Solar powered watering system for tree nursery

[Kubota Tee]

Those trees were pretty big. Why would you have to water them? I realize it probably made them grow faster but do you think it helped the survival rate?

Hi linearxs,

I am by no means a tree expert, but from what I understand there is a much greater survival rate of transplanted trees if they receive the proper amount of watering during their first season after they are transplanted. On top of that, our soil is relatively sandy so it doesn't hold water very well. I was simply following the advise of the local retailers, my father-in-law and what I found on the internet. It definitely seemed to help with the survival rate.

As mentioned earlier, I am no longer using the solar system for watering as I haven't added any trees in the past 2 seasons. Once I start pulling trees out in the spring, I may consider adding some more in which case it would be a simple process to hook the pump and drip system back up.

As an aside, the pump is still getting used this winter as a means of flooding our ice rink on the lake for smooth skating. I simply drag it out on a sled along with a 12V battery and manually hook it up to draw water out of the lake. Lot cheaper than buying a Zamboni!!