Tree species are all over the map in terms of how long their roots can be out of the soil. Oxydendrum may not be able to take more than brief periods of being bare-rooted. Scrape a stem with a fingernail to see if it is green underneath. In addition to being an easily handled species, Acer rubrum comes to life early in the spring season, whereas the other is definitely a late starter.

Hi bboy,
Thanks for your insight. I did scrape the
stem in a couple of places and the stem was a light green,
not a heavy green but just a light trace of green.

But I do not see any buds sprouting yet. When you mean
late starter do sourwood trees start leafing end of April/May?

I keep patiently watching the sourwood everyday and just want to know when to contact arbor day and tell them that
the tree they sent me did not survive.

Thanks

Still leafing out here in USDA 8.

gaurus, doesn't sound good, but don't give up. It might sprout out of the root-collar even as late as mid-summer, if it's kept reasonably watered. Seedling sourwoods are difficult for me to deal with sometimes (they often die). A minor frost that affected little else fried all my Sourwood seedling's initial sprouts & already set them back many weeks.

I got a sourwood last year, it was potted not bare root. It just started leafing out last week. These trees are very late to leaf out compared to anything else. I've also read that they resent being transplanted, so planting bare root is harder on them, which may also be a factor

Thanks folks,
I will give the sourwood another couple of
weeks to awaken.

Hi Folks,
No luck, the sourwood dried up and I had to
pull it.

Will I have better luck with a gallon container plant than
a bare root plant?

Anybody growing this tree in NJ? If so how to get this
tree established?

This forum has had many negative posts about plants from Arbor Day Foundation. Brokers buy and sell plants. ADF likely buys 36" BR sourwoods from Tennessee or NC. Without question these are wild-collected. That's why they are so cheap.
Next time buy from a reputable grower such as Fairweather Gardens in Greenwich NJ. They list 12-15" sourwood for $17.95. Shipping stopped Apr 26, but you can order for next fall shipment.
Sam

Here is a link that might be useful: Fairweather Gardens

I would get a potted tree, since they resent transplanting. Greenwood nursery has them anywhere from $15 to $40, depending on size. I got the gallon plant last year and it was abut 5' tall. Since Greenwood Nursery only sells potted sourwood trees, you could get a replacement for your dead one fairly quickly.

Hi folks,
Thanks for the advice. I ordered another
plant from mailordernatives.com. It had some good reviews
in the dave's garden web site.

Although the catalog said 1 gallon, the plant was only
about 12" in size, it wasn't shipped in a pot but the root
was shipped with soil in a plastic bag which was kept
pretty moist. It was pretty well leafed out, *MUCH* better
than the stick that arbor day sent me.

I planted it in the same spot I dug up in my front lawn
for the previous bare root one which died.

Hopefully this one picks up, I first had thoughts about
planting it in a pot, but then decided that is is best
for the plant to get accustomed to its permanent location
right from when it is young.

I will try to keep it well watered and see what happens?
Is it a right decision to plant it in the ground?

The only reason to pot it up is if you couldn't get it in the ground. I think you made the right decision.

Hi Folks,
I am back again. As mentioned before I planted
the new seedling on the 11th of this month.

When planting it was about 12" tall and had green leaves.

After 3 days I see that the leaves are changing color? Is it
something to be concerned about?

The temps here have been in the 60's and 70's the past few
days.

Will the plant shed the leaves which have turned color?
Also I had to stake the plant when I planted it otherwise it was sagging.

Is this just transplant shock and if so how long will it
take to recover?

In April, I planted a sourwood too. This tree was small, about 2.5' tall in a 1 gallon container and was purchased from Nativetrees.net. The shape was unusual - a thin stem or truck from which one branch grew at a right angle. Two or three leaves sprouted at the end of that branch.

After several weeks of strong winds, the leaves withered up. The stem appears dead. But, at the base of the stem / trunk are a cluster of healthy looking leaves with red stems.

{{gwi:363117}}

beng, is that what you were referring to when you said, "It might sprout out of the root-collar even as late as mid-summer, if it's kept reasonably watered."

What would you do? Not do? What are the odds that this tree will grow into a normal sourwood? What can I do to help this happen?

Pam

"What are the odds that this tree will grow into a normal sourwood?" SLIM and NONE.
The plant in your pic is not sourwood. Contact your source, let them know your plant died and ask for a new one to be shipped in October.
Sam

Pam, yes, in general that's what I was talking about, if those sprouts are coming from that stem. You might want to hand-dig down alittle to see if those sprouts are really coming from that stem.

Also, can you take a very close-up view of a leaf? They don't look like Sourwood -- almost like Poplar or Birch leaves.

Not a sourwood - that surprised me although perhaps it shouldn't.

beng, I took several closeups this morning. First photo shows the leaves and stem - leaves have serrated margins with red edge, stems are red with small white dots.

