Tree tubes as in a shipping method? I dunno. I like it when things are cheap and I can experiment. Seems one step better than bare root, especially if stock gets held up in a UPS truck for a couple days.

FWIW, I have had very good luck with maples in tubes I have received.

What are ya doing? Thinking about ordering some tubes for growing in?

Are you referring to tree tubes, as in 'tree shelters', like TreePro, Tubex, etc.?
I have used them - and in some settings, they're a 'must' - otherwise, deer, rabbits, etc. browse them constantly - and sometimes out of existence. But, otherwise, I'm not a huge fan - they tend to foster rapid, but spindly growth.

Several types shown here:

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree tubes

There are several acres covered with seedlings with these tubes near a park in my area. Not sure who planted them but there are many that are starting to take off.

They would have never lasted a season without the tube with the surrounding woods.

This post was edited by whaas on Fri, Dec 27, 13 at 19:43

tree tubes, shelters, used to help seedlings get past the first couple of years out in the wild Like what (lucky) mentioned.

More or less untended seedlings may have a higher survival rate in tubes, or in a setting where rabbits & deer will have unhindered access to them, they're a good investment.
On a tree in your yard that's easy to keep an eye on and care for, I'm not a fan of 'em. Have used them in that setting before, and was not pleased with the results.

Lucky, that was my point but not clearly stated. I'd personally never use them on my half acre but an unattended field adjacent to the woods its absolutely necessary for success.

whaas,
The hooved rats are becoming such a problem for me that even in the yard here, close to the house, and the neighbors' homes, anything small has to be protected til it's big enough that the rabbits don't eat it, then a few more years til it's big enough that the bucks don't want to rub on it.
Stuff planted out around the farm? Fuhgeddaboutit without a tree shelter.

I found deer tracks along my front yard, a couple feet off the fondation....thinking what the hell are you doing up here?

Didn't see any damage to anything though.

I have used some homemade shelters and they weren't tall enough to protect the tops of some seedlings. I will order a few taller ones from Mossy oak natives, where lots of my oaks are from anyway. They will be spindly until they get over the top of the shelters. I would think if you left those trees grow without shelters, you may be pruning off those lower branches anyway, eventually. I have a Durand oak that had a shelter that was very wide( a giant pot with the bottom cut out ) And the seedling is branched from the bottom to top, I WISH I stopped all these branches from forming, now I will need to prune most off eventually to mow in back of them once they get taller and wider.

quercus13
send me your info. I will check out the tree tubes you have.
thanks treenutt

I've had no luck with tree tubes (Tubex) in my climate. Growth was spindly and the trees failed to harden off for winter. In some cases, the foliage overheated and died in hot, sunny weather. I tried drilling ventilation holes in many with no luck.

I've gone to adjustable welded wire enclosures and hardware cloth to protect my trees against deer, rabbit and vole damage.

Salmon, I bet your trees didn't do well because they were not vented. I had the same issues and kicked tree tubes to the curb until they started making them with venting. Now I use them religiously and the results are astounding. Yes, from time to time I have had some trees come out spindly, but then I started using pvc stakes and it really changed the growth pattern from spindly to sturdy stems that hold themselves up and keep up with the growth of the trees. Wire cages do protect trees, but do nothing more than that. Tree tubes get my vote.

Old post, but a good one, and I thought I would throw my two cents in...

I have a half acre subdivision plot in an area of NE Ohio that is completely overrun with deer, so my circumstances may be a bit extreme. The lot was cleared recently of struggling ash and maple groves, and I have planted around 15 mail-order tree seedlings in the 1-5' range over the last four years.

Ordered a dozen Tree Pro tubes (5') and have experimented with them over this time. They definitely deter browsing. However, I think they are still susceptible to antler rubbing. I've had two cases where deer head butted the tube/stake and crushed them down to the ground (tuliptree and baldcypress).

