Repotting Some Experimental Elm Trees
You may have seen my latest post on starting Ohio buckeye and oaks from seed. This is another one of the experiments I have tried over the past few years while waiting to get out on our land. It's not the first time I have started trees from seeds I have collected locally.
My first experiment started a couple of years ago when I was cleaning out some clogged gutters on a townhouse complex in the late spring. The gutters were filled with leaves and elm tree seeds and some of the seeds had spouted! It's funny how nature can sometimes accidently create the right conditions for seeds to sprout even though they landed in an environment artificially created by man.
Well, I couldn't just leave all the sprouts to die so I put some in a ziplock bag and brought them home. I had a few empty pots kicking around but no potting soil on hand so I just used garden soil. I planted several of the sprouts in each pot thinking that most wouldn't make it but they pretty much all did!
I ended up with three to four trees per pot.I had several tiny trees per pot. Unfortunately, I didn't think I would be able to separate the roots without causing too much damage so I just opted to snip off the weaker trees.
As it turns out, I had a video from last year (see above) where I transplant the elm tree seedlings into larger pots. For the repotting, I had a bit of time to think about it so I mixed up some of my own potting mix from peat moss, reused potting mix, and more garden soil. I think their new pots will be sufficient for a couple more years at least. I also overwinter them by burying the pots into the ground for the winter.
Elm trees in the spring after spending their first winter in the ground.I don't like to baby my home-grown trees too much. My feelings are that if they die in the winter due to cold temperatures then they probably aren't hardy enough anyway. I would rather have them die early than baby them for several years only to have them not make it one winter after planting them in a permanent location.
My overwintered pots were home to all sorts of life. I even caught some beetles in the act while repotting! If you look carefully you can see worms too.Another interesting thing I learned from this experiment was that several weeks after the video was made the trees I had snipped off had started to re-grow. I didn't take elms for the type of tree that can be coppiced or pollarded but considering how vigorously these tiny trees came back I think that they would sprout new growth just fine even when they are larger.
Anyways, I feel like I learn a lot from these experiments and you can bet I will be looking for more elm tree seeds again this year!
Thanks for reading everyone! Please upvote, follow, and resteem to support this work. As always, comments are welcome.
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Your garden is very nice geardening fresh on human mind .
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I used to plant the trees mixing the soil with manure, I think you also mix the soil with compost, the results are amazing, the tree grows faster
If I had some good compost I would have incorporated it into the potting mix. The manure is a good idea also but with our cold winters we have to be careful not fertilize seedlings too much because the sappy growth is more prone to winter damage.
there is a big difference between us here with your place, where we all plants are very easy to grow, because the tropical climate, I wait kesempata to see the winter, maybe one day later
gardening is my hobby, I am glad you also plant some trees, I also used to plant some mustard greens in my house pot, some chili trees, and tomatoes, the result is enough for us to eat a family, you can try it too
I also love gardening but haven't had much time lately...
May I know what your experimental purpose is about the elm tree, it looks like nothing special from it, and it's normal. Is there anything you want to tell us. Is it about nature's ability to give life naturally, that is something we have known for a long time. Please show me the other side of the Elm tree for example about the benefits of the tree. I see that the elm trees you plant are not so fertile, whether deliberately left to languish for experimental purposes. Thank you so much for sharing the video.
Maybe there is language barrier here. It is not a conventional scientific experiment it is more of a common usage of the word. I am trying something I have never tried before and seeing what can be observed and learned from it.
What I learned is that Elms are easy to start from seed. American elms will regrow from the stump. Elms started from local seed are cold hardy in zone 3 even in pots buried in the ground. Although it's nice to have potting soil it is unnecessary for elms.
I like how you don't baby your trees. I try to do the same thing. If they can't make it on their own they're just not tree for me.
Yup, it's just not worth the effort to baby plants all the time.
Very nice. I have been letting persimmon tree saplings grow and will be transplanting them around the padlocks and pastures on the outside of the fences where they can drop their wonderful feed source for my livestock to eat. Hope they last the cold winters you have there.
Sounds like a good plan. I will be doing similar things to that as well.
Gardening is a nice timepass especially for the retired people