Air Prune Boxes - Fall Discussion

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Happy growing!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Such a worthy endeavor. Some of the twisty bois look strange but should still yield a decent tree.

[@edibleacres]

They straighten out over time, we just need to keep them for ourselves instead of selling them (oh well, more trees!)

[@robjob666]

Everyone needs a friend like Juan!

[@famulan3479]

Amen

[@vintagemotorcyclerepair4052]

Very awesome roots on the air pruned trees! Really amazing.

[@gardensforliferiverton]

We have grown, literally, a hundred basket willow cuttings in a jar of water on our kitchen window sill. Difficulty is selling them though, easy to grow but takes more time to sell. We ended up planting a living fence line with them. So win win!

[@Dontreallycare5]

Now that I am moved into my new home - this winter's project will be building several air-prune boxes out of unused deck board I've had for a while. I am pretty excited at the prospect of experimenting with all kinds of different plants to see how much it improves transplantation. I'm hoping to get a lot of butterfly weed going with better root systems than what develops in pots . . . . it always feels so hit or miss transplanting them outside unless they are in at least a 6" pot. Thanks for sharing your experience with everyone!

[@Michael_McMillan]

You have a great system there! I just use tons of 1 gallon nursery pots and put a few seeds in each.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

That's it! I need to build some air prune boxes! I'm trying to build a polyculture forest garden by growing from seed. As you can imagine, I have more seedlings than I can plant out. Selling the extras would be a good way for me to earn an income. I just need to figure out how to get locals interested.

[@Dontreallycare5]

Might be able to offer them through a booth at a farmer's market. Not all of them allow non-foodstuffs, but atleast the one I have near me creates spaces for all kinds of vendors so long as they are local producers with some connection to agriculture.

[@barnabyvonrudal1]

The roots look good! I'm keen to try air prune boxes

[@edibleacres]

Worth exploring I think

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

Simplicity is elegance, and these air-prune boxes are a wonderful example of that idea. Have you done this technique with fruit tree seedlings or cuttings as well? The idea is especially appealing to me to grow trees for my own use, because our soil is a very thin layer. It's just bedrock 18-24" deep, at most. So there's nowhere for a long taproot to dig into anyway.

[@cupbowlspoonforkknif]

I saw your talk at the Verge conference a month ago. Thank you so much for the air pruning bed idea! I'm going to give it a try next year. Sea Buckthorn thrives in my area and I want everyone to have one!

[@edibleacres]

You can certainly grow seaberry without an air prune bed, if that helps ease the process.. Glad you enjoyed the talk!

[@burrohillnursery1060]

Have you had any success overwintering first year trees in the boxes? Related question: do you have any thoughts on stratifying tree seeds in the boxes, perhaps with some aggressive mulching for winter insulation?

[@jasonmazurowski7563]

I had these exact same questions!

[@joydavis4087]

Awesome vid. Thank you. Getting excited to receive some wonderful plants.

[@edibleacres]

We're thrilled to send them your way... Hoping to finish this week or early next

[@slaplapdog]

So that ditch dirt might do better in a hugel mound where it can meld with decaying wood to become good soil!

[@charlesbale8376]

I am going to try this, a really wonderful tip.

[@cacmang42]

Do the tap roots grow well after getting planted into their forever home? I'm imagining it's worth the tradeoff of damaging a taproot from a seedling made in the ground if you're doing it this way

[@Dontreallycare5]

I believe the general theory of using air pruning techniques is to drastically reduce a plant's need for a taproot. A taproot is typically not efficient at absorbing nutrients and is primarily utilized for young plants to establish a reliable source of water ASAP. Plants with more fibrous lateral root growth are better able to access nutrients once you transplant them into a more competitive environment. I would imagine the only real reason a plant would begin growing its taproot aggressively after transplant would be either a. it's an obligate taproot like sunflowers or b. the external water conditions has triggered it to dig deep for water again. There is also something of a misconception about plant stability and taproots - especially for trees. Lateral root growth is what stops a tree from swaying side to side to the point of damage . . . . the taproot, again, is more of a juvenile adaptation that ensures it is incredibly difficult for a passing animal to pull up the whole plant, or dig out the main root to soil interface. Since we are protecting and watering the saplings, they really don't need to waste energy on the taproot.

