Are you going to use tree tubes on evergreens?
No these will be for hardwoods. I will have to stick to cages for the evergreens.
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I hadn’t considered using rebar. That’s a good idea.
I’m not sure about the trunk stiffening thing either. It seems like most trees are out of the tube in a year or two and get the wind sway effect then. I’ve used both metal and pvc and can’t say that I’ve seen much of a difference between the two.
I purchased and am using the 5’ Protex for my new Chestnut trees also from Forestry Suppliers. Decent price and shipped fast…
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If I don’t have too many to do at once, I hole punch them on the side where they join, and then zip tie that together (instead of using their tabs) and then have a stake on each side of the tube.
I just looked those up and that is a good price. Have you already gotten your order? If you have, how’s the quality? How long do you think they will last, a couple seasons, 3-4 seasons, or more?
I have @ 250 plantra tubes set on my property for dwarf tart cherry, apple, chestnut, and oak. 5’ and 6’ tubes with 100 % survival and awesome growth. All trees planted as seedlings and are out of the tube at 2nd leaf. You have to maintain by keeping weeds and pruning maintenance up and removing litter from tubes. Done right they are extremely effective but definitely not maintenance free.
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Good quality. I would like to think will last at least 2-3 seasons, but this is 1st time using these as am establishing my farm. Was happy with what I received.
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My friend may use these on newly grafted persimmons and pawpaws.
Do you think the tubes will provide shade to pawpaws the 1st few years helping them out… or that greenhouse effect will make it too warm or intensify the sun hurting them?
Note: I think the TreePro are the ones we’ll prob get as they have vent holes and easier to inspect inside than the Protex ones but they both look good.
They all have vent holes at the top 
I did a couple of pawpaw in a more protected location and a 2’ tube around the pawpaw worked for them for shade. In my situation, once they were out of the 2’ tube, they were fine.
Any truth to claim that blue tubes increase growth?
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I haven’t tried any tubes other than blue (of different brands) and usually have good growth, but I don’t know beyond that.
I’ve put pallets or junked vehicles on the south side of walnuts or pecans to encourage up-growth and that’s worked somewhat ok too as long as they have water. Maybe I can almost get a junk vehicle for as cheap as a tree tube now
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They didn’t work well for me. Clear ones have been much better. It may be because I had the cheaper ones from a.m. Leonard, which they no longer sell. Or maybe because I’m in a fairly cloudy environment.
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It’s rarely cloudy in my area, so that might make a big difference.
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I’ve used a number of different tree tubes. All increase growth rates. My neighbor has probably over 100 blue tree tubes on a variety of shrubs/trees. The growth there doesn’t seem to be any faster than the typical opaque/plain colored tubes that I’ve used. I do have some greenish colored tubes that I don’t think are made any longer (I think they were called Photosynth), those were quite affordable and seemed to increase growth more than the others I’ve used.
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Opaque tubes would kill trees. They must be at least translucent.
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Plantra tubes sure look opaque to my eyes, but I could be wrong.
The opening at the top isn’t opaque…lol
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