{{gwi:363118}}

The second photo shows the old stem and what appear to be new ones coming from the same root. When I was digging around the base, I found 2 more stems with no growth, as if this was once a multistemmed plant:

{{gwi:363119}}

Not a sourwood? What is your best guess?

It ain't sourwood. :) Looks like a Cottonwood/Aspen/Poplar. It could've been in the Sourwood's root-ball when it was transplanted, being so close. Or if there are such trees nearby seeding earlier in the season?

If you can gently remove the soil between the old stem & the new sprouts, you should be able to uncover any connection between the two & tell if they're independent or the same. If the nursery gave you a cottonwood...

beng, thanks for taking the time to answer and fill in the blanks.

My knowledge of the populus genus is nearly zero. I'm reading about cottonwood/poplar/aspens now.

I'll contact the nursery - a white oak purchased from them at the same time lost all its leaves last week when temps went up and conditions were windy for several days. I'll continue to provide water and hope. I'd love to find a local nursery that carries a good selection of native trees, especially white oak, scarlet oak. No luck so far.

Thanks again,
Pam

Hi Folks,
I just received a replacement for my 3 foot
sourwood from arborday shown in the beginning of this thread which had died during the spring planting.

I have unpacked it have soaked the roots in water. I plan to
plant it tomorrow morning.

The plant looks dormant and I scratched the stem and find
green.

Well, I had the same situation for the spring planted stick but it did not survive.

Anything I should do to make sure this time the sourwood
survives next spring?

I wished I had some good advice for you, but unfortunately Sourwood trees don't like me :(

If you have good rich soil it will be easy to plant and grow it especially if you follow the below (skipping the potting part), but if you have heavy clay soil it would probably transplant to the ground much better if you plant it in a pot with some good potting soil first for a week or two (maybe mix it half with your native soil). Don't let the pot freeze. Then plant it with all the potting soil intact into the ground after you till or beak up the soil in a wide area 3 to 5 feet wide to allow the roots to establish. Fill the 3 to 5 foot hole back with the soil you dug up. Soak the area right after planting to settle the soil and lightly press the soil down with your hands around the tree as you water and fill. Then always (no matter what soil type) mulch the tilled area with 2 to 4 inches of organic mulch like wood chips (keep the mulch off the trunk). Keep the area moist but not wet. Sourwood likes moist, acid, and well draining soils.

I think my problem is some kind of fungal disease or something. The leaves have black spots all over them and the ends of the twigs turn black and die back. Mine is still alive, but barely.

Hi treeguy123,
I followed your suggestion and planted
the sourwood in a pot with potting soil.

I has some questions.

My soil temperatures now are around 40 - 50 deg. What
is the minumum soil temp at which the roots can grow?

Also I presume the potting soil in the pot will be
colder than the ground.

If I leave the plant in the pot for 2 weeks, is the
temperature conducive for it to grow new roots?

BTW I have already read your post with the great pictures about how to correctly plant a tree. It was very helpful.

I think many tree roots stop growing at or below 39F to 40F.
They slowly increase at 50F, many of the roots start growing fast at 65F and all the grow the fastest at 70F. Most trees in the wild grow roots all winter because soil insulates from freezing temperatures(the deeper you go the "warmer"), at least the bottom roots that are a few inches below ground level that don't freeze in most areas except Canada and the arctic. Mulch also will help insulate the roots at plating time. Since the the is small mulch all the way up to the trunk but don't touch the trunk with mulch.

Make sure you flooded the soil in the pot at least 1 or 2 times to settle the soil around the roots.
Also make sure you Don't let the pot freeze and bring it in if it will get below about 35F or 40F or the roots could get damaged, the best place to keep it for a week or two would be in a unheated place that stays around 50 to 60 F, then after that plant in the ground around a inch above or very close to ground level, make sure you don't plant it below ground level.

Hi treeguy,
The two places in my house that fit the
criteria are the garage and basement.

I have a couple of small windows in the basement, while
the garage is dark.

How much light is necessary for root growth?

Is the basement a good place to keep the plant for a couple
of weeks?

If they still have some leaves the basement would be best by the window, if it's dormant with no leaves the garage might be fine but it still might be good for them to have some light which is natural for them, and I've read it's for regulating dormancy along with temperature. Make sure you don't let the soil dry out, keep it moist.

Most plants and trees require a certain number of hours of "chilling" during the winter to be able to break dormancy and live, and that's why it's bad to keep a tree warm in the winter which usually kills it if it's not tropical plant etc. To sum it up: For fast root growth temperatures near 70F are best but a tree going dormant this time of the year needs temperatures near 40F to 50F (even colder in the middle of winter) but this slows root growth. And when a tree is outside in freezing temperatures it needs its roots in the ground for protection. So temperatures around 50F to 60F should allow some root growth with out messing too much or none at all with it's dormancy requirements as long as you don't keep it inside over a week or maybe two.