Air pot advice

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5 year old buck +
Getting bareoot wild apple trees from st lawrence nursery. I am also trying to grow blue spruce trees from seed.

Most of the bareroots are going in the ground when I get them. But, about 10 of them will be fall planted. 6 at camp in a new food plot area, and 4 in my hunting buddys backyard after he does excavator work this summer.

I'd like to grow the spruce trees at home this summer, and transplant in the fall. I am collecting apple tree seeds from my home and trying to grow them from seed next year. I can imagine the air pots would use about the same size.

What size should I get for those 2 situations? Peat moss / local soil mix / maybe a bit of pearlite / agriform tablets / and occasional liquid fertilizer in watering. I was doing these outside this summer. I have materials to put them under a sun screen if you think it would be good during the hot part of the summer.
 
Air pruning requires a system of containers, if you are growing trees from seed. Keep in mind that apples are not true to seed. I've grown apple seedlings but unless you graft them you won't know what you will get. You will also get standard sized trees in general. I've done it, but grafted over most of them. I would have been better off just starting with clonal rootstock (which I did as well) and grafting them.

Rootmaker express tray 18s are the first stage of a container system if you are growing from seed. studies show that most of the upstream branching occurs in the first 4" above the air prune. The 18s prune the tap root at about 4" and then any lateral roots are pruned as well. They are good for about 12-16 weeks. You then need to transplant into a larger container. 1 gal Rootbuiler II are my favorite for the next stage. I then transplant to 3 gal Rootbuilder II containers and let the roots fill those containers before planting in the field.

Promix is a good mix for growing trees and can be used in all sized containers. It is a chunky mix that leaves lots of voids for the branching roots to fill.

Apples on clonal rootstock do not have a taproot. So, depending on the size of the rootstock, they can be put directly into 3gal Rootbuilder II containers.

I can't speak to spruce as I haven't grown those.

Thanks,

Jack
 
Can’t comment on the apple seeds but plant your bare root trees in 3-1-1 (mini pine bark nuggets, sand, peat moss). You’ll probably need at least three gallon pots but really depends on the root size. I’ve planted some trees from NWC that would have required a 10 gallon pot if I hadn’t put them directly in the ground.


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^^^^^^^^^this

And in a pinch, head over to walmart and buy their 50 cent shopping bag

These will "trap" the root. They also have handles!!

bill
 
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