Starting Pinon Seedlings

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kakishibuchris MARVEL, CO(Zone 5b) Jan 17, 2013

Greetings,

Here goes the maiden post.....

Now that we can actually live in our house, we're turning our attention outdoors. We're in the southwestern part of Colorado where the pinon trees were hard hit with drought and beetle kill. I have a couple questions...

1. What can we do to help the remaining pinons make it? Some already have large sections that are dead. Any hope of helping them along or are they already too far gone?

2. We're purchasing some pinon seedlings from the Conservation District to start repopulating the property. Will we just be donating them to the beetles or with sufficient supplemental watering, will they be able to fight off any pests?

3. As pinons are such slow growers, would it be better to put the little seedlings in pots, nurture them for a couple of years, then set them out, or plant them where their ultimate destination will be, supplemental water and protect from deer?

Any other advice and words of wisdom greatly appreciated.

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Resin Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a) Jan 17, 2013

1 - probably not much you can do. If the beetle numbers collapse, they will recover. But with global warming, things aren't improving for them, except at higher altitudes.

2 - A fair chance they'd be OK. The beetles tend not to go for seedlings, so they should escape.

3 - Plant out young, and guard them from rodents, etc. Despite their slow branch growth, pinyons have fast root growth, and don't do well restricted in pots.

PS pinyon (English) or piņon (Spanish), not 'pinon' ;-)

Resin

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kakishibuchris MARVEL, CO(Zone 5b) Jan 17, 2013

Thank you for your imput, Resin. Yes, I know it has the thing over the "n" - born and raised in New Mexico. I'm just computer challenged and don't know how to make it put two characters in one place. I thought deer would be the biggest threat to the little trees. For rodent protection, are the tubes the best bet? Apparently, the beetle numbers are down, but there are still dire drought predictions for our area. We're high altitude (6600 ft.), but right where the high desert and the Rocky Mtns meet.

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