potted himalayan birch

[jamied]

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ok i got it into a new pot and i watered it and now its in the sun, it doesnt get full sun throughout the day where it is, it gets sun from about 1:00pm to nighttime so from this point do i just keep it the way it is until fall when i plant it?

Photos of new pot and placement its 6pm when this was taken
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This should be fine. Make sure the pot drains, remove the bottom tray piece if you need to. Morning sun is a little more gentle, which might be ideal while it is adjusting, but I suspect your setup will be fine.

You don't want to let it dry out, but you also don't want it to be sitting in soggy soil, evenly moist, let the surface dry out a little bit before you water it, dig in the soil with your finger a little bit to make sure it is staying moist, but not wet.

This is what the USDA site says about growing a healthy birch tree:

"In the forest, birch trees thrive on cool, moist soils. Their very shallow root system makes them sensitive to even short periods of drought or heating of the soil, thus they grow poorly on hot, dry soils. Therefore, homeowners should attempt to place birch trees in locations where the soil will be shaded, cool, and moist. However, birch trees require full to partial sunshine on their leaves to grow well. The challenge is to select a growing site where the soil will remain cool and moist, but where the tree will also receive full sunshine on its leaves for much of the day."

It's not that hard once you get the hang of how moist the soil should be but it is easy to let it dry out if you forget about it on a hot day. You also don't want to keep it too wet.

I would then plant it in fall after the leaves drop, but before the ground freezes, water it in well. I would put a chicken wire cage around it to protect it in the winter just in case the rabbits get hungry. You might also want to put a little cage around it now since you mentioned you have alot of rabbits.

 

[animefangz]

This should be fine. Make sure the pot drains, remove the bottom tray piece if you need to. Morning sun is a little more gentle, which might be ideal while it is adjusting, but I suspect your setup will be fine.

You don't want to let it dry out, but you also don't want it to be sitting in soggy soil, evenly moist, let the surface dry out a little bit before you water it, dig in the soil with your finger a little bit to make sure it is staying moist, but not wet.

This is what the USDA site says about growing a healthy birch tree:

"In the forest, birch trees thrive on cool, moist soils. Their very shallow root system makes them sensitive to even short periods of drought or heating of the soil, thus they grow poorly on hot, dry soils. Therefore, homeowners should attempt to place birch trees in locations where the soil will be shaded, cool, and moist. However, birch trees require full to partial sunshine on their leaves to grow well. The challenge is to select a growing site where the soil will remain cool and moist, but where the tree will also receive full sunshine on its leaves for much of the day."

It's not that hard once you get the hang of how moist the soil should be but it is easy to let it dry out if you forget about it on a hot day. You also don't want to keep it too wet.

I would then plant it in fall after the leaves drop, but before the ground freezes, water it in well. I would put a chicken wire cage around it to protect it in the winter just in case the rabbits get hungry. You might also want to put a little cage around it now since you mentioned you have alot of rabbits.

the pot does drain i made sure of that before buying and the place i want it to be planted has the shade of a tree (tree is like 20-30 feet away and its shadow from the sun blocks the ground from light but if it gives the tree light because the shadow only goes like a foot up so anything past a foot will get morning sun but the ground will be shaded)

 

[animefangz]

Yes, just pull that thing out over on the side. Use a pot that is just about one size larger, that would likely be a 6" pot but an 8" would likely be okay to, especially is you use a faster draining soil, such a as orchid or cactus soil.

Jamie

the thing seems to be apart of the root system like i tried to pull it out but the tree seemed to be connected be the roots its not connected by the trunk because its to far away so do i leave it or cut it or what?

 

[jamied]

the thing seems to be apart of the root system like i tried to pull it out but the tree seemed to be connected be the roots its not connected by the trunk because its to far away so do i leave it or cut it or what?

I would just leave it. It's probably just a stem from another little tree or weed that grew there. You can explore it further and remove it at the time of planting after the leaves drop.

 

[animefangz]

I would just leave it. It's probably just a stem from another little tree or weed that grew there. You can explore it further and remove it at the time of planting after the leaves drop.

alright will do also the next time i leave a post will probably be when i plant it in the ground in fall so it will be a while until i post here on this thread so until then ill ttyl

 

[jamied]

alright will do also the next time i leave a post will probably be when i plant it in the ground in fall so it will be a while until i post here on this thread so until then ill ttyl

Sounds Good! Enjoy your summer. Mine is going by sooo fast...

Jamie


Jamie
Neenah, WI

 

[M.D. Vaden]

i live in upper Illinois 30 min away from freeport and i could grow a himalayan birch in the ground but i dont want it to die from borers or disease. will it do well potted and if it is potted can it be outside during the summer/winter? i want it to an indoor plant because the borer bug cant get it from in there .....

Why can't the adult beetle get indoors? Flies make it indoors, bees make it indoors, earwigs make it indoors. Suppose it's less likely though.

You ever considered trading for, or just buying a River Birch?

It's harder to plant trees in the heat of summer. A fall planting will be easier on it. Make sure where ever it is rabbits or deer can't get at it.

Jamie
Neenah, WI

If a tree is in a pot at a residence or plant nursery, why would it be better-off in the pot watered as needed, than put in the ground and watered as needed? Even in the summer, wouldn't the tree in the ground be at ease just as much as the tree in the pot, as long as it's watered as needed?




:msp_mellow:

 

[jamied]

If a tree is in a pot at a residence or plant nursery, why would it be better-off in the pot watered as needed, than put in the ground and watered as needed? Even in the summer, wouldn't the tree in the ground be at ease just as much as the tree in the pot, as long as it's watered as needed.

In the pot he has a great deal of control over the light / shade it gets. We don't know what this tree is aclimated to light wise.. I would hate to see it's leaves get burnt to a crisp at this time of summer. It's much easier to plant the plant in dormancy with no leaves on it and allow it to grow into the light situation.

