Hello all,
I am in 9b (inland of SF Bay Area) and have a Kishu that I planted 2 years ago, was purchased as a 1-2 year old. While it gets full-sun, monthly fertilizer, and looks great, it hasn’t grown much (it’s still 24" at its tip).
I have a serious problem with gophers (or moles?) - they killed my fig tree last year - and I noticed 2-3 tunnels around my Kishu. This may explain why it doesn’t seem to grow…
I purchased a 5 gallon gopher net, but now thinking I shoulda purchased a 15 gallon, thoughts?
There are some roots left, but not much, is it worth reviving and how long will this set me back? Given that it’s been 2 years already, I don’t feel like waiting another few years for fruit
Thanks for the suggestions, but I’m hoping to go in-ground, if only because I’m unfamiliar with using pots. I’m assuming the soil and water needs to be more tightly maintained, yeah? If I place the pot in-ground, I’m assuming the same issues re: more soil and water maintenance applies?
Or buy/build yourself a gopher cage to put around the roots. They’ll eventually rust away, but by that time your tree should be big enough to not be as affect by the gophers.
Yup, this is exactly what I did, I dug up the tree in order to get it in a 15g gopher net. The roots got destroyed from my dig, and I’m hoping it recovers… I’m getting impatient
When you say “gopher net”, I assume you are referring to one of these?
If so, my experience has been that the gophers tear right through them. I have dug up a lot of dead plants only to find the gopher mesh in shreds around the plant. I make my own gopher baskets now with galvanized chicken wire.
