Catscratch
5 year old buck +
New question; which one tends to be more successful... bareroot or potted? Will be planted in an orchard setting and watered for their first summer.
Bareroot or potted?
- Thread starter Catscratch
- Start date
aerospacefarmer
5 year old buck +
barefoot always. Just my opinion
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
I have used bareroot and been happy. Order what i want and have it shipped when i am ready to plant.
I would only choose potted if that was the only way to get something or found some end of season steeply discounted trees from a local retailer.
I would only choose potted if that was the only way to get something or found some end of season steeply discounted trees from a local retailer.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
What's the reasoning for choosing bareroot over potted?
Shipping is easier, and all fruit trees after budding are grown out in the nursery then lifted late fall and held in controlled storage , simple to ship they are all ready , the potted ones at local retailers were potted that spring so you are buying the same thing its just the public pays to see leaves in a retail setting
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
In addition to Wooduck's comment, the selection available is much better for bare root. I can choose from dozens of apple varieties and choose rootstock. From home depot, i can get potted trees of 6 to 10 apple varieties and maybe 3 pears.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Depends on the "pot". Most of the potted stuff you will find is grown in those black smooth nursery pots. The issue is circling/j-hooking roots. They trees can look great above the pot, but you don't know what you have got until you look at the roots. If you plant trees from these pots without disturbing the roots and they have circled or j-hooked, they may look great at first, but will likely have problems as the tree gets older and those roots constrict themselves. If you remove the medium from the pot and prune any circling roots, the tree will act similar to a bare root tree depending on how much you need to trim. With bare root trees you deal with the years of sleep/creep/and then finally leap as they reestablish the root system.
Trees grown in a root pruning container system are the best of both worlds and can even be planted in the dead of summer if supplemental water is provided as needed. The problem is the cost of growing them this way is higher and I've found few commercial places that use them. The only root pruning container trees I've been able to purchase were from the wildlife group and they were nut grafted chestnuts.
One more option may be B&B trees. You'll probably need to buy these from a local nursery because of shipping issues. With these, a larger section of the root ball is extracted and wrapped in burlap.
Thanks,
Jack
Trees grown in a root pruning container system are the best of both worlds and can even be planted in the dead of summer if supplemental water is provided as needed. The problem is the cost of growing them this way is higher and I've found few commercial places that use them. The only root pruning container trees I've been able to purchase were from the wildlife group and they were nut grafted chestnuts.
One more option may be B&B trees. You'll probably need to buy these from a local nursery because of shipping issues. With these, a larger section of the root ball is extracted and wrapped in burlap.
Thanks,
Jack
Apple Junkie
5 year old buck +
Not to beat a dead horse, I think you will be far happier with the selection options you have by ordering bare root trees. Just my 2 cents.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
Selection isn't a problem at the moment as the local nursery quoted the same varieties that I'm been looking at online. His supplier ships them in 3 gallon pots. I can buy and pick up from him for the same price as ordering bareroot online and paying for shipping. I would like to support local guys if I can but do not want inferior trees...
I wouldn't know if circling or root binding has taken place in the potted trees until the shipment has arrived (and I've already purchased them).
He quoted me B&B but I'm not interested in messing with those.
I wouldn't know if circling or root binding has taken place in the potted trees until the shipment has arrived (and I've already purchased them).
He quoted me B&B but I'm not interested in messing with those.
Northbound
5 year old buck +
I've also had far better luck with bare root. However if I see crazy cheap end of season deals at box stores I'll pick them up. Roots are usually circled bad so they end up nearly bare root by the time I plant them.
Out of curiosity, how much dose a B&B tree run price wise?
Out of curiosity, how much dose a B&B tree run price wise?
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
1.75" caliber named persimmon = $150 and up.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Not sure if you are talking about the persimmon here or some other tree. Unless they are root pruning containers, trees with a long tap root will certainly hit the container and j-hook or circle before the tree gets large in a 3 gal pot. I would assume that you are going to have to manually prune roots when you get them. Keep in mind, this is no different than a bare root tree. While they won't have j-hooking or circling roots, the act of digging them up typically mechanically prunes the roots. Your are kind of going to end up with the same thing if you manually prune the roots of the potted tree. Often folks will cut back the tops of trees when the roots are pruned to rebalance the tree. This is often done at the nursery for bare root trees. You would likely need to do it yourself if you do the root pruning.
I just saw your last post. I can't believe they grew a 1.75" caliper persimmon in a smooth 3 gal pot. I wonder if the supplier is growing them otherwise, pruning the roots, and fitting them in 3 gal pot for shipment. Seems very expensive for a persimmon. I'm skeptical...but that is my nature...
Whops. I just realized I missed the question your last post answered and you were referring to the B&B trees. You will need to make a call on the 3 gal persimmons but I'd assume you'll need to prune the roots unless they are quite small.
Thanks,
Jack
