Crooked planting

[Knehrke]

I had some help yesterday planting 30 fruit trees from Cummins - with appropriate social distancing, of course - and some of the trees were...less than straight, when all was said and done. So, how important is it to have the grafted top section pointing straight up? I've planted a bunch of trees over the years, but I always make sure that they're straight myself, so I have zero experience here. Should I dig them up and replant? Put a couple stakes inside the cage and tether them? Just wait and they will self correct? Or am I nitpicking? Between spraying, screening trunks, holes, weed cloth, pea gravel, and cages, there's quite a bit of effort, and I'd hate to waste it on a simple thing like this.

 

[BlueSpruceOutfitters]

I also got a few from Cummins yesterday. A couple of the crabs were "wonky" topped. I just caged them and then used sticks as make shift horizontal holds to keep them moving upright. Has always worked out well for us. That or a loose fitting cut garden hose with ropes.

 

[BobinCt]

I had gotten 2 this year from them and one was not straight at all. It was impossible to plant it straight the way it grew. The other tree only had like 3 inches to bury from the graft. Was not happy, but I ordered these two very late and that’s prob why I got these.

 

[Apple Junkie]

I put considerable effort into getting my trees off to a good start too. Some trees are straighter than others, and some down right goofy looking. Over time, even my goofy ones seem to self-correct. As they get older, the trunk gets thicker and the abnormalities soften. As long as I can keep a nice central leader heading straight up, I have been fine. In a perfect world, every tree would be perfectly straight and balanced, but… you know the rest.

 

[Mortenson]

If I'm on my knees planting the tree, sometimes when I stand up it isn't quite pointed the direction (up) I thought it would be. I usually just pull a piece of twine from my pack and lasso the tree, pull it to center and tie it to the cage. I know a lot of guys here use conduit, but I haven't done that yet and my earliest trees from '16 and '17 don't appear to be missing it yet.

 

[Knehrke]

Thanks guys! I'm not going to sweat it much then. If I have a piece of garden hose and some twine next time I'm out there perhaps I'll put a little bit of pressure on them. I agree that this year's batch from Cummins had a few that were growing strange from the graft, and I ordered last July so I suspect that your late order BobinCT had nothing to do with it. Luck of the draw maybe. I'm sure they'll be fine. Thanks for the words of encouragement.

 

[yoderjac]

Well, I would not point the grafted end down. But other than that, I would not sweat it. You may get some turns in the trunk and as long as they are not severe, the tree will correct and do fine.