Watering Young Trees

[jinman]

Slick setup, I especially like your bucket with the hole. My system is similar, but not nearly as fancy. Basically, a 55 gal. drum in the back of my truck. For a few plantings I have carried water in my FEL bucket. As I mentioned, I do like the bucket idea, may have to incorporate that this year.

Rob, I don't want to disagree with Gary at all, but I would suggest you start with a much smaller hole in the 5-gal bucket. You might be surprised how quickly a 1/4" hole will drain. We normally use something as small as 0.030". That size hole is easier to plug with trash, but the water never runs away and evaporates. You can always easily make the hole larger if you need it. I think a fast drip will produce the best use of water and not soak the ground. this method works good with tomato plants also. A large plant needs about 5 gal per day and this method is a lot like a drip irrigation system for po' folks.

 

[kossetx]

Everyone has their own ideas as to what works and I'm going to offer mine to you for future reference. I too use 5 gal buckets to water my fruit trees, but to empty the buckets I use jute twine with scrap nuts on each end as a siphon for the water. It works extremely well and I can use my buckets for other things too since there are no holes. As usuall, just my .02.

 

[AlanB]

Everyone has their own ideas as to what works and I'm going to offer mine to you for future reference. I too use 5 gal buckets to water my fruit trees, but to empty the buckets I use jute twine with scrap nuts on each end as a siphon for the water. It works extremely well and I can use my buckets for other things too since there are no holes. As usuall, just my .02.

Round about how long would that take to empty a bucket?

I just have a hard time visualizing it, I guess I should try it and see it work.

 

[Jadd]

I use a 2 " gasoline powered transfer pump w/ 150" feet of fire hose to water my trees. I drop the suction line in the dug well, that we no longer use, crank up the honda water pump, feed it thru 2" fire hose w/ nozzel and water away. It's easier than watering by garden hose. If I want a little distance I crank up the Honda & twist the nozzle. If it was not for the transfer pump I would have lost all my trees last year. I first tried agriculture grade discharge hose and it was a disaster, too difficult to use. We had some 2 " hose at the firehall that was no longer serviceable, & was going to be thrown out. The fire hose works great, easy to use, heavy duty coupling and will take the increased pressure from the pump.This may not work for everyone, but it works just fine for my applications.

 

[KrumpsBrother]

Gary,

Spreading a bag of the cheap Texas hardwood mulch around each tree will go a very long way to retain the moisture in the rootball and surrounding soil. This is very important for the Summer. It adds organic matter and nutrients to the soil as well.

Also, get some bamboo canes on those trees to grow them out strait. If you need some PM me, I have a small tree farm between G-town and Andice.

KB

 

[GaryBDavis]

I haven't timed exactly how long it takes to drain the bucket with a 1/4" hole, but I'd say it takes maybe 3 minutes or so. With the bucket sitting on the ground, it slows it down and towards the end, the water flow out of the bucket slows way down. It's as good or better than using a garden hose truned down to a trickle.

KB, man it's a small world sometimes. Not too many people know where Andice is at. I take it you place the bamboo cane right next to the tree and tie it off? I like tall, straight trees with a high canopy.

 

[sugarmaple]

The landscaper for one of my clients puts a polyethylene U-shaped dish around the base of the newly planted tree and disappears after one filling. So my solution is a small water trough from the farm supply, guessing 50 +/- gallons and a small honda pump which fills at the farm pond and dispenses at the tree. Works great. Usually put the tub in a small trailer but have been thinking about mounting the tank on a 3ph mounted rack or fork for simplicity. FWIW, the holes in the dish are smallish <1/16" and drilled in a slightly raised portion of the dish bottom to prevent plugging. The raised portion also allows one to feel the hole location and clear any muck that might be impeding the waterflow without emptying. My guess is that the dishes hold about 15 gallons if they are sitting fairly level and could be found at a landscapers supply.

 

[KrumpsBrother]

KB, man it's a small world sometimes. Not too many people know where Andice is at. I take it you place the bamboo cane right next to the tree and tie it off? I like tall, straight trees with a high canopy.

It's best if you can stick the cane down into the rootball several inches down and an in inch or so out from the base of the tree. I tie off to the cane about every foot or closer if the tree is really crooked. I've got to straiten several hundred in the next week or two, stop by I'll show you how to do it. The tree farm is 1.5 miles west on CR245 off FM2338.

KB

 

[GaryBDavis]

I think CR245 connects FM2338 to FM970 between Florence and Andice. It runs north/south on the east side of FM2338. Does CR245 go west of FM2338?

 

[KrumpsBrother]

I think CR245 connects FM2338 to FM970 between Florence and Andice. It runs north/south on the east side of FM2338. Does CR245 go west of FM2338?

Check that, 1.5 miles east of 2338! Dyslexic I'm.

KB