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Wow, who did you but those from? They sold them as individual plants even though there are several welded together?

You can soak them in water and gently tug plants apart and they should be OK if roots pull apart without tearing.

What did they cost you?

I'd keep them if they were really cheap. Otherwise maybe not. I'd try using a strong stream of water to wash the soil away from the roots. But not so strong as to damge the roots. Maybe immerse them in water and shake them around. Then gently pull them apart, straight into a bucket of water, and plant immediately. They will probably work out fine. But not something I'd want too much of.

The Fruitnut

harvestman...NO they were not sold as individual plants that way, that mass of tangled plants represents 20 plants...the first clump I untangled had 21 plants in it. Another container of the same variety only had like 12.

And I have 10 more of those to fuddle through. UGH I guess I can try the soaking method, he finally emailed me back and told me not to panic that they would be fine, he said that is the way they are propogated. That I should cut the root ball on 2 sides equal distance apart, and then separate the 2 halfs and then soak if need by but then "jiggle" them apart. The problem is that they are literally all grown together. I had no choice but to pull/tear some of them as gently as I could to get them to separate. He gave me extras to make up for any runts that were in the mix. I paid $1.50 each for them and he paid for the shipping. (that part I cant complain, because he sent them via UPS and since they were coming from GA, they actually arrived next day. I guess they just seemed very small to be 2 and 3 year old plants.

I do have another question...are they really still considered dormant if they have flower buds on them? should those be removed? I would hate to have to cut them back any because them seem pretty small to begin with..there is not one of them bigger than 12 inches, I'd say the average size (above the root line) is about 8 inches?

I can understand your frustration. They're not what you expected. But they look healthy and at a buck fifty that doesn't look like too bad a deal to me. They will lose some roots pulling them apart. But if you can get them planted without the remaining roots drying any, they shoud be fine. All trees lose most of their roots when they are dug from the nursery.

As to the fruit buds, yes I'd pull them off while they're in the pots. Much easier that way.

The Fruitnut

Wow rjinga
There is nothing worse than a surprise. I agree with the others that they probably will work, you may have more mortality since they are bound to be stressed with the roots being messed with. We bought 100 blueberry plants from Hartmans in Michigan and they came in individual 1 gallon pots. They cost ~4.50 apiece and 20% shipping but we were ohhhh so happy with the quality. We will have to see how winter hardy these two yr plants are as we have had an old fashioned (cold!!) winter. I hope there was warranty on your plants, but I'd plant them and see.
Good luck
Jake

You will want to remove the flower buds in any case, especially because of the root damage plants will suffer. It is recommended that flowers be removed for at least the first season for most fruit plants and especially blueberries. Energy that would be used for root and vegetative shoots are siphoned to fruit.

I believe Degrandchamps Nursery gives a much better per 100 rate than Hartman's and is a very competent commercial supplier for the blueberry industry.

Your supplier is extremely unprofessional in my opinion and I have never heard of any species of plants sold in clumps as per plant, weeds included. I doubt you will recieve satisfaction even if you ask for a refund- at the least you'll have to pay shipping. You may be best served to chalk this up as an investment in experience.

Thanks for all your feedback, I appreciate it. What I have done to buy me more time to work through this and DO IT RIGHT (as right as I possibly can) is to put the clump into a larger container, which I filled in with the mix that I'll be planting them in. This way I can keep them watered and then work on them and pot them up immediately upon separating them as time allows.

This is more of a marketing question...but since I have never actually purchased plants from anyone before this year) and have no true point of reference on what would have been a GREAT suprise plant wise, size wise, etc, I'm very reluctant to sell these (as intended) to others not really knowing how they will fare in the end. Fine if someone buys 25 plants and 2 die, but not fine if someone buys 2 and one dies...

How late in the season can plants be planted? If I pot them all up and I've got BIG, I think 3 gallon containers, and let them be for a while, pamper them, keep them watered well etc. I can monitor their progress and then sell them later on? Would this seem more reasonable? And finally, the price most of the other people out there I see selling plants this size or smaller is between 4 and 5 dollars. Is this also reasonable? I have to rely on his word that they are as old as he states they are? He also sells the liner plants (which are less than 6 inches tall) for half the price of what I got, they would be one year old plants. I've got plenty of room to keep these plants for as long as necessary, (EVEN til next year if need be). And I think that they will be fine in these large containers I have, even til then.

I will agree that he might be less than professional appearing, although size wise, he claims to have quite a large volume of business. In later emails to me, he agreed that if sent them back the same day he'd refund my money and then used a little marketing ploy stating that he's completely sold of out all his plants and has people all over the country clamoring for more of them. I didn't get his email in time, or I may just have called his bluff.

