One situation where you would really want potted is if you are planting during the growing season. Bare root isn't really an option then, but potted plants do fine with a bit of care. I've also had good experiences with plants from Rolling River nursery, which sells all potted plants at very reasonable prices. They are not quite as cheap as bare root, but there isn't too much of a markup, unlike Berries Unlimited which is a bit pricey. I've gotten blueberries from Berries Unlimited twice and the larger plants were nice, but pretty pricey. If you have time to size them up, blueberries seem to grow pretty quickly. Along with the large plants I got a few in 4" pots late this spring and re-potted them. After by fall, the were roughly equivalent to the 2 gallon plants I was sent. A 1 gallon I was shipped is as large now as the 3 gallon. Two years ago the bare root raspberries, gooseberries, and currants from Nourse were OK, but nothing special. I got a smaller order this past year and there were some very nice plants- one currant in particular had a monster root system. It probably had as much root mass as 4 plants from the year before. Maybe placing my order earlier in the season this time made a difference. So far, I've liked Autumn Britain, Caroline, and Prelude (good for early season). I don't really have a leader yet for blackberries- I added 3 more types last year, so I may have a better idea soon.

Plants roots can't pierce even PVC liners so I wouldn't let that limit your choice. It's a myth. Many people believe it's true because there have been a few, very few, pictures of roots growing thru pond liners. The actual cause is there already was a hole in the liner, which water leaked thru into the surrounding soil. I've seen pictures of pond plants growing thru the hole and also terrestrial plant roots growing into the pond. It's kind of like when a tap root in plastic pot grows thru a hole in the bottom and gets big enough to stretch the hole. It sure looks like the root punched a hole in the pot. But because it's a pot you know what happen. Roots grow at the tip like a wedge to get thru soil. The wedge has to make an opening in the soil for the root tip to grow into. The tip itself can't even push thru soil. The tip is very soft and delicate even on a bamboo. Also in the past few years some researchers found some interesting things about how roots grow. How they find water and nutrients and how roots know to spread out. In was documented in the show "What Plants Talk About". It explains why roots turn when the hit a liner or side of a pot. As an experiment to test the myth I once planted Giant Reed, Arundo donax,in a small (like 2'x2'x2') "pond" made of EDPM. Now Giant Reed I think makes bamboo (which I have grown) look like Pussy Willow when it comes to fast growth and the nastiest looking roots I've seen. The roots did not grow thru the liner. After a year or so it did become root bound and did push out the liner, like a root bound plant in a plastic pot. But the EDPM had no trouble stretching and handling being pushed very hard against the surrounding soil. That was as an extreme test as could imagine to disprove the myth.

Thanks, you rather did give that impression :) I expect plugs are relatively safe though, especially compared with a large plant. (And I just found a note where I'd found a privet mite on a leaf so nothing is that safe.) Edit: I don't know if anyone else is interested in this, but my husband wanted to know what a "plug" was. Here is a link to an Optimara Grower Catalog. Here is the newest one but it is huge http://www.optimara.com/GrowerCat_2014.pdf On page 15 (not actually numbered), it shows Optimara's "baby plants" and their "starter/liner" which they refer to as plugs elsewhere. These are items sold to growers, not the public. The same photo is in the old catalog and the download's not as big. It's on pages 5 (Everfloris) and 14. http://www.optimara.com/2013%20Grower%20SM.pdf I suppose any grower with a high demand for a variety may use plugs and grow them on. I really don't know. It's certainly a situation where if one of them sneezes, they all catch a cold. (I'm thinking of my own situation where I did a tiny bit of overordering ....) Diana This post was edited by quimoi on Sun, Feb 23, 14 at 10:29

Maybe there is something I can add that can be helpful. I said I never used any "heavy transplants," but one time I did buy ten, I think, and here is the best way to plant them. Obviously you can't use the method I described earlier for the seedlings, because the roots are heavy and are firm and radially arranged. With my seedling method I never remove the soil from the hole, but with transplants you must. Here is what I would do if you want to do transplants again. Get a couple or three of those 3 or 5 gallon containers that trees come in and have them handy. When you dig the hole, save the soil in these containers, the best topsoil in one or two, and any poorer soil from deep in the hole, if these is any, in a separate one. Break up the clods, remove rocks, etc. This way you don't lose a bit of soil and can work it better. Now comes the tricky part--arranging the roots in a spread out position but at least some reaching down as far as they will go in the hole. Now you add soil (use the best soil first) from the bottom up and try to press it firmly around the roots and between the roots as you fill up the hole. You have the hold the tree in place with one hand and fill with the other--this can be tedious. I find the handle of a trowel can reach between the roots to help press the soil. As you do this you will have a tendency to push the tree further down in the hole--pressing the soil to get it firm can cause you to push the tree down also. If you don't press the soil too tight to begin with, you can pull the tree up a little from time to time as you are filling the hole and surrounding the roots with soil. When you are done and feel the soil may be a little too loose, you can press inward and down from the sides of your planting hole. But don't stamp it really hard--just firmly. If the tree is a little lower than you planned, you can just scoop the soil away from the trunk so you don't bury the base of the tree deeper than it was where it was grown. If the tree sits in a little depresion of an inch or two when you are finished, that is OK--it will just make watering easy. If any soil is left over, which should be the poorer soil, use it to make a ring around the tree a foot or so away to hold the water when you water the tree. I said I could plant up to 20 trees an hour using my seedling method. Planting heavy transplants like I describe here will probably take at least 15 to 20 minutes each. But it will be worth it--I doubt you will lose any. And for these transplants, water them at planting time liberally, and afterwards moderately. --Spruce