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Need help with bare root tree seedlings...

6 years ago

I received 12 tree seedlings and was supposed to plant them outside while still dormant, within 5 days of arrival...

Well, it's been 8 weeks and they are still in the package they arrived in, still holding water in the moisture gel they were shipped in and have started to bud and sprout leaves.

They actually look happy, growing healthy green leaves and branches - but I know they can't be comfortable in that little plastic bag with wet gel all cramped together...

They are relatively small still, 16-24" in length and a few are thinner than a pencil.

I'm in zone 7, and it's winter now. Especially after that last week of single digits and heavy snow, I don't think transplanting now is wise. Especially since these seedlings are no longer dormant; have woken up in my house and think it's spring!

All 12 seedlings are still wrapped together in a single pod.

I'm thinking I should separate each one into it's own pot and just grow them through the winter inside until spring then try to transplant them outside once the soil is warm.

Is this the right thing to do here?

I have in the bundle Sargent Crabapples, American Redbuds, Washington Hawthorns, White Dogwoods and Crapemyrtles. Just in case I should treat some differently than others...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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Comments (3)

toronado_3800
6 years ago
Hmmm, not preferable like you suspect.

At this point as much as I'd like them tl go dormant again, I'd figure thats a month long process and the trees have only soo much energy in reserve anyways....

I'd put them in a pot with potting soil, water, and keep them in the house until the chance of frost is well gone in March or so then plant them outside.

They won't live there forever so one pot will be fine.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
contact the seller ... who i suspect is arbor day ...

and demand they are resent in spring .. at the proper planting time ...

i would pot them up.. whole glob at once ... and keep them indoors .... for now ... not at all the preferred method.. but what can you do ... if you have an unheated sun porch even better ... and bring them in for the night... if there is an extreme temp drop ...

if they were dormant at shipping ... they should have gone straight outside... but now that they are active.. they will need to be hardened off to outdoor temps.. and that is hard.. this time of year .... especially with leaves ...

you could.. at that point in time.. have healed them in.. planted the whole glob at once.. and held them over for spring planting ...

trees prefer a good drink of water ... and then near drying.. leaving the roots in that water gel.. is not really a long term good thing ..

call them and put them on notice ...

ken
Logan thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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I think I'll do that..."If they are mushy, either remove that part or throw the plant out. Maybe you could plant them in a temporary bed to start with and then move them next fall if they do well." I've had plants that I thought were goners, and I waited it out, or changed things--and they survived. So nothing lost (with the exception some bodyheat and oxygen! LOL). I did notice that the soil was really nice thanks to the manure, generous amounts of compost, and lots of coffee grounds and such added a few months ago! ALREADY! I think the majority of the trees will be planted in my flower bed of this past summer. It's in the best condition, and most of the trees I got ranged from 12-18". I actually had overdone the compost on some areas, so I can move that around. Not as wet as I thought, inspite of all the rain we've had.
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If you buy bare root trees from people in a different climate, there is the risk that they will be shipped when the soil thaws there...even though it may still be frozen where you are. Many large commercial mail-order nurseries deal with this by pulling everything from the ground in the early Fall or early Spring and sticking it in a fridge. Trees shipped in Spring may have been stuck inn a fridge early last Fall. Apparently most trees are fine with this. The theory is that some trees that have spent a long time in cold storage slip so deeply into dormancy that they don't wake up naturally. I've heard the theory that some trees are "woken up" by the number of warm days...and while they may get some warm days in the winter, they won't in the fridge, and if you get them shipped in Spring they may be seriously behind on number of "warm days". I've also heard the theory all this is hooey and it's just that the lost sufficient feeder roots if bare rooted. This is a solution to a specific sort of problem...not sure it would help with beech. (I've never got beech to "take" either...tell me if you have any luck.) I've also wondered if it would work to "sweat" bare root sapling in a pot insde with a plastic trash bag over them. (I deal in smaller quantities then Tom, and I find pots offer flexibility and let me bring things inside or outside based on weather...)
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I would contact them right away about this damaged bareroot. I personally would not plant that. Even from reputable companies such as Reagan stuff like this seems happens from time to time. I received a similar bareroot from DA last year (normally receive wonderful bareroots from them) and they replaced it right away. I don't sweat minor damage but this is more than that.
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waynedanielson
6 years ago
they've started to grow, so you kinda limited your options. I'd pot them and hold them some place where you can prevent freezing...not necessarily warm, but with decent daytime and night time variability, sunlight, and just warm enough to prevent freezing.

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