Just collected really cool Eastern Hemlock.

Planta

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So I found this really cool tree in a swamp. It was basically growing in mud. I put it in a spare pot with some pro-mix for the time being.
You can see where the main trunk had broken and a branch took over as the main leader. The foliage is dwarfed or stunted because it's much smaller then normal.

Does anyone know the name of that style of tree where the trunk becomes a Jin and the branch Is the new tree? I can't think of it.

Also I'm not sure if it should stay as an upright or what. Advice ideas for next year? Only thing I plan on doing so far is keeping the top for Jin.
 

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Planta

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I like your tree but I'm concerned that it might have wooly adelgids on it. Those white specks on the branches in pic 3. Or is that just dust or whatever. Those things have wiped out tons of hemlocks, firs, and spruce in the Southren Appalachians.
I think they are bugs. Can the be eliminated ?
 

Steve Kudela

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I think they are bugs. Can the be eliminated ?
I don't know of a particular chemical that will kill them, but no larger than that tree is, I would pick them off by hand. ....And mash them to smithereens, make sure they are dead. No kidding. I wonder if your extension service knows that they have reached your area. You might look into that. I do know that research has been done for years on a way to eradicate them. I haven't heard anything recently about progress of the research. You could always google it. I think I will. Also, my daughter's undergrad school ( Young Harris College) in north Georgia did a great deal of work towards their eradication. They have caused a lot of devastation.
 

dawoodsnrsy

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Yes you have bugs for sure. Seven spray works on most bugs. Spray to the point of run off. You can also use systemic insecticides like bayer tree and shrub and equate down the right doseage. For me i do both with my hemlock but i am doing in ground bonsai with mine. Will post one of mine soon.
 

Planta

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So bugs aside.

Thoughts and ideas about the tree? Will it grow new roots and put out a bunch of new foliage at the same time, this season? I cleaned it up removing some needles and small branches.

What direction should I go with this?
 

dawoodsnrsy

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Dont expect too much growth the first yr after transplant. I suggest tipping out all the new growth so the plant puts more energy into toot and not growth.
 

dawoodsnrsy

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Here is my hemlock collected last spring and planted promptly and will see how it responds this year with growth. For scale the block are 4" thinck
 

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Nice! I like how you planted it. I did trim the tips and reduced the foliage a bit. here's a branch before and after. Hopefully I went easy enough on it
 

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dawoodsnrsy

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I have had luck with this technique yah it stunts the growth but have not lost many with this approach. I did it on my hemlock and it has done quite well. What ever you take off the bottom you have to take of the top. This is what i have learned and works well. Each person hs their own way of doing things. No ones 100% right or wrong have fun and learn on the way!
 
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I'm not sure taking off the top growth of a freshly collected conifer is a good idea.
I believe that the technique of cutting the top to encourage root growth applies to most deciduous trees, but
Definately not all conifers.
I would put it in a spot out of direct sunlight and leave it alone for a couple years.
 

markyscott

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I have had luck with this technique yah it stunts the growth but have not lost many with this approach. I did it on my hemlock and it has done quite well. What ever you take off the bottom you have to take of the top. This is what i have learned and works well. Each person hs their own way of doing things. No ones 100% right or wrong have fun and learn on the way!

You are, of course, free to do whatever you like. And as point of record, I've never collected Eastern Hemlock - only Western. But I know of no species that is strengthened by pinching the growing tips, let alone a weak tree recovering from collection.

To the OP - if the tree recovers, please do not remove the growing tips with the thought that it will encourage root growth. That is not what you will accomplish with that technique. Let it grow.
 

Eric Group

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I'm not sure taking off the top growth of a freshly collected conifer is a good idea.
I believe that the technique of cutting the top to encourage root growth applies to most deciduous trees, but
Definately not all conifers.
I would put it in a spot out of direct sunlight and leave it alone for a couple years.
I agree with Butler and Marky... And I HAVE collected a few Eastern Hemlocks... Young ones from the mountains in Virginia. They typically grow at a snails pace, mostly just in the Spring and generally not much at all until the second year after collection. Removing any active growth on a recently collected one could slow it down and result in almost a full season without new growth, if you get that... Where is the energy coming from to produce the new roots you need?

I only really follow the "reduce the top comparable to the bottom" rule if I am repotting or collecting a deciduous tree that has already broken dormancy.
 

dawoodsnrsy

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How about when you collect evergreens? Do you do the same process? I just collected a large eastern cedar and could not get all the root and with what i trimmed off the bottom i took off the top. Was that a mistake?
 

dawoodsnrsy

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One thing for sure you can add to all pine, spruce azaleas is a acidic type of fertilizer to help so that you dont starve the plant. I like the types that add microbes to the soil. Jobes all purpose mixed 50/50 with the espoma holly tone. There is a mixture of beneficial bacteria and two types of fungus. One type lines the out side of the root and the other actually taps into the root. What they do is work symbiotically so that you plant can absorb nutriants better and recover from shock a bit better.
Have been selling using these products for the last 10 yrs and they work great. In early to mid summer i do a weak 10-10-10 sparingly to add a little due to alot of watering leaching. Yet again each has their own way of feeding and what works best for them. Hope this helps.
 

markyscott

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With evergreens, I have generally removed some large branches during collection so that I can transport the tree. But in general, I try and retain as much foliage as practical and I never pinch or cut the growing tips.

When you start to see growth, it's a sign that the roots are growing too. If you pinch the top growth it will stop ALL growth while the plant tries to activate the new buds. For a hemlock, that might be next year. Pinching does not redirect growth to the roots - that was the original statement I objected to.

As for fertilizers, with respect, I disagree. Plants make food from photosynthesis. They don't eat fertilizer. Fertilizer contains nutrients - it's the moral equivalent of vitamins. Plants are not starved by lack of fertilizer any more than people are starved from lack of vitamins. They will starve, however, from lack of sun or lack of leaves.

http://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2011/06/fertilizers_are_a_plants_vitam.html

When I was doing a lot of evergreen collection in the PNW, the general pointers were to:
  1. Retain as much foliage as possible and don't touch the growing tips
  2. Retain as much of the field soil as possible, but remove the old soil along the edge of the rootball so that the roots extend out into the new medium.
  3. Plant in a coarse, well draining medium. Most people I knew used pure pumice with the fines removed. None of the experienced collectors I knew used potting soil. The coarse medium allowed them to water a lot which kept the substrate well aerated and a high air-filled porosity. This is what encourages root growth.
  4. Many species (for sure junipers) were put under mist after collection. I believe the hemlocks were as well, but I can't recall specifically.
  5. Light fertilizer was started at the first sign of growth. Fertilizer was increased as plant growth was seen to increase.
  6. After a couple of seasons of good growth, they started the process of removing the field soil. This was generally not done all at once.
 

dawoodsnrsy

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Makes alot of sense thank you Mark.

What i was coming at with the fertilizer is for the microbes to help out woth nutrient uptake. Bot the jobes and espoma are both organic and will not burn your plant if used at recomended or slightly above. The more root contact you have with these types of fertilizer the better it works. When i say jobes NEVER THE SPIKES!!! The granulated one
 
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