Pots for Starting Apple Trees

I've had good luck using the 2 gallon rootmaker style pots for bench grafted apple trees. I keep them watered for the year and then plant them that fall once they go dormant. They typically grow anywhere from 2-3 feet tall by that time.

I like the rootmaker pots the best, but I also use any random leftover pot I have lying around from 1 to 3+ gallons in size.
 
Good luck finding the rootmaker pots. I couldn't find a single one between December and February.

Has anyone had luck with other air-pruning type pots or bags?
 
I need to plant some apple bench grafts in pots as we'll be moving during the growing season. Any recommendations for dimensions? This seems like a good source - https://stuewe.com/product-category/treepots-trays/
Good products - if you lived in Washington State it would be even better with no shipping, I buy their 6x16 tapered pots and love them. I have a wood rack that I drop them into and raise them through the summer post grafting and heel them in the fall and then transplant them within 2 years. I was doing about a 100 grafted trees a year and that worked awesome. The round pots would work great if you have an auger to match the dia or at least close to it. I bought them through the greenhouse mega store a few times over the years.

There are pros and cons to potting - like anything else... these work, if you want to air prune - go psycho on them with an ice pick and call it close enough. I have not used root maker pots so I can only tell you I did not buy into them due to their prices.
 
If you cannot find any fabric pots anywhere else, cloth reusable grocery bags work and will last until the fall. Walmart sells their cloth bags for $0.50 a piece. Depending on how full you fill the bags, they hold between 3-6 gallons of soil.
 
^^^^^^^^^ works well

I have also used root trapper type cloth pots from AM Leonard with reasonable success

bill
 
I bought root pouch fabric pots from AM Leonard and have been very happy with them. Different thicknesses available depending on how long they’ll last. And very fast shipping - I ordered around 2p and they were delivered the next day with standard shipping. Granted I live 3 hours away from them.

 
It depends when you will be moving. Unlink trees grown from seed, grafted apples have no tap root. It takes the roots a while to start growing. I've used root pruning containers (RB2) when I plan to keep the trees at home for a season or more before transport and planting because they will benefit from the root pruning and the roots will be undisturbed at planting time. If you are moving in the early to mid part of the growing season, you many not get enough lateral root growth to benefit from root pruning. Any old container would do.
 
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