i would have waited until the leaves fell off .. and then i wouldnt have to worry like you are now ... but i would still sit around all winter wondering if it would bud out in spring ... the tree went stress dormant when you dug it up ... it simply shut down the leaves.. if they actually hadnt all ready done so ... getting ready for Oct ... it will continue to grow roots [a tree dormant above remains active below] ... until very late into fall ... so keep it properly watered.. and mulched.. but dont drown it.. this time of year.. with cool days.. and cold nights.. you dont really need to provide a lot of water.. but you do need to check it.. insert finger ... all my transplants are bare root.. that is irrelevant.. IMHO ... as was .... IMHO.. the tap root .. i would have favored speed of transplant.. over spending excessive time on the tap ... timing could have been a bit better.. after the leaves fell off.. but i suspect your friend wanted it gone.. and you did what you had to do ... dont worry about it.. at worst.. you got some exercise.. and spent some time with a friend ... and you have a pre-dug hole for a new one.. if this one dies.. lol ... ken

zone is simply the lowest winter temp forecast for one moment of time on the worst day of winter ... it tells us nothing.. where are you.. big city name ... and yes.. after proper hardening off.. its probably time for them to go in the ground ,... but bve prepared fro some weird night where they may need a little protection ... in my z5 MI.. others day is the usual trigger day.. so you should be all set.. but for the vagaries of ma nature ... since your plants are rather big.. so will have big planting stresses.. if you can rig up some shade for a few days.. it wouldnt hurt ... just anything to reduce direct sun until the roots start pumping ... and even better if you could do it on a rainy day.. or a couple days of clouds ... and rain ... but dont delay too long.. you want them in the ground 30 to 45 days.. before the real heat of summer hits in what.. july???? .. who knows.. she's vague ... ken

I HAVE to share my cilantro growing experience from last year. Last year was the first time I grew cilantro and I planted seedlings in June when it was getting pretty warm. I broke almost all the rules, mostly unknowingly, and it still worked very well. 1) Split each seed into two halves and sowed four halves 1/4 inch deep, equidistant from each other in 2.5 oz cups, about 2 inches across and 2 inches deep. 2) germinated on heat mat. Took almost two weeks to germinate even on heat mat. Most germinated. 3)As soon as I saw any germination in a cup, removed it from heat mat and placed in enclosed porch where they got morning sun. 4)when all the seedlings had at least one set of true leaves planted outside, about mid June. 5) The site was pretty shady, only 3 or 4 hours of sun. The soil was rich, soft and fluffy. Inverted the ball of soil out of the cup, nudged into the soft soil, mulched and watered. ALL the little seedlings grew into big stocky plants! I crammed what turned out to be 24 to 30 plants in a 2 feet by 3 feet rectangle, or smaller. In spite of the little sunlight and so many plants in such a small space the cilantro grew upright, vigorously and had fantastic flavor. And here is the kicker. I harvested leaves by holding a bunch and cutting straight across about 1 or 2 inches from the ground. For most part I did not cut all the leaves off a single plant but a bunch here and there from my dense clump. By the next morning I could see new growth at the cut surface. I cannot emphasize just how much cilantro I cut and harvested from this clump for myself and my friends. And I was harvesting till a little before Christmas until iit suddenly got too cold and I did not want to trek outside anymore. The plants were still growing back in Nov. Not a single plant bolted till mid November and then only a total of three plants flowered. The flavor changed late in the season. Dont know if this was because of the season changing or the plants getting spent. Still pretty full of flavor. I did water well and fed them with fish emulsion + kelp extract a couple of times. So, I germinated inside on a heat mat, transplanted outside in hottish weather, grew in mostly shade, harvested over and over and got cilantro into December from a planting from June and almost no bolting. I attribute all the good things to the variety I grew, Calypso. I bought three varieties, Calypso, Santo and Cruiser, just picked them out of a hat. I could not get a single seed to germinate from Santo or Cruiser so Calypso grew by default. That was one of the luckiest breaks. I am reading the description of Calypso carefully now and it does say very slow to bolt, can be cut again and again and makes big plants. The Calypso was from Park Seed. This year I will plant out earlier. @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK my last frost date being April 25, I will try beginning of April? @kitasei2: Please give Calypso a try. I think it will work for you. You will get big bunches of cilantro. Same as you, last year the flat leaf parsley I tried germinated in a few days, a blink of an eye. I soaked the seeds overnight and germinated on a heat mat too. I planted them out so late they did not get very big though. Maybe they wont come back this year.

Yes, "plucking" could certainly disturb or destroy what few roots they do have. Maybe let them grow on a bit more then carefully dig them up and pot on into containers until they are large enough to be safely transplanted directly into the ground. There is really no other reason they would not transplant quite easily.