Do all plants need to be bare rooted before planting in 5-1-1 mix?

7 years ago

Do all of you bareroot your plants that you just bought before potting them up in the 5-1-1 mix? How crucial is this? I am hearing that if you just stick the whole plant with the old potting soil in the 5-1-1 mix, the roots can rot. I potted up five 18 inch conifer seedlings in 5-1-1 mix a couple weeks ago without bare rooting and now I have to bare root them all and repot them all? I don't think I can bare root a seedling.. The roots just aren't big enough to bare root is it? Someone help pls

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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

7 years ago

While it is certainly suggested to bare root or clean out as much old soil as possible when repotting into one of the fast draining mixes, I can only say that by my own experience, I have not found it to be critical to plant development OR more encouraging to root rots if you do not.

And my experience is pretty extensive. I have been growing in containers for more than 25 years. Mostly trees, dwarf conifers and other woody plants. Several of my trees have been around for that entire time. And I also grow an extensive collection of houseplants, as well as seasonal crops and mixed annual and perennial plantings. And I will say again............by NOT bare rooting I have never lost a plant to root rot nor do my plants appear to be suffering in any way. They flourish and grow and produce well and when repotting, always have a very healthy and well-developed root system.

The same considerations for bare rooting when working with container plants exists when planting in the ground. There will always a be a discrepancy between the texture and structure of the soil a plant was grown in, whether it be container grown or B&B, and the soil texture and structure of where it is to be planted And similar cases have been made that these should also be bare rooted before planting. You will find convincing arguments both for and against but very few accept and adopt the practice wholeheartedly. There are simply too many risks involved for the average gardener. Typically, just properly loosening the rootball and avoiding amending the backfill (using only indigenous soil) is enough of an adjustment to allow for proper root development and the adequate percolation of water through the soil profile(s). And making sure the rootball is well hydrated before planting.

In addition to my many years of successful container growing without bare rooting, one of the factors that has convinced me this practice is not absolutely necessary is the fact that most quality wholesale growers of containerized plants - the trees and shrubs that I favor to collect - have long realized the benefits of growing in bark based mixes, for much the same reasons we hobby gardeners do. The textural quality resists collapse or compaction, they are fast draining and they allow for healthy root development. In short, the nursery container mixes are very similar in content and structure as to the 5-1-1 mix, negating any overwhelming need to remove a hugely disparate soil mix by bare rooting.

I won't tell anyone not to bare root - that is their choice, as is the soil mix they use or their method of fertilization. All I can I do is relate my experience based on my many years of gardening, both in containers and in the ground. Understanding the plant and its needs and understanding the soils you are working with are paramount. If you have these factors well under your belt, then you can make whatever adjustments you might deem necessary.

Comments (6)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years ago
I seldom, ever, bare root anything before planting in a container and I haven't lost a plant to root rot yet.

Often the situation just doesn't lend itself well to this practice - wrong time of year (too much stress on the root system), a very congested root system (do your best to loosen) or too delicate a root system.

Personally, it is just a practice that I have not found to be very necessary. YMMV
Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Oh good news! So I guess I don't have to repot my conifer seedlings? Tropicofcancer from citrus forums posted this:

" What I mean is if you are going to put it in 511 mix without bare-rooting you end up with a plant that has to now deal with two different mediums in its root zone. Not a good thing at all. You will end up in one of two situations: The inner core is always wet and the outer layer of 511 that is dry. This will lead to root rot. And if the old soil had fungus gnats or other pests they will have field day indoors. Or if the inner core dries up for some reason then it becomes hydrophobic (if it is peat based which is quite likely) and it will have a hard time wetting again. Water will find the fastest path in the outside 511 and the inner core will remain dry. This will lead to root death. So no matter what you choose the entire soil mix should be of similar type.

The best evidence of above mismatch happens when inexperienced landscapers plant a tree in the yard. They dig a hole, put a plant with a tight root ball of a different mix, fill the hole with another soil mix, and call it done. In this case the plant is now faced with three different soil. In practice, I have seen countless trees die in such a situation."

Now this actually makes sense to me since the original potting mix the plant came with is almost all peat or other soil matter and the 5-1-1 mix is a very fast draining mix mainly composed of bark and they are 2 completely different mixes. So would actually having 2 different types of mixes with 2 different funtions(one is moisture retaining, the other is fast draining) a bad thing? This is really making me worry....
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Dave
7 years ago
You need to bare root when you switch to the 5:1:1 mix from a standard peat based mixed.

if you do not bareroot, you'll have an extremely water retentive mass of soil around the roots and the 5:1:1 on the outside that doesn't retain anywhere near as much water. You'll have issues.

You need to bareroot when switching mixes.
Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
Original Author
7 years ago
So you are saying to pretty much bare root every plant I get from the nursery since all of them are peat based mixes. So what you're saying is the opposite of gardengals?
Vladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts)
7 years ago
I try to remove all of the old soil.

Al Tapla had this to say (in one of his posts) if you cannot remove all of the old soil:

saw/cut
off the bottom 1/3 of the root mass & then remove 3 pie-shaped wedges from
the remaining roots. The 3 wedges should = either 1/3 or 1/2 of the remaining
root mass, depending on the vitality of the tree and it's genetic vigor. You
will accomplish a complete change of old soil in either 2 or 3 repots,
depending on how large the wedges and whether you remove 1/3 or 1/2 of the root
mass.

It's
important to the long term vitality of your trees to make sure that the old
soil in the original root mass does not harden to the point that it literally
girdles or compresses roots to the point where water/nutrient flow is cut off.
I've seen nursery trees that have been bumped up several times in container
size with soil so hard and compacted around the roots that it took a chisel to
remove it. The soil was much, much harder than the rootage.

Tip:
I use a Dramm Fogg-it nozzle in 1 or 2 GPM flow rates to help blast away old
soil, along with a root pick (like a chopstick) for the stubborn stuff. You can
take your time with no worries about even the finest roots drying out because
they are constantly being moistened as you work. I don't want to leave a link
to a Dramm site, lest I get in hot water with the powers, but use the search
words Dramm GPM and multiple sites will come up. Using it in combination with
an in-line shut-off will allow you to control pressure/flow rate.

Do all plants need to be bare rooted before planting in 5-1-1 mix?

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Comments (6)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
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Do all plants need to be bare rooted before planting in 5-1-1 mix?

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Comments (6)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Heruga (7a Northern NJ)Original Author

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Dave

Heruga (7a Northern NJ)Original Author

Vladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts)

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Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
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