Yes, lesson learned...seems my experiences lately are FULL of lessons...I'm tired of being a dumb student. But like I've always believed, it's so difficult out there to really know who's good and who's not. Unless you have either heard from someone else (who you can honestly trust) or have your own personal experience with). I have also always believed that "plant" people are typically the better of the bunch and less likely to do harm...but that theory doesn't always prove itself to be accurate. Always someone out to make a buck any way they can. Sad really.

Unfortunately there are many of those on and off the internet. And I would hate to pay "tuition" to learn these lessons too.

I think the health of those look ok. If taken care of right, after half a year, they should have recovered with some new growth. My biggest worry is whether he even bothered to keep the cultivars right and that will be very difficult to tell for typical people and need a lot of observations.

They should be happy in 3 gallon containers for at least a year. You can sell them in fall if they make a nice recovery or next spring.

I don't know how your plants will respond to transplanting-they look healthy. If you remove the flowers they may barely skip a beat, being youngsters. In that case you may get a good flush of growth within a month of leaf out. Then you can make the decision based on how much more you can charge once they get to max size for a 3 gal container. I'd say about 30 inches and well branched. Problem is, blueberries take too much work for me- have to be constantly watered in pots. It would probably take 2 years to get them to fill the pots to where the roots hold the soil.

If you decide to sell them quickly, just wait for them to leaf out and you will know how much vigor they have and can sell them with a clear conscience. Just tell the customers to plant them in the ground still in the pots and to transplant them out of the pots in the fall once they are dormant. And tell them to water frequently!

I agree with harvestman regarding the blueberries filling the 3 gal containers. It's going to take some time for that to happen. You also take a chance with the roots drying out long before the surrounding soil, free of roots, dries. Too large pots can fool you into thinking your plants have lots of moisture, when they are actually dry in the relatively small root zone. For many reasons - water usage, fertilizer, space, cost of planting soil, plant happiness and more - I wouldn't go with more than a 1gal pot when you transplant. Should the plants fill these pots by mid-late summer, you can always repot them at that time to larger pots.

If the plants are watered regularly, will they STILL dry out? And what about planting small plants in containers that you intend to leave in containers permanently. I'm talking about putting some in 1/2 whisky barrels, that scenario would appear to be even MORE troublesome even then the 3 gallon sized pots.

So if say in a month or so they start to leaf out, what is the latest that it would be safe to plant them (if I were to sell them at the point they are leafing out). Obviously I'm not going to sell them all at once, so some will remain in containers here for a longer time.

Do people buy blueberries to plant in the fall? summer?

If you're not happy with the plants and you paid with a credit card, you can dispute the charges. People do it all the time when a business misrepresents their merchandise. Maybe it will send a message to the grower to be a little more professional...

If the plants are watered regularly, will they STILL dry out? ******************** Most plants don't want wet feet, so watering soil so much that it becomes waterlogged will likely prevent your blueberries roots from occupying all of the potential space in the pot.********************

And what about planting small plants in containers that you intend to leave in containers permanently. I'm talking about putting some in 1/2 whisky barrels, that scenario would appear to be even MORE troublesome even then the 3 gallon sized pots**************************** I'm not saying you can't do it, I'm simply stating that you stand a better chance for success by starting your plants in smaller containers and transplanting up in size when the roots have grown throughout the smaller pot. My experience with 1/2 barrel planters is that I place initially small, spreading plants (mint, horseradish and the like) in such containers rather than a plant that has a central crown or trunk and roots that spread from that central point.
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So if say in a month or so they start to leaf out, what is the latest that it would be safe to plant them (if I were to sell them at the point they are leafing out) ************************** It depends on a few things. I must admit to not being an expert with blueberries, so I don't know how forgiving they are to rough treatment like transplanting in warm conditions as they are leafing out. Some plants are bothered more by this treatment than others. Keep in mind that if the plant is putting on growth or pushing flowering buds, the roots have begun to actively grow, so waiting to transplant until this time will stress the plant more than doing it while they remain dormant. You stand a chance of losing more plants this way and will almost certainly set your plants back compared to those transplanted while dormant. It's probably not that big a deal, but it is something to think about. *******************************

In my opinion you can start with 3 gal pots without any problem. You're going to be virtually bare-rooting them anyway so the medium will dry out evenly. 3 gal will actually take fewer waterings than 2. I would still recommend 2 just to save space and potting soil.