The Map v1.0

The trees are growing well for the most part. There are a few exceptions. In order to track the growth a little better and in general provide a better overview of the experiment, here is a very rough map of the habitat. When Google Maps updates the image to include the cleared area it will be possible to create a more precise map. So, here is the map version 1.0:

Iowa sequoia park map 1.0 June 2016

The hill was cleared in such a way to provide most protection from the strong Iowa winter northerly winds. The area was cleared of the trees deep enough to the south so that the sun could easily reach all trees in the middle of a day. The only trees that get sunlight after noon and into the evening are #71, #39 and less so #118 on the east end. #215 on the west end gets morning sun, which lasts till about noon.

It's too soon to make strong correlations but the trees that got more sun grew a little more that the ones on the east and west ends of the park.

Most of the growth this past week came from the trees that are still staying behind in the old nursery. The conditions in the old nursery are such that the trees get direct sun starting at 9AM and till about 3PM. Some of them are also illuminated by the late sun after 7PM from the west this year after two huge trees were taken down on the west side.

The permanently planted at the old site #38 keeps growing very fast both in height and volume. It added 2.5 inches and exceeded 40" mark. It is really quite a nice looking tree:

#38 approaching 4 years. June 24, 2016

The absolute winner for this period was #212. It grew a very long lead by astonishing 5" in 12 days.

#212 approaching 3 years. June 23, 2016

Another very strong growth happened with #207, which grew 3 inches that amounts to 125% growth for the season.

#207 approaching 3 years. June 23, 2016

The percent winner for the year is #219, which grew from 6 to 14.5 inches this season. It represents almost a 150% growth:

#219 approaching 3 years. June 23, 2016

In other news, 4 germination containers were forgotten for almost a month after a a period of a week with no additional germinations. They were stored in the shade but the temperatures over last several weeks were into mid and even high 90s F. One way or another it was conducive to shaking up the dormancy:

June 2016 germinations

Since there was too little time to place them in the individual containers, all 20 of them were put in one large pot:

June 2016 germinated seeds were placed in one large container 

First results from the Iowa Sequoia Park

Finally, after two months of vigorous activities the park is beginning to take shape. Most of the first wave sequoias have been moved to their permanent homes.

#31 during move on May 27, 2016. Extraction from plastic container.

#31 during move on May 27, 2016. Filling with black dirt.

#31 during move on May 27, 2016. Making a mound.

#31 permanently planted. June 11, 2016

Almost all sequoias experienced some level of stress during the move. The biggest ones had the most drooping of the top branches and especially the leading shoots. One two year old sequoia experienced no visible signs of discomfort. It can be attributed to the fact that the three year olds had roots going outside of the 2-foot containers through the bottom and some even through the drainage holes on sides. The two year old had only very minor root sticking from the bottom. Since older ones had some roots broken upon removal from temporary holes they experienced shortage in water supply and dropped.

#63 stressed after the move. Lead shoot is bent pointing down in the middle of this picture.

However, all sequoias so far bounced back within two weeks of being in the new homes.

The most troubled sample at this point is a former leader #34. It had a history of a very late start last Spring when it started to bud early and got hit with a freeze. It eventually started growing and remained in the top five for the year. This season looks worse than last. For an unknown reason it shows almost no signs of new growth. It's not dead yet with a substantial portion of the volume remaining dark green from previous years, but there are no visible changes this year so far. #34 still holds a respectable spot #7 in overall height due to its previous success but the future looks bleak. It was the only surviving sample that lost height over winter, currently standing just above 28".

#34 on June 11, 2016. Approaching 4 years. This sample is not growing this season.

In addition to #34 troubles another two-year old, #217 got moved into the #0 (Dead) folder. It was struggling last year and was by far the smallest and weakest. There is only one remaining sample in that age range that remains questionable. #220 was accounted for dead for several weeks but an unexpected lead appeared in the last two weeks going from underneath dead looking ball of brown needles.

#220 on June 11, 2016. The weakest of two year olds.

The remainder of two year olds are doing exceptionally well. One young tree more than doubled (!) between start of the season in April and now, early June. #219 grew 6.75", which represent 112% growth since last Fall. It went from 6" to 12.75".

#219 on June 11, 2016. Two and a half years.

One two-year-old #214 grew an amazing 8.5" in the same period. It was a reasonably strong sample last season but in the first 8 weeks of this season it averaged a little over 1" per week. It currently stands at 21", getting in range of the middle of the pack of the three-year-old trees. Not far behind it is #212 that added 8" and stands at the same 21" of height.

#212 on June 11, 2016. Two and a half years old.

From the absolute growth perspective, #38 is a clear winner. It added 9.5" standing above the rest at 38.5". It jumped four places to take the overall lead. #38 was permanently planted in May last Spring, so it had the luxury unavailable to any other trees till now. It was not doing exceptionally well last growing season, clearly getting adjusted to the new home. The dividends are paying now.

#38 on June 11, 2016. Permanently planted in May 2015. Current leader at three and a half years old, 38 inches.

On average, most trees added about 5" of height. Five trees stand above 30" mark and the middle of the pack is between 20 and 28 inches.

Height chart on June 11, 2016

A new crop of late 2015 early 2016 sequoias is growing mostly in shade. There are total of 75 new contenders.

Approximately 75 new 2016 season sequoia seedlings.

In addition to sequoias a few Norway Spruces, Ponderosa pines and Oriental spruces were planted around the park.

Norway Spruce June 11, 2016. About 3 years old.

Finally, sequoias imported from California are not doing well. All nine are drooping their branches and color is changing more to yellow. These trees were not planted yet but rather moved into the woods. It is unclear what is causing them to stress like that.

California sequoias not doing well on June 11, 2016

Where are the updates?

The growing season is in full an vigorous swing. Some sequoias added several inches already. How come are there no updates?

That's because they are moving to the new permanent location. In a week or two the new and improved updates will start coming.

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. 

Crazy Norway

I was not crazy last week when I said that it felt like Norway Spruce grew "over winter". It indeed is growing fast. It appears that this past winter was not cold enough to put it into too much hibernation. As soon as temperatures climbed above freezing and in fact climbed into mid 60s and even went into lower 70s one week it started growing.

Norway spruce, 3 years old. Note 2" growth on top due to extremely warm winter and spring so far. March 27, 2016

I see growth on all eight trees ranging from 0.5" to 2". Here are the actual temperatures for February and March 2016:

There were two warm spells by the end of February where the temperature stayed above freezing day and night. Then starting second week of March there were some incredibly warm days where temperature was in lower seventies and night temperatures were in the fifties. That, I believe, led to Norway spruce waking up and starting to grow. 

Today I opened all sequoias for direct sun exposure. This Spring has come fast and there are no signs of abating. 

Most of the sequoia trees have significant purpling. Some that were under foam cones are completely green. Next week I will do a complete snapshot of the 2016 growing season starting point with measurements.