Yes he could potentially plant right in the ground now, but a summer planting with a tree this small there are a number of things that can go wrong, tought it might work out okay.

It was just a judgement call and I felt he would do better with it in the pot until dormancy (3 months'ish). Sometimes you need to fuss a little more with some of these small trees in my experiance, being able to change the light level can help alot in some cases.

I have hundreds of trees living in pots and those pots give me a lot of flexiability that I would lack were they in the ground.

Jamie
Neenah, WI

 

[M.D. Vaden]

In the pot he has a great deal of control over the light / shade it gets. We don't know what this tree is aclimated to light wise.. I would hate to see it's leaves get burnt to a crisp at this time of summer. It's much easier to plant the plant in dormancy with no leaves on it and allow it to grow into the light situation.

That would apply, depending on the nursery.

I've seen trees from nurseries where tree is next to tree, and the tree planted, to loose half the leaves if 100 degree weather came. So that's a good point to ponder. I've also seen nurseries space trees in full light, where no planting spot locally would cause greater exposure. In that case, I completely knew what the tree was acclimated to, and could deal with it as needed: which was mainly the normal shade screen over the trunk which I do anyway.

Personally for my own home, I like the autumn and winter planting best so I don't have to baby-sit the tree.

 

[jamied]

Personally for my own home, I like the autumn and winter planting best so I don't have to baby-sit the tree.

I do summer plant a lot of stuff myself, but it is generally stock that was grown locally or close to. I can look at the roots and the overall plant health and make a judgement call if it is going to do well as a summer planting.

I agree fall / very early spring are both much easier / generally better planting times.


Jamie
Neenah, WI

 

[animefangz]

lots of bugs

I do summer plant a lot of stuff myself, but it is generally stock that was grown locally or close to. I can look at the roots and the overall plant health and make a judgement call if it is going to do well as a summer planting.

I agree fall / very early spring are both much easier / generally better planting times.


Jamie
Neenah, WI

i know i said id wait until i was planting it to post again but i have a question. the plant is doing well alot of new growth since i last posted but there are also alot of bugs its been like 3 days since the bugs came and there's one for like every 3 leaves (at times every leaf) and they really like the plant
there's a black bug that kinda looks like one of those small green jumping grasshopper bugs only the size of a gnat and they are like babies to a slightly bigger version of it that's with them and there is a spider that made a web in a leaf and curled it up
i personally thought it was cool how there all interested in it and i dont think any of them are eating the leaves but because there are so many bugs mostly the black small ones the size of gnats i thought id ask.
also they dont really do anything they just chill on the plant they barely move and i even touched one because it seemed like they didnt move just to see if it would (it flew away)

 

[jamied]

If your not seeing any damage, then I'd guess there isn't a problem. There are insecticides, but I would not use one unless you know there is a problem.

Maybe someone here will know more about what these bugs could be.

You could catch some and bring them to your county extension office for id.


Jamie
Neenah, WI

 

[animefangz]

If your not seeing any damage, then I'd guess there isn't a problem. There are insecticides, but I would not use one unless you know there is a problem.

Maybe someone here will know more about what these bugs could be.

You could catch some and bring them to your county extension office for id.


Jamie
Neenah, WI

nah im good i like the bugs anyway but because the tree has some bug enemys i thought i should ask to be sure but the bugs are funny they find a leaf and are like.....3 completed)

 

[animefangz]

Just an update of growth

[video=youtube;0ENoRA1syyU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ENoRA1syyU&feature=channel_video_title[/video]

this video shows its growth from July 7-July 22 and the pictures below are pictures i took today

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just an update :3
(also i got royal frost birch its in a pot also, but this thread isn't about royal frost birches just another random update)

 

[animefangz]

Leaves have fallen

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I was thinking because snow can be heavy and the tree is young that maybe i should plant it after the snow has fallen and melted would that be ok?

 

[jamied]

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I was thinking because snow can be heavy and the tree is young that maybe i should plant it after the snow has fallen and melted would that be ok?

It should be fine to plant in the early sprint as soon as the ground is workable. Snow doesn't usually cause a problem for small trees, they are pretty flexible, but either now or in the spring will be fine for planting.

I looked at the pictures and it seems to have grown a lot for your this summer. Good Job.

Jamie

 

[animefangz]

It should be fine to plant in the early sprint as soon as the ground is workable. Snow doesn't usually cause a problem for small trees, they are pretty flexible, but either now or in the spring will be fine for planting.

I looked at the pictures and it seems to have grown a lot for your this summer. Good Job.

Jamie

Yeah and its only going to get bigger :3 cant wait until its like 10 feet tall seeing it's so small as of now

 

[animefangz]

It should be fine to plant in the early sprint as soon as the ground is workable. Snow doesn't usually cause a problem for small trees, they are pretty flexible, but either now or in the spring will be fine for planting.

I looked at the pictures and it seems to have grown a lot for your this summer. Good Job.

Jamie

i have a question
well, where i live summer came a month early due to the crazy weather and while my H. birch had small leaves growing from the bottom up. While it was growing we had alot of cold nights and even a few frost nights and the leaves turned brown and died off. So~ will it be ok?
Also, i checked the branches and they are still bendy aka they aren't dead so will it just take a while to get the leaves back o~r?

 

[animefangz]

just a repost to see if someone knows the awnser

i have a question
well, where i live summer came a month early due to the crazy weather and while my H. birch had small leaves growing from the bottom up. While it was growing we had alot of cold nights and even a few frost nights and the leaves turned brown and died off. So~ will it be ok?
Also, i checked the branches and they are still bendy aka they aren't dead so will it just take a while to get the leaves back o~r?

oops...typo on answer in title lol