Hi everyone I got these trees and i want to put them in tree tubes, but I’m honestly not sure what to do with the branches.
Do I cut them off and leave only the central stem?
Do I force them all into the tube and ket them grow up with narrow crotch angles?
Thanks for helping this newbie out. These are the first of many many!
Jonathan
I’m not an expert, but I do have over 400 trees in 5’ tubes since 2023, so here are some of the things I’ve experienced and learned:
For your trees, I would probably try pruning any large/vigorous competing leaders, but not worry too much about small/thin/weak side branches.
I recommend some bird netting on top of the tubes, bluebirds and others tend to fall inside and die if you don’t 
Use stout, rot-resistant stakes. 1"x3/4" wood stakes (pine, red oak) rotted out in 1.5 years at my house. I used 1/2" rebar at the orchard and it’s been great, especially if you have rocky ground. Be sure to pound them in deep enough - think ahead to when you have a tall tree and all that wind load pulling on them.
Tubes are definitely not maintenance free, plan to be checking on them regularly and having the tubes off once or twice a year. Still, I can’t imagine doing a large number of trees with cages (time, cost). Even for a fenced in setup, I would still use tubes - I think tubes promote vertical growth, so you don’t waste years trimming low branches off of short trees, wasting the tree’s energy.
These chestnuts were planted ~July 1st 2023 as ~2 foot tall seedlings. Tubes are 5 foot tall, many trees are about 10 feet tall now. I have found the need to add bamboo stakes to many, as they were too tall for their trunk diameters. Hopefully that resolves next summer as they bush out and thicken their trunks up. You can see the green filling up the tubes in the photo - that’s leaves and/or side branches. No big deal, I’ll be removing tubes this winter to trim those off.
I used 3/4" schedule 40 pvc pipe. It’s weather resistant and allows the tubes/trees to move to some extent. I would probably trim off side branches. The tubes scrunch all the leaves and branches together and they don’t get full sunlight to each leaf. Be sure to water during hot and dry periods. Without adequate holes for ventilation, the trees can bake.
Tree Pro… this is how u do it…
I use tree tubes. Tree Protection 101 | How to protect your tree with Tree Grow Tubes I have found that it is best to use 6 ft t-tubes. They are designed for cattle. The thinner grade metal stakes were bent by deer
Here was the latest one. The deer pulled it over then rubbed antlers. I don’t like the open tree tubes for this reason (they can see the trees)
Thanks everyone. You’ve given me lots to think about.
Jonathan
One follow up question. At what point do you take the tubes off of the trees? A certain age/height? When they get too thick?
Cliff is listing his at $2.85 each under ‘Equipment’ on his page. Not sure if that price is valid but i like to support him when i am able to.
Those are the 36" instead of the 60"
