Grow Box Question

SlapSlapSlappy

Hi,

I'm planning on building some grow boxes to put some of my plants in to thicken the trunk. I have a bunch of time since now isn't the time to repot in my climate. Would it be more beneficial to the trees if I stuck the grow boxes in the ground? The soil in the garden is horrible, so I'm afraid that if the roots start poking out of the grow box, they would not enjoy it. I'm thinking about building oversized grow boxes to try and replicate being in the ground. The temperatures here get really warm (116F during the hottest parts). What should I do?

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Hawthorn

If you're worried about temperature swings, the larger, the better.. Ultimately, yes if this is your concern, burrying them would be good too. But you have to remember, trees will root out until they find conditions that they DO like. So if the roots escape their boxes while burried in the ground they will keep going and going and going until they find favorable conditions. If you are looking for some reasonable confinement for the roots and burrying them, I would look into something called a root control bag, these allow you to burry the root ball, in soil of whatever composition you like AND keep the roots confined in the area you desire. Makes it much easier to dig later as well as prevents a lot of unnecessary stress to the tree when you do dig it back out.

I haven't ordered from these guys, but it's simply one example of the types of products that are available, http://www.hort-enterprises.com/

Another thread here turned me on to these and I think I'm going to be using them extensively in the future..

jfecme

Grow cactus? (Pardon the poor attempt at humor)

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Hawthorn

LOL!!

SlapSlapSlappy

Thanks for the reply Hawthorn. Do the root bags have good drainage? It didn't say on the link you gave me.

Hawthorn

Sorry for the delay in responding, somehow the "new posts" search failed me..

Anyhow, YES, the bags generally are constructed of a cloth-like material on the sides that allows water and nutrient exchange with the surrounding soil. The bottoms are a fused or glued plastic material of some type that prevent deep tap-rooting(by forcing them to grow horizontally into the fabric sides).. When the roots reach the fabric they begin to grow through it and then are choked out because the fabric does not give, thus constantly pruning them in a non-stressful manner.

SlapSlapSlappy

Wow I like that. I'll look into it. So without using these bags, what would be the most effective way to remove the growing box after several years of root growth into the soil? Seems like the root bags are the most efficient manner, though.

Hawthorn

I think if you left a grow box in the ground for more than a year, you would essentially be digging a tree from the ground as if the box weren't ever there to begin with, and it may indeed not be there due to rot.. It would be stressful for the tree, especially if the soil isn't of very high quality, as this would ensure large tap roots in who-knows-what direction..

Mcspeed

Spading around the tree to cut the escaped roots. This is often done in advance to digging yamadori as well, it severs the big roots and tends to ramify the roots closer to the tree. You also don't have to leave the box inground for the roots to escape, pull it regular for different exposure to the sun. Afterall it is a good idea to rotate your trees for full exposure to the sun, the tend to grow towards the sun if left in one place.

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