spread as #15.

#34 March 14, 2015

A side by side comparison of CA 1 sample demonstrates color changes well:

#CA comparison between Fall 2014(on the right) and Spring 2015 (on the left). March 14, 2015

The pattern continues across all samples but some that were not as tall and were buried deeper and longer under snow show more green and less brown. #38 is one of several samples that managed to stay mostly green:

#38 March 14, 2015

Here is a sample of practically unchanged green needles that I found buried under mulch. I added about 4-8" right before temperatures started to fall below freezing, partially covering some lower branches of the plants:

A branch frozen in a mixture of mulch and ice

The water accumulated in loosely spread mulch and then froze, capturing some of the branches. Once I discovered that these branches were hard frozen in, I stopped trying to remove them at this time. When they thaw out, I will check if it damaged or preserved them.

Overall, despite a very "dirty" look of the patch that emerged from under the snow, it appears most if not all sequoias have at fighting chance of survival.

Sequoia patch March 14, 2015

The Dead of Winter 2015

It is cold. Not so much today as last week when the temperatures dropped below -25C (-14F) with winds over 60 km/h (38 mph). It is by far the toughest conditions the sequoias experienced so far.

Fortunately, before the big freeze 8" of snow fell. I covered sequoias with about another 8" of snow while there was plenty of it.

White patch is really white with about 30cm (1ft) of snow covering the patch. January 10, 2015

Some of the younger ones that are spending this winter inside the house are doing fine. The temperature is maintained at 70-72F with 150ml of water added every Sunday. The reason for 150ml is because any more water and it just trickles through at the bottom collecting in the cups below. With 150ml it's just about when water reaches the bottom of containers with a few drips going into the cups below.

My younger daughter planted four of her newly germinated seeds this weekend. We put two seeds per container and marked them as #225 and #226:

All of the seedlings inside are doing very well compared to the state that they were in at the end of summer. Even those that looked like unlikely to survive reacted very positively to the inside conditions. Best example is #207 that showed significant amount of stress starting from initial planting:

#207 in August 2014.

At the end of summer it had very thin and crooked stem. Its color was pale yellowish. However, after being moved inside it straightened out and gained volume on par with other seedlings:

#207 January 10, 2015

First snow of 2014

The winter has come en force to Iowa.

First, the temperatures dropped to mid-20s (F) and then a few days later 3 inches of snow fell. Exciting times for sequoias since they never experienced cold or snow before. It certainly requires a leap of faith to believe that they will survive Iowa harsh winter.

15 sequoias are two years old and 5 are about a year old. Before freezing temperatures were expected a two-inch layer of mulch was put around the base of the trees. The fresh snow further created cushioning.

One year old were completely covered by this snow fall, while two year-olds seem to hold this snow just fine.

Fall 2014 Line-up

2014 Fall has arrived and with that the quick growth of sequoias slowed down dramatically.

It's unclear why they stopped growing so abruptly: there are occasional showers followed by very warm 80-85F weather with plenty of sun. The leaders added just about half of an inch to an inch over last three weeks. All sequoias look healthy and somewhat adding volume, but vertical growth halted.

Here is a full line up of the trees as they go into the Fall and the Winter.

#15 (18") is the oldest. It has been growing moderately but steadily. It's currently situated somewhat in the shadow of the Brown Patch box, but is doing great in the top 5:

#15 Sept 1, 2014. 1 year and 10 months

#24 (14") is the second oldest surviving tree. It does not grow vertically as well as some of the other giants but what it lacks in height it gains in overall volume. It looks very balanced, so to speak.

#24 Sept 1, 2014. 1 year and 9 months

#31 (18") has never been an exceptional sample but in recent weeks it added height to its volume placing it in top 5: 

#33 (10") is a below average sample that struggles to shoot a leading branch. One branch that looked like it was going for leadership is currently showing signs of disease damage. It has remained in this state for many weeks.

#34 (20.5") Is the current leader with over 3" advantage over next contender. It was growing at an extremely fast pace of 1" per week for almost a month before slowing down. It grew only half an inch in the last three weeks of August.

#38 (12.5") is an average sample showing healthy volume and just above average height tying it for 8-9 place with #39.

#39 (12.5") although one of the oldest has been slow to grow, placing it in the middle of the pack:

#63 (14") is a survivor that saw dramatic branch removal in summer of 2013 to battle brown menace of some kind. It has recovered very well and is just a bit above average placing it in top 10:

#65 (8)" is the weakest tree of the patch compared to its age and overall condition. Only recent additions to the patch are shorter than this 2 year old veteran. It’s one of the four death-list seedlings (along with #112 and #118) that managed to survive. However, it did not completely recover by this time despite a substantial volume it accumulated prior to the decline. #65 is currently the only questionable sample that likely needs to be replaced. It acquired a small partner, similar to the one described in #112 below.

