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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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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I wanted to followup with this… since my friend wants to plant 200 - 500 trees this year and wants that many tree tubes (surrounded by alum fencing possibly as well), whats the best bang for the buck in bulk?
TreePro and Protex look to be about $4-$5 per 60" tube based on how many you get.
I see AM Leonard has ‘Mesh Tubes’ and Defender Pro square tubes about $250 for 50 packs (not sure how these work, the pic in catalog seems to show a closed off square hehe).
The mesh tubes are a PITA. Branches grow through the mesh and if you don’t stay on top of pruning it bevomes a tangled mess. They also don’t increase growth rate ( not necessarily a negative). Finally, bucks sure liked tearing them up when I tried them.
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I’ve only used the Treepro miracle tubes. They’ve held up really well for the two years they’ve been out there.
5ft tubes for chestnut and persimmon.
30" or 36" tubes for pawpaw. No issues with sunburn on the pawpaw.
Looks like the 5ft tubes are currently $3.50 per tube if you’re buying 250+. Plus shipping. In 2023 they were $3.
I’ve heard that people sometimes still have deer issues with 5ft tubes, and go with 6ft. That would be annoying because then you cant easily peek inside the tube. I haven’t had issues with deer, but last year I additionally installed one of those “3D” electric deer fences to protect other plants that werent tubed, and it keeps 99% of the deer out.