There have been many studies, mostly by universities, about using wound sealer when pruning trees. All modern studies I've seen have shown that, except for a few isolated cases where the fresh cuts allowed disease entry before callousing, trees fared much better without this type of sealant. Although usually not mentioned by brand name, you can find numerous recommendations against using such products in the Gardenweb Tree Forum and on many arborist websites. The International Society of Arboriculture and every reputable source I'm aware of generally discourages the use of this stuff in most circumstances. Fireblight can definitely enter through fresh wounds, but I think proper sanitation of your pruning equipment would be much more beneficial than sealing the wound with Treekote. The tree will quickly callous over and prevent disease entry if pruned correctly. My opinion is that the chances of fireblight entry through the wound would be less, assuming the tree was pruned correctly and using clean tools, than the chances of problems introduced by the wound sealer.

'of things to come'?? where are you ????? look perfect to me ... seems like you are jumping the shark on your expectations .. at one month in the ground.. a cold month for growth.. i really dont know what more you should expect.. other than death.. and they wouldnt even die that fast .... i would NOT fertilize them.. but i would figure out how to get all the grass away from them.. before you have to use a weedwhip .... i would use roundup ... the vigor of the meadow plants [which is what i call the weeds in my former horse pasture.. lol] ... indicates to me.. there is not lack of fertility in your soil ... what makes you think they need anything other than a few years to really get going [other than water.. and you are using my drip system ..... so i know that is taken care of] .... this year.. they will be focused on growing a root mass.. and you are going to be very frustrated.. if you expect any real noticeable growth .... when dealing with trees.. which they are ... roots first .. mega-growth later .... have a soil test done.. if you really want to know if anything is lacking .... and fert accordingly ... below is a pic of my GG... which were 4 inches tall back in 2000 .. on irrigation like yours over the BARE sand.. over the distance I planted ...... and NEVER.. EVER .... fert'd ... i also used the drip.. because i could not afford to lay down two miles of proper mulch ... do use your drip .. in the sense of a long DEEP watering.. and rather infrequently.. rather than short bursts often ... dig holes between plants.. to find out how much water is at depth .. thru the root zone ... in my sand.. to get 6 inches down.. meant running the zone for 6 to 8 hours!!!! .. and then again.. MAYBE two weeks later.. when my finger.. indicated it was drying 2 or 3 inches down .... depending on ambient rain ..... [well since there was no mulch.. i had to use a hand trowel to find out.. because the sand gets hard in later summer ...] and after year two.. they might have gotten watered in year 3.. if there was a very significant and prolonged heatwave.. i dont recall ... and then free range... mine suffered no damage last year in a horrible heat and drought.. where i lost many a common arb ... patience rules ... ken

Don't know how long it will take to see roots, but I do know, be sure you wrap only the stem, leaving BOTH ENDS OPEN. I tried this last year and didn't realize you weren't supposed to wrap the end that would go into the ground. If you do, the end rots. :(

T take cuttings with a heel usually in the fall. apply 0.8% IBA (rooting hormone) stick in well drained soil may take 60-100 days to root. bottom heat helps.