Ground vs Anderson flat: help me plan for spring.

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This will be my first spring back in the hobby after a long hiatus and then restarting the collection this past summer I have several projects cooking. I have 4 1 gallon plants from Evergreen Gardenworks. One American hackberry, One Amur maple, and 2 tridents all with the current goal of trunk development.

The hackberry and Amur are going in the ground for sure. These can take my winter no problem, hackberry is a native and Amur native to colder areas than mine. I have Anderson flats at my disposal and enough soil to use these instead. Part of me wants to plant the tridents in the Anderson flats on a board as opposed to in the ground. They might enjoy winter in my unseated garage. It’s great, the temps are stable at ~40 degrees with a north facing window.

I am going to be letting these grow untouched to keep the gas pedal on trunk development before the first chop.

Can Tridents hold up to harsh winters if they are in the ground? My USDA zone is 6b, but just this winter I got extended periods of teens/single digits for the high/low. It’s what I’m looking at now again.

I was looking for some help on choosing how to plant them.
 

River's Edge

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This will be my first spring back in the hobby after a long hiatus and then restarting the collection this past summer I have several projects cooking. I have 4 1 gallon plants from Evergreen Gardenworks. One American hackberry, One Amur maple, and 2 tridents all with the current goal of trunk development.

The hackberry and Amur are going in the ground for sure. These can take my winter no problem, hackberry is a native and Amur native to colder areas than mine. I have Anderson flats at my disposal and enough soil to use these instead. Part of me wants to plant the tridents in the Anderson flats on a board as opposed to in the ground. They might enjoy winter in my unseated garage. It’s great, the temps are stable at ~40 degrees with a north facing window.

I am going to be letting these grow untouched to keep the gas pedal on trunk development before the first chop.

Can Tridents hold up to harsh winters if they are in the ground? My USDA zone is 6b, but just this winter I got extended periods of teens/single digits for the high/low. It’s what I’m looking at now again.

I was looking for some help on choosing how to plant them.
You are correct in worrying about the tridents. Growers have had difficulty in zone 7 when the weather acts up. I would definitely go for the moveable option of Anderson flats for them. To be on the safe side i am using protected grow beds in zone 8b.
 

Bonsai Nut

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Part of me wants to plant the tridents in the Anderson flats on a board as opposed to in the ground.

I have had good results planting trees in Anderson flats on a pine bark bed. The tree grows strong and will throw roots out the bottom of the flat, but because it is on pine bark you can lift it and trim the roots in the fall after it is dormant. This would probably work when you need to bring your trees in for the winter... I just leave mine outdoors because I don't have to worry about it.
 

sorce

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I lost all my amurs last year cuz they opened in Februaury.

If I get more, they will be allowed to freeze solid, then placed under cover. I've had luck this year keeping roots frozen with pots on the ground and under cover.

Last year I left them elevated so the roots warmed up in the warm spell, then there was no shutting it off.

Amur....get em froze leave em froze...hell, I would a been better off with them in the freezer!

Sorce
 

Underdog

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Welcome to another fellow Ohioan. There are quite a few of us here now days.
I swore I would buy nothing that wouldn't survive Zone 4 anymore. (yea right... Just bought a Texas Cedar Elm for some dumb reason and typing near a window full of tropicals suffering) I'm supposed to be 6 here but not this winter. 20 degrees below average all winter as I'm sure you are aware. I think you lose at least a zone by being in a pot. Safer in the ground as you know but we have expectations of them in a pot some time. I fear a couple won't be waking up this spring. We should be looking at Canadian natives as well as local trees in future. I hope to dig a few more this spring.
Good Growing and Welcome to the Nut House.
 

cmeg1

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Tridents coming from Brent probably have low amount of cold hardiness coming from his climate.Definately protect from freeze.
 
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Would you bother planting them at an anglein the flat? I might hold off until the first chop because of the height I’m going to let them go to. I’ll likely need to properly stake them so they don’t knock over in the wind.

I am going collecting towards the end of the month on private property near the Ohio Pa border. Realistic candidates for the ground bed would be red maple, American beach, Elm, hornbeam, sweetgum, Tupelo, and hackberry
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Tridents in the flats, it is the late frosts that do them in, more so than just cold. Most years you will have to do the in and out dance with tridents because they will always try to grow before it is safe outside.
 

herzausstahl

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I have had good results planting trees in Anderson flats on a pine bark bed. The tree grows strong and will throw roots out the bottom of the flat, but because it is on pine bark you can lift it and trim the roots in the fall after it is dormant. This would probably work when you need to bring your trees in for the winter... I just leave mine outdoors because I don't have to worry about it.
Do you do this instead of ground growing?
 

drew33998

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It depends on your native soil largely. Does water percolate through it? Does it hold water adequately? Is it rich in nutrients? Can you water it daily if needed in the ground? Is it a species that gets its strength solely from the roots, IE-pine?

My situation is my native soil sucks. So unless it is a species that can grow in any type of soil, I put it in a pot. And even then, I have found that it is easier to water etc since the pots are movable.
 

Dav4

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This will be my first spring back in the hobby after a long hiatus and then restarting the collection this past summer I have several projects cooking. I have 4 1 gallon plants from Evergreen Gardenworks. One American hackberry, One Amur maple, and 2 tridents all with the current goal of trunk development.

The hackberry and Amur are going in the ground for sure. These can take my winter no problem, hackberry is a native and Amur native to colder areas than mine. I have Anderson flats at my disposal and enough soil to use these instead. Part of me wants to plant the tridents in the Anderson flats on a board as opposed to in the ground. They might enjoy winter in my unseated garage. It’s great, the temps are stable at ~40 degrees with a north facing window.

I am going to be letting these grow untouched to keep the gas pedal on trunk development before the first chop.

Can Tridents hold up to harsh winters if they are in the ground? My USDA zone is 6b, but just this winter I got extended periods of teens/single digits for the high/low. It’s what I’m looking at now again.

I was looking for some help on choosing how to plant them.
Tridents in the flats, it is the late frosts that do them in, more so than just cold. Most years you will have to do the in and out dance with tridents because they will always try to grow before it is safe outside.
I agree with Leo. I've found tridents to be very cold tolerant both while growing in ground and in pots. The trees from this thread...https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/so-how-tough-are-tridents-anyway.11430/... were grown out in USDA zone 6 MA back in the early 2000's when winters were still harsh... they saw windy, sub zero temps every winter and grew just fine, though there was always a bit of dieback on small twigs come spring time. All of the tridents I've kept in pots have frozen solid and stayed that way for weeks or even months... they were always on the ground and mulched for the most part. The one trident I've ever lost to "winter cold" was kept in a south facing 3 season porch and likely had it's roots freeze after breaking dormancy... lesson learned. If you're not sure, order a few trident seedlings now and plant them out in the ground and see what happens. Matt Ouwinga may still be selling some.
 
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