DIY Air Prune Beds - Grow Hundreds Of Healthy Trees In A Tiny Space

[@edibleacres]

Nice design! Thanks for sharing this!

[@7thGenerationDesign]

Absolutely! Many thanks to you too - I've learned so much from you and your channel over the years!

[@Chestnut22322]

Casey, Hans here. Great videos! I love the air pruning beds (as you know) and refer people to them frequently. Can I make a suggestion to improve your KZbin channel? It would be cool if you could group the different videos together in like subjects. I keep having to search around to find your air pruning bed tutorials (I refer people to them frequently). How is the relocation working for you?

[@7thGenerationDesign]

Hi Hans, yes sir, we've got a bunch of playlists that categorize both our videos and other ones by topic - here's the one on air pruning in general (with some of Dr. Whitcomb's science in there, as well as the air pruning bed walkthrough videos) :kzbin.info/aero/PLJy8-1MQvUQw5phlrLVYiwrUbLZTjxKyD TN has definitely been a mixed bag, highs and lows to it. We're getting ready to move from our first place as it has been surrounded by fields onto which biosolids have been dumped - we've basically been living in a porta-potty for the past 3 months, and we're pretty done with it :/ But we'll keep our heads up! My new KZbin Channel and website are here if you want to follow those - same deal, with playlists that I'm always adding to organized by topic: www.youtube.com/@thesovereignhomestead I hope you are doing well and in good health! Cheers!

[@ScottFairley-sv4yg]

Superb design. Will be flattering you with imitation this fall.

[@bruceford9036]

Outstanding! Dr. Carl Whitcomb is Da Man! (RootMaker)

[@MattDollinger]

Hi. Love the setup. However I don’t see any roots making it through the shade cloth? Do you feel that might be too dense to allow for air pruning of tap roots? Looking to build some Of these this summer and just trying to finalize design. Thanks!

[@7thGenerationDesign]

Hi Matt, you are correct, no roots grow through the shade cloth because the tips dessicate before they do that and send the growth signal back up the root to initiate more branching. This makes them easy to harvest from the beds, while also encouraging that highly branched root structure that we are after.

[@gogonkt]

Nice work !

[@veegee49]

Fantastic work you nailed it

[@joekunin]

Thanks for sharing! what sort of soil do you use in these? Is this method suitable for both seeds and cutting propagation?

[@AmazingJane137]

Thanks for that

[@Midir__Cutie]

Interesting video, thank you

[@forrestdeno4040]

Hello, Can you comment on the sources that give the confidence that air pruned trees actually do better than potted (circular root structure)? Of course, planting where you want initially, from seed is best, but there are many great advantages to making it mobile for the first year or 2.

[@7thGenerationDesign]

Hi Forrest, I'd start by looking into the work of Dr. Carl Whitcomb - we have several of his video saved in this playlist on air pruning tech: kzbin.info/aero/PLJy8-1MQvUQw5phlrLVYiwrUbLZTjxKyD As an anecdote, back in my farming days we met a gentleman named David Muffly who was the guy that grew all of the oaks and large trees for the Apple One campus in Cupertino (giant circular space ship looking building) and he did everything in air pruning pots - Pioneer Pots specifically. He's a huge advocate for air pruning, especially for the tap-root dominant dryland/Mediterranean adapted trees. I don't know if he still has his website up but it might be worth searching for him on KZbin or Google.

[@justtinkering6054]

I’m thinking about planting some chestnuts and persimmons in my air pruning bed right now, before winter. My fear is that they will freeze and not germinate. Looks like it works for you. What USDA zone are you in, or what’s your nearest city?

[@7thGenerationDesign]

This video was shot in the Santa Cruz mountains of CA - zone 8b/9a if I recall correctly? However, for me one of the primary reasons I like to use the air pruning beds is to set seeds out so they get to stratify naturally - just as if they'd fallen in nature. So all the nuts, fruits etc I'll sow them in late fall or after their harvest time, and then they'll germinate right on time in the spring. Just keep 'em protected from squirrels or other critters that would love to dig them up!

[@dianampowell1]

I'm concerned I might get problems with mice & shrews. I think it's a minimum of 6mm mesh holes to exclude small rodents. Have you had any trouble with them? Are there small rodents on your site?

[@davidkirby27]

Air pruning, technically speaking is a technique utilised for large tree transplants/movements, pot bound fruit/veg/trees that won't have the ability to anchor in the earth. Ultimately, the build makes total sense from a desired outcome perspective, however, it doesn't. make a lot of sense given you had the opportunity to plant into the ground.

[@thunderdove3764]

It makes sense when you consider RODENTS! :) I've lost Japanese maple, nuts, etc. when planted in a way the chipmunks, squirrels, etc. could get to them.

[@bigtonekd77]

Where are you located? What is the weather like in the winter? Do anything to protect them from freezing?

