Leaching Salts Below Trees Root Zone
Pecci
7 years ago
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edlincoln
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRelated Discussions
Cherry tree and salt burn
Comments (15)Fruit I was just repeating what I was told by an expert here in Arizona. Here we have both salty water and salty soil. I can't find it as concise and strait forward as I was told in any search. Here are some links and excerpts that may help. Arizona has salty soils just like Nevada plus salty water. What I posted was strategy to remove the built up surface salts that accumulate do to (SDI) Surface Drip Irrigation. Here is a paragraph on Salt Management where (SDI) Surface Drip Irrigation from the click-able link at the bottom. "Salt Management Nevada's desert soils have a high concentration of soil salts. SDI systems normally concentrate salt at the outer edges of the wetted soil volume. What this means is that salt concentrations will be greatest near the soil surface, in between rows of tape/tubes, or near the bottom of the wetted soil volume. Producers will need to keep this in mind and devise strategies to deal with excess concentrations of soil salts." You will find the same almost everywhere you look. Including in the link to AZ Master Gardener site. The Leaching/Flushing is simply one of the strategies devised to deal with the excess salts on the surface which also may reach into the root zone over time though the process of Surface Drip Irrigation. Even worse when the built up salts move all at once to the root zone though rain. Last paragraph new link... http://www.waikailepe.com/Watermarkconsult/Piet/3Chpt1.htm "A salt accumulation problem can occur in drip irrigation, when only a portion of the root zone is wet and saline water is used for irrigation. In such cases salts may accumulate along the edge of the wetted zone during irrigation and be moved into the root zone to cause severe damage during rain, when the drip irrigation system is not working. Operating the drip irrigation system during the rain season can normally solve such problems." As I said rain can be the culprit that moves the built up surface salts into the root zone. One more, the paragraph pn Water Quantity and Quality..... http://www.wateright.org/880105.asp "Water Quantity and Quality Trickle irrigation uses a slower rate of water application over a longer period of time than other irrigation methods. The most economical design would have water flowing into the farm area throughout most of the day, every day, during peak use periods. If water is not available on a continuous basis, on-farm water storage may be necessary. Trickle irrigation can be used successfully with waters of some salinity, although some special cautions are needed. Salts will tend to concentrate at the perimeter of the wetted soil volume. If too much time passes between irrigations, the movement of soil water may reverse itself, brining salts back into the root zone. Salts concentrating on the surface around the edge of the surface wetted area can be a hazard should a light rain occur. Such a rain can move the salts down into the root zone, without applying enough water to leach the salts through and below the root zone. When rain falls after a period of salt accumulation, irrigation should continue as normal until about 50 mm of rain have fallen to prevent salt damage. In arid regions where annual rainfall is insufficient (less than 300 to 400 mm) to leach the salts, artificial leaching may be necessary from time to time, requiring the use of a supplemental sprinkler or surface irrigation system." Of course I was told all of this in person. I can find it online but not as concise as I was told in person. Not that it can't be found but I can only find it in bits and pieces like in the links and quotes provided. Much of the salts builds up on the surface when using salty water with Surface Drip Irrigation. You don't want that built up salt to reach the root zone. So you have to manage it by flooding the root zone. Rain can move the salt into the root zone and damage crops and trees. Therefore a heavy watering would be a good thing before any potential rain when growing in an arid environment. If you don't want to see it then it may not be clear enough for you. However I live here. Its been explained to me and its clear enough for me.. Here is a link that might be useful: Subsurface Drip Irrigation Fact Sheet 97-13...See MoreSmall tree BELOW ground
Comments (3)eshore: I live on western shore of the Southern Bay so have similar conditions. One favorite is the Prague Viburnum - evergreen, fast-growing, tolerates wind, can use a windbreak, can be a large shrub or pruned into a small tree, nice looking leaves, fragrant blooms (see link below). Another favorite is Magnolia stellata - deciduous, sweet fragrant blooms in April before the leaves appear. http://www.floridata.com/ref/M/magno_st.cfm I was advised that M. stellata is slow-growing but the growth rate was fast under our conditions - within 8 years, it was taller than the one-story cottage we lived in. Because it was planted near the west side of the cottage, it had some protection from wind. I've had good luck with camellias if they have a little protection from winter winds. I planted an older species of camellia with deep red blooms in late winter-early spring. Nearby are several tall Nandinas with long heavy racemes of red berries at the same time. They made a gorgeous display from winter to spring. Nice arrangements inside too. Pam Here is a link that might be useful: Viburnum x pragense...See MoreHow do you hybridize trees zone 4-5 to zone 3?
