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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: less frequent watering means deeper roots?
« on: April 05, 2024, 06:26:27 AM »
A couple of years ago I cleared an acre of my land which is typical Myakka flatwoods soil and saturated about 3 feet or less most of the summer. rainy season with occasional ponding to the surface. That's why susceptble species like avocado must be mounded. The land was forestry mulched to remove surface brush, then I used a chainsaw and PTO chipper to remove all the tree top growth. Most trees were Ear Acacia, Brazil Pepper and Melaleuca, all invasive. I saved all the tree trunks and used the chipped tree tops as mulch. Burned the stumps and spread the ash and charcoal. Nothing left the farm. Here is a video showing the stumps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDVQJxlSVq0
Then, an excavator came and pulled the stumps over. It was an easy job because even though the trees had roots 20 feet horizontally none had roots below that 3 ft level, including the largest Acacia which was 24 inches diameter at breast height.
This shows the root balls of the typical trees. When pushed over the excavator laid them back down and could stand them back up on the root balls, no tap roots.
Here the excavator pulled over the largest tree, 24" diam. I made benches out of it. It's about the size of that alleged "Guanacaste" tree, which looks like Enterolobium contortisiliquum to me. It had no tap root either but horizontal roots out 60 ft diameter.
You may wonder what I did with that huge pile of wood which wouldn't feed through my small chipper?
I used them to "armor" tree planting ridges on a half acre plot of Achachairu and soursop trees.
Im not sure what happens to the fungal network when soil becomes saturated up to the surface and above like during hurricanes. I doubt it extends into or below the waterlogged spodic layer anyway. I have a shallow well which I can use to measure the perched water table on my place. At the height of the dry season it is only 6 ft down. I can suck that water up with a 2" gas driven trash pump at 40 gallons/minute virtually forever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDVQJxlSVq0
Then, an excavator came and pulled the stumps over. It was an easy job because even though the trees had roots 20 feet horizontally none had roots below that 3 ft level, including the largest Acacia which was 24 inches diameter at breast height.
This shows the root balls of the typical trees. When pushed over the excavator laid them back down and could stand them back up on the root balls, no tap roots.
Here the excavator pulled over the largest tree, 24" diam. I made benches out of it. It's about the size of that alleged "Guanacaste" tree, which looks like Enterolobium contortisiliquum to me. It had no tap root either but horizontal roots out 60 ft diameter.
You may wonder what I did with that huge pile of wood which wouldn't feed through my small chipper?
I used them to "armor" tree planting ridges on a half acre plot of Achachairu and soursop trees.
Im not sure what happens to the fungal network when soil becomes saturated up to the surface and above like during hurricanes. I doubt it extends into or below the waterlogged spodic layer anyway. I have a shallow well which I can use to measure the perched water table on my place. At the height of the dry season it is only 6 ft down. I can suck that water up with a 2" gas driven trash pump at 40 gallons/minute virtually forever.