[@7thGenerationDesign]

We are in the Santa Cruz mountains in Central Coastal CA - we have mild winters. For cold climate adaptations I'd check out EdibleAcres videos and Akivah Silver's Twisted Tree nursery - both upstate NY based I believe). I haven't managed any in a cold climate myself - but keeping them close to ground level (a few inches off it) and mulching around the sides is what I've seen people do.

[@agpawpaw5912]

Does chicken wire small enough to protect from chipmunk?

[@ryleenepinak]

Is there a supply list of materials and/or blueprint to build this? Trying to build 10 of these this week!

[@7thGenerationDesign]

Hi Rylee, We are working to put that all together right now - just did a write up and materials budget for a project in Michigan, costs are for a 12 bed tree nursery, each bed 8'x3'. You are welcome to check the write up and spreadsheets for details if they are helpful. I don't have drawings yet, but they're coming! Write up: docs.google.com/document/d/18pgJEAlWtHZE5ulfOyeV5nvCWkNLKyhKBuoKAM9ZmMk/edit?usp=sharing Materials Spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KakScTqsXvNGgHMu5AlipoAAxDS1nubdC2Vvnd55kJg/edit?usp=sharing I hope that got to you in time to help.

[@pokerchannel6991]

dear sir: I bought two trees, a avacodo, a peach. Both in 15 gallon container. Is it worth while to transfer to a burlap type bag for one year before putting into ground permanently? Winter in 9b zone has a few freeze nights and I need the trees to be ready for outdoor. I want to get them strong indoors using burlap/bag first? Is it worth doing? Is it too late since they are in container for years in the nursery where i bought them?? thx.

[@7thGenerationDesign]

I would just plant them straight away - since they were already pot grown there won't be much to gain by trying to set them up in an air pruning bed for a year. If it were me, I'd just plan them and let the roots do the best they can in the earth at this point - spread them out as best you can to create a good structure etc.

[@pokerchannel6991]

@@7thGenerationDesign ok. that makes sense. I am going to plant and irrigate efficiently, and heavy mulch to encourage deep, wide roots. Also, cover it during cold nights. (to get them through the first few winter). thx.

[@zakklee]

What is a good alternative for the shade cloth? I can’t find any locally.

[@7thGenerationDesign]

Any fabric that is very breathable and drains well - while it is biodegradable, and thus you might have to replace it every year or two depending on your climate, you could absolute use burlap sacks or rolled burlap to create a bottom that would air prune well. Geotextile would probably be too densely woven and wouldn't air prune effectively in my estimation. Hope that helps!

[@firecloud77]

What kind of media are the roots growing in?

[@7thGenerationDesign]

The media in this video is a hodge-podge mixture of various soil materials - you can use whatever is suited to the type of trees or plants you are growing.

[@jessehenderson3013]

Albizia julibrissin?

[@holycrossmath3490]

Do you use compost, topsoil, or a mix to fill the beds?

[@7thGenerationDesign]

I use a range of different media depending on what I'm growing - faster draining mediums generally for mediterranean/dryland trees and plants, richer soils for more temperature species - and/or whatever is available and affordable.

[@danatryde2024]

Would this work for Live Oak and Valley Oak?

[@7thGenerationDesign]

Hi Dana, I have grown both of those trees in this type of set up, they did well!

[@Rytoast99]

hey man I like the video. Do you have any recommendations for how deep i should plan on making it for large trees, like the chestnuts you showed here?

[@7thGenerationDesign]

The bed in this video has about 8-9" of soil medium for the chestnuts. However, if you want to get the maximum root branching stimulus according to Dr. Whitcomb's data the tap roots need to be air pruned within the first 4-5" of growth in order to stimulate root branching back towards the stem root junction. We are trialing deeper and shallower beds this year and will post results when we pull the current year's trees to examine the root structure.

[@forrestdeno4040]

@@7thGenerationDesign Do you have results posted? Would be great to get a link to the results. Happy planting :D

[@7thGenerationDesign]

@@forrestdeno4040 Hi Forrest, here is a link to one of our harvest videos demonstrating the harvest process and the root structure of the young trees: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qavEY5ZvitV4nJI

[@vballboy11]

@@7thGenerationDesign hey just following up, are you able to share the results of your trial of deeper and shallower air prune beds? I would hope that the shallow ones (closer to 4/5" did better as per dr. whitcombs research. Looking forward to hear how it went!

[@thunderdove3764]

@@vballboy11 I'd like to know as well. One worry I'd have though is if they have to spend one winter in there, I might have to insulate around theb ed. However, maybe they'd be good enough to, big enough, to transplant by autumn when dormant? have you tried this at all, the pruning beds? I'm just learning about them after getting discouraged about the cost of ellepots!

[@kevinhaddon4942]

Has anyone yet thought of what may happens when a gust of hot air hits the roots consistantly. I think it's about timing. Same as harvesting on a full moon 🤔

[@7thGenerationDesign]

The trees thus far have performed just fine, assuming there is consistent automated irrigation to keep the soil mass reasonably moist. We have had the power go out during a heat wave for nearly a week, however, and the trees were still looking just as they did the prior week - the soil does a good job of insulating and retaining moisture.