I have also witnessed the spindly leader growth in the tubes, along with irregular branch patterns (dense, shoot-like growth at the bottom). I would recommend the tubes if someone is planting a bunch of trees in more of a "wild" setting. But if you are just talking about a few seedlings here and there and you have mulch rings around the trees (in a suburban setting), tubes would not be my first choice.

My best results have come from using 6' tomato stakes (oak) and cheap plastic deer netting. I set four posts around the seedling and run 5' of the netting around, making roughly a 6x6' square around the tree (can be smaller or larger depending upon the type of tree). Attach the netting and stakes with re-usable zip ties. It's obviously more work and a few more bucks than the tubes. But I have found that if the deer cannot get near the leader of the tree, they won't test the fence (even though it is flimsy). The other advantage is that you can still prune the tree annually, and you won't have to deal with a bunch of corrective pruning when you take the tubes off.

Anyway, good luck to anyone struggling with deer.

just read the new posts. I gonna throw in how my trees tubes worked over the last couple of years.
Tubex:. The green ones with the air vents starting about 15" from the bottom worked the best for me. I was able to spray grass/weed killer around the base of the seedlings. Those seedlings did the best, not in super growth, but just regular growth and survival. Protection from wildlife was a plus also.
Just your regular tubes: The white ones bought from some off the wall place and they were much cheaper. Didnt have the bottom protection from weed killer. These seedlings didnt grow so well, they lived but not much different from when I planted them.

All the seedlings were planted out in the back 40, so after care was not taken.
If I were to do it again, I would make sure to get all the tubex tubes (light green) so I can spray. That I believe is the number one condition to growing seeding in or out of tubes. Weed, grass, vines control. Protect your tree from other vegetation sucking up all the nutrients, moisture and etc. Dont get the stakes they try to sell you unless they are bamboo. I got them and they rotted within the first year. Replaced with all bamboo.

IMO. Tree tubes are only made to help in the survival of seedling or similar size trees. I did not see any kind of super growth on any of my trees. And I plant a lot of seedlings.

XXXXX BONUS: THEY HELP KEEP THE SEEDLINGS FROM BEING RUN OVER BY OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS EITHER BY 4WHEELER, TRACTOR, TRUCK.

excellent thread. Thanks for the year after results/information, treenut.

Dax

IMO again: Grasses are the number one cause in seedlings doing poorly. The two types I have problems with (excuse the spelling) bermuda, and bahia grass. Two of the most common hay grasses used for cattle in this area. Keep grasses away (at least 2') from seedlings.

How do you attach the bottom of the tube to the ground so rabbit can't get under it?

Anyone have trouble with tubes (or the sapling) leaning over so the tube scraped the bark from the tree?

I don't have a deer problem, so the major utility I find in tree tubes is they provide some sun protection in the summer and mark trees so they don't end up mowed or weeded. I think the trees I planted in full sun with the tree tubes had a better survival rate.

i accidentally put some tree tubes on pines, not realizing you aren't supposed to. If I leave them on they'll deform the tree out of the pyramidal shape. When would I remove the tree tubes from the pines in the Spring?

shelters like this are an absolute must to protect the trees for a couple of years. This is one of many examples of restoration work.

Never have used tree tubes. I make cages from welded wire fencing, I can buy 50ft of that for $37. I then use landscape fabric pins to anchor them down so they won't blow over.

Another thing I have done to prevent bucks from rubbing trees is to wrap the trunks with heavy duty aluminum foil, they hate the stuff and will avoid it.

Any luck with the tubes on conifers, most specifically italian stone pine? They do not need to keep the pyramidal shape, and this would seem to help push the canopy up. Thoughts?

I bought these for my conifers. The price is pretty good and they seem to work well.

https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/search.asp?stext=Rigid Seedling Protector Tubes

I used them on pitch pine. I had a higher success rate but they ended up a little deformed.

