How to keep saplings watered?

[deereguy]

Around 15 years ago we had good luck with this product when I worked for a commercial nursery and planted several hundred large trees in a remote commercial location. Not sure who watered after our initial watering but I think they had about 95% survival rate during summer.

SoilMoist - Reduce Amount of Water for Vigorous Plants

 

[Western]

Thanks for the info guys, a couple of summers ago I read a thread similar to this one, where the 5 gal bucket idea was presented and it has worked great for me for the few fruit trees I have.

This "gel" is a super idea for later plantings. thanks agian

 

[radioman]

perhaps it's not too late to add the gel stuff ? Using a largest sized auger bit mounted on portable drill and drill holes as deep it will go with 4 holes around the tree and fill with gel . this should hold some water and keep soil moist longer then without. It may not water the tree, but will privide the needed moist soil and roots may grow in that direction. Anyone see a flaw in my thinking here ?

 

[deereguy]

We put the gel in the hole as we were planting or in the bottom before we plced the plant in the hole.

 

[Travelover]

Here is an update.

We planted about 25 trees at a local state park and only lost two. I was looking for a cheap way to keep them watered and I thought I'd share what I came up with. I ended up using heavy gauge 30 gallon plastic bags with draw strings. I doubled these up and attached the drawstrings to two 2x2 stakes pounded into the ground on either side. We punched a few holes in the bottom and tossed in a couple of rocks to stabilize them once the water ran out. Worked very well and only cost about 50 cents for bags plus a dollar's worth of wood. We filled the bags about 2/3 full once a week, all summer.