Seaberry Seedlings to 4yr Old Plants

It has been a busy spring in the Seaberry / Seabuckthorn orchard experiment. Also a job change and some other things have kept me away from posting a often as I would have liked.  I will try to do better as things settle down.

This Seabuckthorn seedling was planted mid February and you can see the nice root system.  Its ready to be transplanted.

I prepared 50% leaf compost I made myself with 50% potting soil and amended the mixture with an organic fertilizer containing the bio-tone beneficial microbes:

Acidovorax facilis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CFU’s per gram

Bacillus licheniformis . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 CFU’s per gram

Bacillus megaterium . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 CFU’s per gram

Bacillus pumilus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 CFU’s per gram

Bacillus subtilis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 CFU’s per gram

Cellulomonas flavigena . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CFU’s per gram

Paenibacillus polymyxa. . . . . . . . . . . 21 CFU’s per gram

These microbes digest soil components so they are available to the plant.  They also compete and hopefully win battles with harmful soil bacteria and fungi.

These are the first 20 pots ready for transplants.  The potting bags are plastic and are very similar in form to paper lunch bags.  I intend to sink them into the garden soil giving the plant a nice 1 gallon pot to develop.  When they are ready to be transplanted to the orchard, transplant shock should be minimal.

All transplanted and placed on a porch which receives about 1/2 day sun while they acclimate to the new soil and get over the seedling transplant shock.

This seaberry seedling looks happy for the moment.

When transplanting, the Seaberry plant was planted deeper than it was growing in the seedling tray.  I planted them at a depth even with the lowest leaves. (the first ones to appear after germinating)

This is a 2 year Seabuckthorn plant.  I planted this one from seed late last winter.  It looks very healthy.

This is a 3 yr seedling.

The following are close up photos of the purchased plants I put in 2 years ago.  I think these are blossoms and will try to be accurate with the sex of the blossom buds.  As they mature a bit more, I hope to be more certain.  Click on the photos to get a larger version.

unknown - no guess

Early female Seabuckthorn bud

Early female Seaberry bud

Possible Seaberry female bud

Early female bud on Seabuckthorn plant

Possible Male Seaberry plant bud

Another possible male Seabuckthorn flower bud

Another view of the Seaberry male flower bud

Not sure about this Seabuckthorn flower bud or is it a branch just starting out?