This will happen: You will buy tree tubes to protect your newly planted seedlings. You will install them in your field or yard. They will attract comment from friends and neighbors – things like, “What are those things?” And, “They look like missile launchers.” Then someone you know – usually a father-in-law with a background in farming or a friend who used to work at a garden center back in school will say: “Those things are going to burn up your trees.”
The same exact thing was said to British forester Graham Tuley when he tested the first tree tubes back in 1979.
And every single time it’s been said, it’s been proven wrong.
Case in point: Last week I spoke to a customer in Kansas who tried tree tubes for the first time last spring. His father in law, a life-long farmer, predicted that they would cook all of his seedlings – a prediction that was of course followed by one of the hottest, driest summers in local history.
The result? While nearly every seedling that was planted without tree tubes died, 90% of those with tree tubes survived… making a believer of the father in law!
Tree tubes are the perfect product for people who enjoy proving skeptics wrong! In dry, hot years they mean the difference between success and total failure. In years with good growing conditions they produce growth that will give you bragging rights in your family and circle of friends.
