We have many hundreds of 2-3ft seedling trees potted up in our bark media. They are in 5 and 10gal containers based on size of tree and roots when they got here. We are currently trying to workout our water needs. Most trees look super happy, but our Shumard Oaks for instance, are not good. We only brought in 100 of them but I would say we are going to lose half of them! That is a substantial number! And there is only a hand full with leaves, and those new leaves seem to be shriveling instead of expanding. They are not really dry or brown, just look shriveled.

For this reason, I am sort of wondering about an over water condition. Our media can dry out FAST! Most data out there is regarding trees in the ground, in soil. For these reasons, it seems almost impossible to over water. Right now, our program is hand watering with a rain head, and a delivery of about .5gal/tree in the 10gal pots, and .3gal/day in the gal. We make that decision based on testing the media for moisture.

The media really can only hold a "damp" moisture feel. Never saturated, impossible to pond water in it, etc. I am trying to let the leaves talk to me! If I can responses, I will post leaf pics for thoughts.