I have struggled a bit with tree tubes because my little saplings are often quite bushy when they go in the ground. Redwoods, sweet chestnut, acer campestre and alder all tend to look like mini trees rather than the slender maiden whips I had been used to planting. A field maple was as wide as it was tall (2 feet or so) and so were the walnuts...so I have had to improvise a bit since even the odd solitary water deer has munched a good few of the unprotected things. I used wire cages a couple of times (although I didn't much like the look of them and I remain unconvinced that they will remain in place or not simply be squashed against the tree by a nudging deer head) and, as both hazel and willow osiers are abundant, I have woven little hurdles as tree guards...which look lovely but are fiddly to do. Finally, I decided to try to work around the prevailing circumstances by using the brambles as nurse bushes. Cutting out most of the old wood but leaving a vague framework, then tying in the long new season canes makes a kind of living fence which, so far, has deterred the deer (although water deer are tiny and probably can't see above the bramble. I clear a space and plant the saplings in the middle of the bramble (which is surprisingly shallow and small rooted and doesn't shade out the trees. As a last resort, I have simply stacked brash around the saplings, especially useful in winter. Fencing anywhere is not really an option. I suspect this will be an ongoing battle - somewhat like the mollusc wars, but this one must be won since tiny trees from seed are my most practical option.

i have used them and you got to be careful to make sure there is air flow or you could end up with powdery milkdew.....also make sure you stake them well or they blow over....in addition make sure the leader is growing straight up or else the tree will get tangled up

I've wanted to try them, but, they are always too expensive in my opinion. I have used pieces of 6 inch wide drainage pipe that we had laying around after we added another bathroom, and I got some iron rods to pound in the ground, to help the pipe stay up. It helped some. I had removed the little side branches up to the height of the pipe. I don't know if that is any cheaper if you need to buy the 6" wide pipe, and some little iron spikes, usually by the cement rebar at a Big box store.

A little further update on my tree tubes.

Definitly get the tubes with the solid bottoms so you can spray weed killer. i took the tubes off my seedling pines after one year. Very spindly, wobbly, thin, however you want to word it. Keep them on for a couple of years. Make sure you use bambo or pvc for stakes. Watch for wasp nests inside tubes. IMO, they only protect trees from critters, mainly the Bucks. All trees used with tubes are still kicking, but no crazy growth yet. Still waiting.

The pine trees mentioned earlier are taller then the other pine, but the trunks are thinner. Let them grow out of the top before removal. Imo. Worth the money. And also, every year, take them off, prune as needed, then put back on. Seems to help.

May the upcoming growing season be wet and sunny for all tree growers.

Generally speaking, deer are not interested in pines, spruce, etc. I'd never bother with such protections on them, but I might plant a few thousand extra to handle the buck rubbing that is sure to occur. For groupings of trees that you suspect will be browsed by deer-in our case it was species Thuja occidentalis-a favored winter browse species for deer here in the upper Great Lakes-a polygon of steel T-posts can be placed around a grouping and something as simple as orange baler twine can then be strung around the polygon in tiers, making sure to start with one quite near the ground. Deer are adept at "going low" when necessary and will simply climb under the twine if it's not low enough to the ground. Thing is, it's not so much what deer can do, it's what they will do, to get at something to eat. And admittedly, that's somewhat of a moving target. I know a guy who has put a lot of effort into reforesting land in the far NW of Wisconsin-a region that regularly gets hit by heavy lake-effect snow off Superior, and everything seemed to be going okay until an especially" bad" (snowy) winter. Starving deer will do anything to get something to eat, and they crashed down every protection device he had in place and decimated the "cedar". Here, in more mellow farm country, it tends to not be quite as bad, with more ag crop waste for the deer to find under the snow, until that gets too deep.

treenutt, I use those exact same tubes. I use them to protect young, thin-barked trees from mowers, high-pressure irrigation, sunscald, etc. They aren't supposed to promote fast growth. Nurseries use them to protect trunks during handling and operations, and they work well. I like them a lot.

If your still looking for shelters https://miracletreetube.com/ is having a 15% off sale right now

Thanks Clinton, BUT, I have ordered some from Mossy oak natives nursery already. I already received them.