Juniper wildlings

I just learned the term wildlings today--yes for learning something new all the time!
And I've got a problem with wildlings, specifically juniper wildlings.
So most of the few large trees we have in our mountain hideaway are juniper trees. Massive old, beautiful, twisted juniper trees.  Our mountain hideaway is in a communal village about 1600 meters above sea level in seasonally-arid southern Mexico.  
Goats are huge here, and the land is not really private property not really commons, in that private individuals are given land on which to plant their one rainy season, corn-beans-squash crop. And people with animals keep them either further up mountain or corralled when the crops are in the fields. But once New Year's has passed and people have harvested their fields the animals are let loose to free graze  If you didn't get your harvest in time--too bad someone else's goats will be munching it.
So I guess one of the things goats usually much are natural seedlings, wildlings, of trees, and only the really tall old ones are left.
Along comes a government reforestation and crop diversification program and villagers are now being paid to reforrest the plots that are no longer good for milpa and ally crop fruit trees in the good milpa fields. This obviously doesn't mix with free grazing goats so plots, where young trees were planted, have been fenced for the first time ever.
And now I get to the wildlings---thousands upon thousands of wildlings popped up under the big junipers!! We've never seen this before because well the goats must have eaten them.
I know a tree sends out thousands of seeds because not all of them can survive. But we dug up a couple of hundred from the edge of the milpa field in hopes of replanting in the reforestation area, we put them in bags with the soil we dug up from the place they were growing.
It's been just over 4 weeks now since doing that and they are not doing well. none of them.
Any tips for transplanting wildlings?

This may or may not be too helpful in your situation, but one path for more research that may help out is how the mycorrhizal networks are working together in the soils.

Depending on how much soil you've moved with your little guys, you may end up creating miniature subterranean battlefields where the fungi are trying to assert dominance in slightly different soils, only to be starved off of nutrients and water.

Growing up around their parent tree, the wildlings will be 'nursed' a constant supply of what they need to grow, transmitted by the network of roots and fungal strands. Ween them too soon, and they will not do as well.


You could also try potting them and then making a business selling wild-crafted bonsai trees...

To add to what Greg mentioned (his knowledge is beyond what I know) if you could put them in pots with dirt from where you dug them up and nurse them for a year or so you may have better luck.  I understand that may be to late and too difficult now.
Check with your local nursery for an appropriate fertilizer for the junipers and give them each a little help until they get established.  If you don't have a local nursery see what you can order online.
And finally, I did a quick search and this was the first result, there are many more if you want to search Juniper Tree Fertilizer.
https://bigorganicgarden.com/best-fertilizer-for-junipers/

This is the year for hundred of Juniper seeds to be sprouting from seeds dropped in previous years.

I am seeing it on my property too.

I am not sure why as I have been here since 2013 and have never seen this happen.  My theory is that it had something to do with the winter storm that caused so much damage on Dec 31, 2020.

If you are in Southern Mexico then maybe my theory is wrong.  Maybe it has something to do with Mother Nature sprouting seeds every 10 years or 20 years, etc.

Maybe when you dug the seedlings up that you did not get all the taproot? Juniper trees have a very long taproot and if all is not gotten the seedling might not survive.

Or maybe the seedling are getting too much water?  A lot of factors might affect the seedlings.

Thank you three for the interesting responses, Anne it is very interesting to hear this happened someplace else. While we did not get snow, we are generally affected by fronts that affect northern North America, just without the extremes. I looked under a couple of other junipers, one also fenced off and a couple of others which are not, and they didn't have thousands of babies, but just a few. Maybe each juniper tree has a supercycle, a year every so often where they are more fertile than usual?
I forgot to take my phone up with me when I checked this particular tree this weekend, I usually go there every Sunday. But I did snap a photo of some of the wildlings, which were taken to the community nursery and are under shade.
The dirt was half dirt they were dug up with and half not, so that could be the problem. Also maybe too much water as their still wild siblings are not currently receiving any water except dew.
I think we will try to dig up some others for transplanting once it starts raining in June, I doubt we could move them later than that as I have tried to dig up small junipers before and they very quickly form a strong deep root.

Micheal, we do have several nurseries but they tend to ignore the trees that grow naturally in this region as unfortunately, most people consider them "useless" and instead want a lime tree or something with flowers.

These wildings are probably about a year old the reason I say that is they are about 2 to 3" that is what mine look like at that age.

If larger they may be 2-year-olds.

Also, there are probably none in a shaded area like under a robust juniper.