Comments (7)>>I wonder If I graft the japanese maple onto a regular hardy maple in my climate?Grafting I'll use the example of roses here. Just like japanese maples, most roses are not hardy to zones 4 and lower. The are zone 5 and up. Hybrid tea for instance are not hardy but they are grafted onto hardy roots. Unfortuntely, this doesn't make them hardy in zone 4 and down, we have to protect them heavily so they will come back the year after and even then you run the risk of loosing them. Not because the root system is in danger but because the grafted part is. But even if you loose the grafted part during the winter, you still may have roses that will emerge from the root stock, below the grafting point. Of course, they wont be the same hybrid tea that you bought since that part died, but a hardy rose from the plant on which it was grafted. I would say the same rules would apply to japanese maples grafted onto hardy maple roots. You probably know the Explorer Serie roses. These roses are hybrids but are not grafted, they use their own roots to grow from and they are hardy to zone 3 and some to zone 2. I have 5 of them doing very well and they never needed any kind of winter protection and I never even thought about giving them any either (zone 4b QC, Canada). Why is this? The crosses were made between hardy species and/or cultivar from the the start and the breeding was done not to impart hardiness in the first place but to develop other caracteristics such as colors, trailing habits, short plants, diseases resistantce, etc. They probably used less hardy roses in their breeding program to bring in some new genes unvailable otherwise. Hybridizing If you cross two zone 5 plants like two acer palmatum, you'll end up with a bunch of other zone 5 plants. But if you cross a zone 2 plant with a zone 4 plant, you will probably end up with 80% of the plants hardy to zone 3, 10% hardy to zone 4 and 10% hardy to zone 2. Then if you take one of these new zone 3 hardy plant, roses for example and cross it back with a zone 2 rose, you may end up with a 50% zone 3 and 50% zone 2 stock. And if you cross back again one of these new zone 3 rose with a zone 2 rose, you may end up with a 75% zone 2 - 25% zone 3 ratio. These same rules would also apply to maples making crosses between 2 different species, one of them being the japanese maple for the first cross. The difference is here: in the example of roses I took, the desirable plant and the one used in every cross was a zone 2 and the goal was to bring a zone 4 plant to zone 2. With every cross I did I added some zone 2 hardiness to the gene pool. With the japanese maple, we would be working against the odds, the desirable plant and the one that should be used in every cross is a zone 5 plant and that would bring a zone 3 plant to a zone 5 only. And if I added more and more zone 3 maple, I would be loosing more and more of the japanese gene pool. Either way leads you away from the wanted result. And we haven't even said a word about what could be recessive of dominant in these crosses, which is also a very important factor to keep in mind. This can be observed in the new clematis hybrids that are reaching the market these years. Old clematis were hardy in zone 4, but crossing them to warmer growing one has yielded many new very desirable hybrids, but only hardy in zone 5, 6 or even 7. We have gained in beauty but lost in hardiness. In a word I don't think grafting would be successfull in the way you would want it to be. And breeding wouldn't work quite the way you would want either from what I understand from what you said. These are two of the reasons why I said that selection was a much better approach in your case. It is not an easier or shorter one way to do, only a safer one. Hope this helps!...See MoreItalian Cypress Trees Can Grow Successfully in Salt Lake City, Ut
Comments (6)Joann, we would love to see pictures of your cypress trees! also, if i am correct, the upper elevations can be slightly warmer during cold snaps for two reasons- the cold wind tends to whip through the valley, while the mountainsides and hillsides are more protected. Secondly, the colder air settles down lower in the valley (slightly). temperatures where we live in bluffdale (near the jordan) are usually a degree cooler. ps, does anyone know how to subscribe to threads, or access my recently viewed/written posts? (as in other forums)...See More
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
7 years ago
Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
7 years agoSmivies (Ontario - 5b)
7 years agoPecci
7 years agoPecci
7 years agoPecci
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoPecci
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoPecci
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
gyr_falcon
7 years ago
Sara Malone (Zone 9b)
7 years agoPecci
7 years agoPecci
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoPecci
7 years agoPecci
7 years ago
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5