Hi network members,
I was wondering if people have principles or tips for successfully caring for juvenile fruit trees in the tropics. I am finding with the extreme stresses we face in Florida (High UV, monsoonal climate extremes-wet and dry season, freeze events, hurricanes), we have a lot of losses, even in 3-5 year old trees. Once they are mature they do great weathering different situations, but it is really discouraging to lose young trees that several people have spent a lot of time on.
Thanks for your expertise in advance!
In our experience in SW FL native oak overstory has made all the difference for establishment without irrigation.
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Yes it is very discouraging. I feel that pain. My answer is two-part:
First, building on Prop_Specialist’s comment, companion planting is very helpful. Juvenile trees don’t need full sun and can benefit from fast growing species nearby. Think syntropic style.
Secondly, loss is also part of the game. I plant many times more densely than what is recommended for when the trees are mature.
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Quinn,
Can you share more information? What species of trees are you referring to? In which part of the ECHO farm is this happening? Are there any signs of disease or cause of death? Are they all dying the same way?
Definitely this last year has been one of the toughest. Some of the more tropical trees might have struggled with the subtropical climate and the freezing event this winter. Do you think that was the final straw?
Roger
Thank you for the responses. Shade is one thing I am starting to experiment with, via bamboo stick/burlap bag structures, when the plant is in full sun. Your responses confirm I am headed in a good direction. I also appreciate the idea of planting more. I see that as a design God built into our forest systems.
To answer Rogers question, a lot of the loss is in our arboretum- the freeze this year was really hard on mangos, canistel, annonas and mamey sapote- out of those that did survive, the harder dry season was really tough and finished off many of the struggling ones.
I am struggling to keep pawpaw alive with the dry season.
Avocados also seem to be hard to keep watered enough, but after they are stressed watering them finishes them off. (or the escapee goats:)
In general the freezing, the dry season, and the intense sun are the conditions that seem to be the hardest to contend with, but especially the dry season. There are things I could do to protect them, like water more often, mulch heavier, or check on them, but per usual, labor is a limiting factor.
Thanks!
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So you are saying that the greatest losses happened to tropical trees in pots that were moved in and out of the greenhouse for sake of the cold snaps?
Not quite- sorry I didn’t explain that well. There are juvenile trees in our arboretum (orchard) and around the farm planted in the ground. We cover them in the winter with frost cloth as needed, but this year was really cold and damaged the trees even when they were protected. After the cold season, we had a more intense dry season and high radiation. Between all those stresses many of the plants did not make it, even with supplemental irrigation.
In general I am hoping to find some ways to help these trees make it to maturity, even when hit with multiple factors in a row.
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Hey Quinn.. my own observations on establishing trees is that since they are susceptible to so many ways to get killed, the strategy to ensure rapid establishment must focus on finding the various problems that can take them out and being willing to implement solutions to mitigate those problems. Many times it is crisis events like hurricanes or freezes that threaten the trees. I’ve spent a lot of nights outside with a headlamp protecting trees. If growers are unwilling or unable go through these measures it can be very easy to lose tree plantings. I think the easiest way to think of it is that tree growers need to pay very close attention and not hesitate to act if an issue is popping up. Many of the most important interventions are preventative before minor issue develops into a more urgent tree crisis.
Here’s a brief list of problems I’ve encountered with young trees - Freeze damage, drying out, failure to thrive due to low fertility, girdling by rabbits, getting outcompeted by weeds, girdling by fire ants, bark damage from goat grazing, hurricane damage, overwhelm from sucking insects, sun scorching, etc etc! The horticultural choices made will depend on the suite of possible problems any particular site is likely to present to the trees.
Starting out strong with very healthy stock and regular water and fertility applications go a long way to shortening the period of time when trees are at a high risk of loss.
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I appreciate that reflection! I can really relate to the list of possible problems. It takes a lot of discipline to stop and deal with a problem in the moment, but it is worth it when thinking through the hours of investment spent in that tree already. Thank you!
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I wonder if earthworks would help with some of this. I know Sepp Holzer has mentioned berming earth perpendicular to predominate winds to prevent drying out and increasing water near the roots. Also, I know that certain desert communities dig down and plant plants in holes to protect against the scorch of the sun.
As far as freeze, our orchard (in a temperate climate) consisitently beats the early spring freezes we get up here in Michigan because of where we sited it. We’ve put it on the West of our house where it doesn’t get early morning sun and warms up gradually. We’re more concerned with blossoms up here than plant hardiness but having the right elements and the proper siting seems to keep the plants warmer.
Some of the other things we’re doing:
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Establishing ponds to help better regulate the microclimate.
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Using burn barrels when we know there is going to be a freeze to keep plants warm and to create a mock cloud cover
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increasing water to everything the night before a frost (which I think helps similar to the cloud cover/smoke).
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We’ve also covered our smaller trees in sheets to give them a bit more shelter in the colder weather.
Not sure if this would help in Florida or not. But might give you some things to try.
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I appreciate the feedback! The earth works is a new concept to me.
I really like your reminder to plant in a good site. I used to think more about if a plant would fit in a given location, rather than the microclimate it needed. Now after loosing a few trees, I have been reminded to plant based on microclimates and the infrastructure we have (i.e. freeze protecting irrigation). It is a good principle for me to keep in mind, especially as we deal with trees from many different areas of the world.
The freeze protocol we keep in Florida is very similar to what you are doing- though like you said, it is to save the trees, not just the blooms. I kept the small trees covered this year, but many were out of the vicinity of the irrigation that we use to ice encase the plants, so they did not have quite the protection they needed with the degree of cold we got.