#71 (12") a former “twin” of #72 has never quite reached the status of its twin. It went dormant some time a year ago, barely growing to 3” tall while #72 jumped to over 12” at the same time. However, after the move outside it acclimated exceptionally well and added 6” since the move three months ago.

#72 (16.5") held tallest title for many months before slowing down. It is certainly one of the tallest five trees at this time.

#104 (17") continues to be an exceptionally strong seedling. It is a former early height leader that gave way to other record holders while continuing adding both height and volume at a good pace.

#112 (8.5") is one of the weakest seedlings. In fact it was placed on the death list for removal among four similar samples early this summer after turning gray and losing branches. At that time it acquired a little partner in the form of a germinated seed. In fact there were two seeds placed in June time frame next to the main plant. One of them took root and currently can be seen in the picture below. Due to recent heavy rains it appears that there are signs of  over-watering for the little partner, which turns needles yellow and somewhat bleak.

#118 (10") is one of the four death-list samples. After a near death experience it stabilized better than other surviving three (fourth did not make it). It shot a distinct lead branch, which continues to gain height at a stable pace over last 6 weeks. It’s in the bottom ten at this time but is showing strong positive trend.

#212 (5") is one of the new samples that migrated into a 6” container this past Spring of 2014. An incident occurred in July when a squirrel dug a two-inch deep hole about one inch away from the stem leaving the seedling laying hopelessly on the ground. Upon examination of the root I decided that the damage perhaps was not too extensive to kill the plant. I put it vertically and rearranged the soil to fill in the hole. Since it has been over a month since that event I would say the plant survived.

#213, #214 and #215 are all from the same batch as #212 described above. They all moved from the 3” containers to the new houses within two-week period. All of them are doing fine but not spectacular.

#213 (4") is the weakest of these four while the rest are about equal.

#214 (5")

#215 (4")

#218 (4") is the newest member of the white patch, which moved into the spot of the first outside dead sample. For that to happen I figured out how to remove the 6” container buried 2 feet under ground level. The method was to drill four holes just below the PVC top rim, strong metal wire through making kind of a handle and then pull using heavy duty work gloves on the wire. The gravel that  was placed around the PVC tube served as a good “lubricant”, making  procedure much simpler than anticipated. #218 looked very crooked coming out of 3” container. For that reason I used a stick to straighten it out. It appears that the plant had no issues adjusting to this “nurture” and looks very healthy at this time.

#CA1 (12") is the purchased seedling, which is now approximately two years old, making it roughly the same age as #1-100 batch. Despite its distinctly different color of bottom needles, it looks like a completely average sample from volume and height stand point. The top 6” of the plant look darker and more blue, compared to the bottom 6” that were grown in California that look greener and lighter in color.  As the new needles grow both at the top and bottom branches it starts to look more like the rest of the samples grown under Iowa sun. #CA 1 experienced a spurt growth in late June but then slowed down by end of July.

Brown Patch containing 206, 207, 208, 216, 217, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224. Brown Patch has one lead, four promising and six struggling seedlings. #217 is easily outgrowing both its neighbors and the container it’s in. #217 is currently the candidate for the move to 6” container in case #65 (or another sudden death) seedling gives up. #207 is the weakest sample due to early phase when it developed a substantial bend of its main stem. I was afraid to straighten it out because the lower part of the stem looked extremely thin and fragile. However, it kept on living, however unlikely it looked. In the last two weeks #207 appeared to finally started straightening out. Several of the samples, notably #216 acquired a substantial green moss growth  on soil surface due to strong rains and moderately warm (80-85F) weather over last 4 weeks. 

Several of the samples got mushrooms growing inside containers. As it was mentioned before the weather has been damp and warm over last several weeks. Samples that have mushrooms: 31, 39, 104, 112, 118:

Here is all twenty main patch samples by height ranking:

Rank	Name	Height
1	34	20.5
2	15	18
3	31	18
4	104	17
5	72	16.5
6	24	14
7	63	14
8	38	12.5
9	39	12.5
10	71	12
11	CA1	12
12	33	10
13	118	10
14	112	8.5
15	65	8
16	212	5
17	214	5
18	213	4
19	215	4
20	218	4