I’ve waited 6 years for this moment. The first 3 years after collection it did not grow at all. The 4th only put out some juvenile growth. Last year was the first real needles it put out, and this year it’s first true candles. So much growth and back budding this year. It’s too exciting not to share. I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to keep it protected from the elements and leave it alone unless it needs watering or checking for problem insects. A number of jumping spiders have claimed homes in the old borer holes. Tons of 1-3in candles on every tip.
Sadly a wildfire in 2022 came through and wiped out 90% of the awesome trees, even though most weren’t not collectable. I feel like I managed to save this one and it may be the oldest tree still alive from that area. I know age is a hard thing to tell but does anyone have a guess? Based on trees in the area and what I’ve managed to count for rings I was thinking 100-150+.
If anyone is wondering about the bare branches In the bottom left that belongs to a lively Douglas fir who’s original apex had already died off. The living portion is just out of camera shot there.
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Congratulations on your patience. Great to hear that just letting it be, balance of water and oxygen and time took care of everything.
I’m dealing with a client’s tree right now that has completely stagnated on us. The buds have not moved and have the tree’s needles are now discolored or obviously dying off but there are several locations that seem to still be hanging in there and I’m just watering once it’s almost completely dry. So this gives me hope as well. I also have a Doug fir that I re-potted too early almost 5 years ago and it still has barely produced any new buds and is going off of 5 year old needles basically. Cheers!
I don’t know what climate you’re in but my trees were moved to an area with nearly the same climate as where they came from. Roughly same annual rain fall and low/high temps are about 10 degree difference, but the UV is less intense than where they were so it all comes out to be about the same. Milder winters but warmer summers.
I’ve been hands off almost the whole process. I only bother to water them if its been several weeks during cooler times of the year and it hasn’t rained. Oddly enough I tend to water them on days it decides to rain. During spring/summer/fall (as climate change seems to have eliminated what use to be spring and fall temperatures) I will water about once a week but only if temperatures push above 85-90 degrees. Otherwise I pretty much just leave them alone to do their thing and check for bugs or weeds.
Initially I was under the impression I was doing something wrong as branches were dying back year after year but as it turns out that was largely due to borers. Over the last year the bark has really started to flake away. You can’t really tell from the photo but half the trunk is most certainly dead.
Another bit of advice I would give is to find a place for it and not move it. If its not the healthiest make sure it gets partial or full shade during peak temperatures during the day. It may not seem like its causes much stress but just carrying it from one shady spot to another does indeed cause it stress.
Here is a photo of the douglas fir.
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Yup Yup, this is all standard practice. I’m in the Czech Republic, winters have been mild lately but we had a decent one this year (-10c) and summers get to 36C+. This was just a very peculiar case and I’ve never experienced anything of this sort before as I’ve been playing with tiny trees for about 2 decades now.
Yeah if some parts of the tree change but some stay alive-looking that’s a certain sign that the tree is coping in some way and redistributing vascular flow. This one seems to have 1 branch left where the needles look ok and the vascular tissue hasn’t shriveled up yet. Watching the balance and when the temps droped here last week it went almost 11 days without water. Now it was 6 days
