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Fruit & Orchards

How long is too long for delivery of bare-root trees?

9 years ago

I have some trees (4 cherry trees) coming from GrowOrganic.com that were shipped last Thursday (2-5-2015) and they are finally scheduled to be delivered today (2-12-2015). Is 7 or 8 days in a box travelling around to only God knows where too long for bare-root or will they be fine?

I called GrowOrganic today and spoke with a customer service representative and they said the trees would be fine.....just checking with the forum if they have had similar experiences.

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charlietexan
Original Author

9 years ago

Well...trees were at front door when I got home from work. I opened them up and let them soak in some water for about an hour before planting. They were still in good shape, not really dry at all.

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Comments (7)

zendog
9 years ago
They should be fine if they were dormant and stayed cool enough to remain dormant this whole time. I just got some Blackberry and Blueberry plants from them and they were already starting to sprout when they arrived. Now I need to figure out how to keep them happy enough until it is warm enough to actually plant them outside and not have the new growth die back from the cold.

What are your temps like and are you going to plant them out right away?
idahomeboy
9 years ago
They're probably just fine, GrowOrganic.com is a reputable company and probably packages their trees very well. Open the box and check the roots as soon as they arrive to make sure they are still moist, then keep them moist not soggy until you are ready to plant. If they are somewhat dry when you receive them you could soak them for an hour in a bucket of water or spritz them with a spray bottle. I've kept bare root trees in the garage for several weeks healed into moist potting soil or even still in the box with damp peat around the roots and they turned out just fine. However, if they start pushing out leaves you'll want to get them planted right away but only if there is no danger of a hard freeze. Otherwise you might plant them in pots and bring them in the garage or shed at night.
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When you think about it, bare roots are traditionally harvested in Wasco in late December, perhaps very early January, depending upon the weather that year. They are stored in coolers, processed and sent out to whomever purchases them. I know Otto & Sons one year bought bare root Icebergs from J&P as late as early April as they ran through their entire stock of the variety and J&P still had 'dormant' plants in their coolers. That means those plants can be stored for three, four, perhaps more, months before actually being put into soil. They are 'dormant', but that does not mean they are not using resources...stored nutrients and water. It's at a significantly reduced rate, but their cells continue processing those nutrients to remain alive. The best storage is as close to, but above freezing, as possible with high humidity to prevent the plants from either being triggered into growth or drying out. Compare that to sitting on a store's shelf in body bags of drying out saw dust, under bright lights; or, as I have seen many times, sitting on tables under shade cloth in warm sun; warm, dry wind, being handled, scraped and bumped until either dumped or "rescued". By that time, many have leafed out and some even attempted to flower. Once they are exposed to warmer temps and bright light, the auxins and hormones begin to form, stimulating them to increase their cellular activity, grow leaves, use resources faster, trying to grow. I'm sure many of us have experienced cuttings exploding into growth, leaves and even flowering, only to collapse because they have no roots. The same thing happens to bare roots very easily. Warm and bright generates leaves and flowers. Cool, damp and dark stimulates root growth. I'm more surprised as many bare roots are planted the way many are and they GROW, instead of dying back or outright failing. Heeling them in or giving them a good soak to replace the water they have used, or lost from being held in too dry conditions is obviously the best procedure to follow. Mounding the canes after planting to reduce the amount of green canes exposed to warm, dry air and bright, hot sun until there are leaves being pushed; keeping the bud union damp, dark and cool until the plant is actively growing, produces some of the finest results. Now, add those which hate being dried out such as Peace, Angel Face, Sterling Silver and many others with strong Foetida back grounds. Is there much wonder why so many of those types are such rotten plants? Kim
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charlietexan
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I am in North Texas and the temps here are fine. We had mid 70's earlier in the week and we had a cold front come through yesterday evening and now we are in the mid to upper 40's....check that we are in the low 50's today and it looks like we will be back in the 70's over the weekend.

I will plant them today.....as long as they make it to me :)

I still don't know how you cold weather people do it. Anything below 55 is too cold for me. I grew up in Houston and I think up here in the Dallas area we are in the arctic, but I cannot imagine living where it gets below zero....
idahomeboy
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I've lived in East Idaho pretty much my whole life and I'm still not fond of the cold but at lease I can dress accordingly. I feel for those who get the heat and humidity, you can only take off so many clothes!

Best of luck with your new trees!
James
9 years ago
Agree GO must use actual snails for their snail mail but everything I got seemed to be in good condition. And for comparison, I received 2 pathetic sticks from Oncor last year during free tree giveaway, threw the box on top of a desk and forgot about them for several months, only noticed when redbud starting throwing out new leaves. Moisture crystals for the win on that one, but plants are much hardier than we give them credit for.
Kevin Reilly
9 years ago
I always like to make an order on a Sunday night, so it's processed/goes out on Monday, trying to avoid a week with a holiday...

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