[@cacmang42]

@@Dontreallycare5 thanks! Makes sense. I also found this answer, will post for others Taproots are a seedling condition that they outgrow once established. Airpruning elimenates the tap root and creates a fiberuous root system that makes transplanting easier on the tree and grower. Trees don't have a taproot, it's just a survival mechanism to survive drough during the first couple seasons during establishment -- Akira Silver from Twisted Tree Farm

[@wudangmtn]

I have read that early spring or late fall, when trees are dormant, is the best time to transplant seedlings. However, I am wondering how well they would do if one were to transplant them to containers when not in dormancy. I would like to try selling trees at the farmer’s market, and I feel they would sell better when in full leaf.

[@liabobia]

Will you have more shipmast locust for sale in the spring?

[@edenoftheworld1090]

I'm Josh, the tall guy with the hazelnut chestnut orchard I was telling you about on Thursday -- the point you made about the dense swamp soil being detrimental to root growth has me thinking about my poor elderberry performance. I planted the cuttings into very dense, clay soil, not soggy but still near a swampy area. I wonder if maybe that context was too anaerobic for the cuttings and that's why so many of them rotted out. I already had that theory in my head and this video I feel lends some credence to the theory. Great learning opportunity. Might try half this year's cuttings in my air prune boxes over winter, that'll be a much fluffier mixture for the elders to root out in.

[@edibleacres]

Nice to hear from you Josh! Yes... putting cuttings of any sort into super dense clay soil will be hard on them... Once they are rooted and very actively growing, for sure, go for it, but to get established they would do best in nice nursery bed context... I'd plan to plant most out outside but in nice soil with deep mulch to keep them comfortable in the winter... We get 90%+ take that way

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

💛💛💛

[@bookswithatwist-vanvelzerp9262]

I see my hazelnut in there !!! JK ..... but I have them and will be planting them later this afternoon

[@zb3948]

@EdibleAcres Always good to see and hear your process and learnings. Are your AP bed "risers" fastened to the other risers or base? Thanks again!

[@HoneyRowland]

I thought I had seen last year on online program where seed was sent you learned and grew. I'm not finding it through you or the list of others and wondered if you knew what program or who offered it. Also, when do you open up for sales? Once I've popped over they the goodies are sold out. :)

[@famulan3479]

Twisted tree orchard something?

[@hannaholson8278]

Do you think this system would work for pines like Korean pines or even just standard range of evergreens?

[@Gabi-lt4mx]

Your neighbour must be a nice guy to lwt you use this ground. And Juan is a good one.

[@kurtbognar6806]

I just put around 100 chestnuts, pecans, acorns and walnuts in buckets to stratify overwinter. Do you recommend putting these in different air prune boxes or would just one work?

[@paperm2023]

If you have them spread out, you have less of a risk of one squirrel breaking into one bucket and obliterating all of them. Maybe one squirrel gets into one bucket, eats them all, but leave the rest alone.

[@jennifermansfield9327]

I released some of my last fall and spring plantings from their cages this summer -- I'm worried about deer pressure as the weather gets cold. I know you use tall grasses for some seedlings - do you re-fence others?

[@edibleacres]

Certainly worth fencing trees in high deer areas... We have lots and lots of scrap fencing we form into cages to protect trees. I hate doing it for some reason but it's always the right move when we do.

[@jaybaca8880]

when is it ideal to prune orange or lemon tree's? Should it be done during or after winter? We want to top them so we can pick the fruit..

[@niceglass6484]

Hey Sean 🤙🏻, do you heal in/heavy mulch your air prune boxes before winter?

