Newbie - New trees and watering ?'s

PatJ

I have just planted some new trees and I would like some advice watering them. I am going to try and not ramble on, but it said to "Give as much information as possible" and "Include pictures" so sorry about the long post

I have a little over 5 acres in the desert of Southeastern Washington State. My ground is sandy like a beach. We get about 7 inches of rain a year, but can go many months without any rain. 105-110F in the summertime is common but it can get up to 125F.

We planted about 20 Austrian Pine and some Blue Spruce last November. Most are about 16" tall and some are 6'-7' tall. Around the new trees I have put shredded bark to try and keep the soil moist. The reason we chose those breeds of trees is because they seem to do very well around here. We already have 3 on our property that seem healthy with no water other than the irrigated grass surrounding them. Across the street from us there are about 10 very large Austrian Pines. The lot across the street has been empty for years, so they have been without any artificial irrigation for years. Our water table around here fluctuates between about 20 and 25 feet, varying by season.

For the new trees I have installed a drip system. The smaller trees have a single 2GPH dripper on them, and the larger trees have two 2GPH drippers each. I have also installed a "test dripper" in an area without a tree so I can occasionally dig it up and check watering depth. I think that using more than a 2GPH dripper in this area will just wash away top soil.

My hope is that at some point the new trees will be self-sufficient like their more mature counterparts and not require the dripper system. With that in mind, my instinct is to water for a few hours every 5 days or so. I hope that this strategy will drive the roots deeper until they hopefully reach the water table at some point. Is think thinking anywhere close to reality?

So my question is in the programming of the dripper controller. Is it better to water them for a long time once in a while (deep) or daily for a shorter period (shallow)? How many hours should it run per watering cycle? Should I be watering at night? Should I add more drippers per tree to shorten duration? Those are the questions.

Sorry for the rambling long post, but I tried to include all info as I was told. Thanks again for any help or ideas anyone has!


This is what our area looks like without irrigation (this is a field across the street)


Our existing trees


Large trees across the street that have gone years without water


Some of the larger new Austrian Pines (6-7') with some of the older trees in the background.


Some of the smaller new Austrian Pines. They are approx 12' apart (just like our larger pines are)

Attached Images

	across st.JPG (40.9 KB, 39 views)
	ex big.JPG (56.0 KB, 39 views)
	backgrond.JPG (32.2 KB, 39 views)
	new big.JPG (54.2 KB, 39 views)
	new small.JPG (75.2 KB, 39 views)

treevet

Looks like you are doing the right thing by the look of the "new larger trees".
Looks also like your climate/environment is conducive to Austrians as the unattended pines look great also.

The variable comes with drastic changes such as drought or flooding, etc.
As for the watering question options, I always choose to water less frequently and water deep as you mentioned prior to asking the question to get roots to track deep as opposed to shallow ones that are drought susceptable.

You are lucky to be able to grow Austrians well. In my virginity (vicinity ) we have very wet springs and Austrians always get tip blight (diplodia) and it eventually takes them out. They are seldom planted because of this these days.

Robert STAVROU

Morning Newbie, my limited experience indicates that it is better to wean new plants off water while they are still in their containers (often the oversight in the hardening-off process of nurseries and home-owners). Long term the plants will need to adapt to their environment re water needs or you may be tied to long-term supplementary nurturing. A slow release organic form of potassium may assist in building up disease resistance in the interum.

__________________
STAV

pcarborist

7" inches of rain; that's it? Do you get any precipitation in the form of snow in the winter? If this is the total precipitation per year, you live in a desert. If this is the case I wouldn't try to grow blue spruce nor Austrian pines without irrigation. Otherwise you're predisposing them to pests and diseases-in particular borers. You should take a close observation of those pines in the vacant lot. If they do have borers, you will not have to continue to irrigate your pines but treat with carbaryl or imidicloprid as well.