Master Discussion: Summer and Fall Collecting and Repotting

[BrianBay9]

So with coast live oak are you letting it recover in a greenhouse or plastic bag to keep humidity high to keep the new foliage from drying out while it develops roots? What kind od care do you give it during potting up and afterwards? I'm really curious to know.

Here's the process I use. Wait until after the first significant rains in winter. Dig down to find the first set of radial roots coming off the tap root. Cut the tap root just below the first feeder roots and take as much of the feeder roots as possible. But, you don't need any, really, for success.

After collection, COMPLETELY defoliate. Pot in 100% pumice. Keep moist. Some collectors I know bag them at this point, but I don't. New leaves pop in spring. Do no additional pruning or styling for a year. Next spring if the growth is strong you can start primary styling but no repotting or root pruning until year two. You can probably get three, sometimes four rounds of top growth per year.

Using these methods I currently have 90% survival.

 

[BrianBay9]

Sorry for double posting. Tried to edit my post but the time limit passed... Woops.

Allow me to offer this adjustment:

Am I wrong to say then that in order for these broadleaved trees to have said stored energy reserves it must have been in a state of great health to begin with? There would have to have been enough water/nutrients moving through the system the season prior yes? Otherwise how is the tree storing this energy to begin with? Would the species you speak of bud so aggressively if they were compromised/unhealthy the previous season? Would the budding be weaker/non existent in this case?

Also, would it be true that this adaptation of budding aggressively is a survival mechanism to put out photosynthetic material quickly to regain energy to repair damaged roots/tissue? Is this taxing for the tree?

Yes, the tree should be healthy to begin with.
Yes, the new buds and leaves drive the recovery of the roots lost in collecting.
Yes, the process taps the energy reserves of the plant. I wouldn't depend on it happening twice on a tree unless roots have recovered. That's why the first year after collection the tree should not be pruned.....all photosynthetic energy possible goes to recovery of the roots.

 

[JPH]

After collection, COMPLETELY defoliate.

When you completely defoliate a tree after collection in this way, is it to prevent dehydration of the root mass during it's winter dormancy? Is that also why some people wrap the foliage in a bag? I see you are in zone 10a, do trees experience a full dormancy period there? If so, is it mild? You mentioned rain. Does it rain a lot in winter where you live? I've never lived anywhere where it isn't winter 6-7 months out of the year, so I'm curious lol!

What would happen to these oaks if you didn't defoliate but had plenty of feeder roots during collection? Would you expect the tree to weaken or remain the same? Could defoliation of older growth wait until a new spring flush of fresh leaves? Or would this adversely affect the tree in some way?

 

[BrianBay9]

When you completely defoliate a tree after collection in this way, is it to prevent dehydration of the root mass during it's winter dormancy? Is that also why some people wrap the foliage in a bag? I see you are in zone 10a, do trees experience a full dormancy period there? If so, is it mild? You mentioned rain. Does it rain a lot in winter where you live? I've never lived anywhere where it isn't winter 6-7 months out of the year, so I'm curious lol!

What would happen to these oaks if you didn't defoliate but had plenty of feeder roots during collection? Would you expect the tree to weaken or remain the same? Could defoliation of older growth wait until a new spring flush of fresh leaves? Or would this adversely affect the tree in some way?

Yes, my understanding is that defoliation in this case is to manage water loss. More feeder roots lead to faster recovery. I don't know where the line is for safe, non-defoliation.

I live in the center of the native distribution of coast live oaks. They grow in forests here naturally. No they probably never have full dormancy. If they do it's more likely triggered by drought than by cold temperatures. It's a Mediterranean climate - warm, dry summers, cool wet winters. But even in the summer these trees can get a lot of water from heavy fog.

 

[JPH]

No they probably never have full dormancy. If they do it's more likely triggered by drought than by cold temperatures.

That's interesting! So it's possible they slow to a crawl during your hot summer months, in which case I guess that is your "danger zone" for collecting since the risk of dehydration is at it's highest? It makes sense to me that you wait for the rains in the winter to collect them.

 

[doctorater]

Here's the process I use. Wait until after the first significant rains in winter. Dig down to find the first set of radial roots coming off the tap root. Cut the tap root just below the first feeder roots and take as much of the feeder roots as possible. But, you don't need any, really, for success.

After collection, COMPLETELY defoliate. Pot in 100% pumice. Keep moist. Some collectors I know bag them at this point, but I don't. New leaves pop in spring. Do no additional pruning or styling for a year. Next spring if the growth is strong you can start primary styling but no repotting or root pruning until year two. You can probably get three, sometimes four rounds of top growth per year.

Using these methods I currently have 90% survival.

@BrianBay9, thanks for sharing your knowledge on the Coast Live Oaks. Do you have experience as to whether your process for the Coast Live Oak would also apply to other evergreen oaks such as Emory Oak, Scrub Oak, Arizona White Oak, Palmer Oak, etc, or for that matter a dry climate deciduous variety like Gambel Oak?

 

[a0kalittlema0n]

@BrianBay9, thanks for sharing your knowledge on the Coast Live Oaks. Do you have experience as to whether your process for the Coast Live Oak would also apply to other evergreen oaks such as Emory Oak, Scrub Oak, Arizona White Oak, Palmer Oak, etc, or for that matter a dry climate deciduous variety like Gambel Oak?

This is my where my interest is based. I'm surrounded by scrub oaks, canyon live oak, and other varieties that I assume behave similarly. The major separator is that coast live oaks live on the coast and like he mentioned can be watered by fog, dew, and the likes with a slow ramp up to summer. I'll have to test on smaller less usable trees.