[@edibleacres]

We try to dig up all the plants and get them out of the boxes before the deep cold of winter when we can.

[@kkso3318]

I tried to click on the link to "join" but it gave me an error and wouldn't link to the page. Does the link need to be updated?

[@edibleacres]

I wonder what happened there, but it looks like you were able to join and we appreciate it!

[@kkso3318]

@@edibleacres yes, it wouldn't let me for the longest time! Then one day the option to join was there in a totally different way, more like a pop up style and it worked! 🤗 I'm very excited!

[@ghostridergale]

Obviously what your doing must be a good idea, but I just can’t get use to throwing mulch, pulled weeds and miscellaneous food scraps everywhere! Think I’m too neat and clean for my own good? 😂 BUT Ido have 44 chickens Hens and 6-7 roosters too. Had several chicks hatched at different time this summer and looks like several are turning out to be more roosters! Anyway, I allow all my chickens to free range from sun up to sun down if not later since some of my chickens like foraging after dark using my bright motion security lights and they may not decide to go in the coop to roost till 2am ! I got 5 acres they run around on and they sure can tear the crap out of the grass/ground everywhere! I was surprised to see how deep of holes they can dig too! Around their coop and around our pitying shed. Huge holes 2 ft deep in places and just as wide. First time raising chickens, never knew how destructive they can be? But I’m learning quickly!😂

[@peterellis4262]

Sean doesn't throw them "everywhere" ;) There's method and focus to it. The food scraps go into the compost system with the chickens. The mulch goes around plants that will benefit from its presence and where it will control weeds. Same with pulled weeds - they're just more mulch. Free range chickens will destroy any garden bed they can access, and they will try to access any garden bed they can find. Staying out foraging after dark for a chicken is a pretty high risk behaviour, many of their predators are more active at night.

[@ghostridergale]

@@peterellis4262 I’m well aware of the predators risk at night, but surprisingly I’ve had more problems with predators during daylight hours and absolutely none after dark. Believe it or not, I was out in my field and n the afternoon cutting the grass on my ridding mower. Turned the mower around to cut back the other direction and to my surprise and shock here’s a coyote not 5 feet from my mower and myself staring at me. If I hadn’t turned around when I did I’m not sure what the coyote had in mind? But it just stood there and we stared at one another maybe a minute ( seemed forever at the time!) Then the coyote finally decided to just walk off like it didn’t have a care in the world. Certainly wasn’t afraid of me or my running mower! While back looked out my front windows to see the very first bobcat I have ever seen in real life walking across my field up towards my home and walked right on by. I believe a lot of this is due to we had a animal sanctuary maybe a mile or two away from us that been protected for decades. Suddenly last year the animal sanctuary was destroyed out of the blue with no warning and it’s now being turned into full neighborhoods with everything from homes, roads, schools, and some kind of sewage system for these buildings to use for their waste. So these wild animals have lost their homes as well as their food sources and there’s so much human activity now where they lived left alone for decades that the wildlife now heading into the farm lands near by. Who knows where the wildlife will end up now? Least for me it’s very frustrating to see this animal sanctuary destroyed. Some time some where it has to stop! But greed always wins out over common sense that wildlife need their homes too!

[@ghostridergale]

@A R then those holes would only get deeper. Digging under the foundation of my buildings is not only destructive for the ground. It’s risking the integrity of the foundation of the buildings too. I can’t allow the digging to continue around buildings and have to fill in their holes and put hardware cloth on the ground around buildings to keep the chickens from digging there. I believe the chickens are actually trying to dig under the foundation to get under the building where eventually they be laying eggs to lay on till they hatch! Apparently nesting boxes aren’t good enough for some chickens, especially when I keep taking their eggs away! Some hens still find private places to hide though, several weeks later a hen will show back up with anywhere between 3-13 baby chicks in tow following behind the hen! How I ended up with a extra 23 chickens this last summer alone! LOL 😂