Bare rooted stock

[JaseH]

I've got a bare rooted tree on its way, a chinese elm. I've never purchased bare rooted tree's before. Any special treatment required when it arrives? Will it be ok to plant straight into a large grow box or should I stick it in the gound?

[Josh]

Firstly, don't let it dry out before you plant it. First thing I would do is check the roots and see if there are any issues such as crossed over roots or roots going straight down. Get them sorted if you can. Depends on what you want to achieve. Ground growing will help get a bigger girth quicker. Grow now box will increase girth but not as big. A grow box however will let you move/work on the tree. Give it some seasol once it is planted. Post a pic when it arrives.

Josh.

[shibui]

Depends on how it was packed but usually no special treatment required. Just pot it or plant it as soon as possible though a week or so out of the ground is probably not going to hurt it too much as long as the roots are damp and shaded. If the roots look a bit dry you could soak the rootball for 10 minutes or so or even overnight to rehydrate. Some growers swear by soaking in seasol but doesn't seem to make any difference for me.

What you do with your tree will depend very much on what you get. The seller has probably not spent much time pruning the roots so you could probably tidy them up and cut back to promote future root ramification. If the trunk is not up to your size expectations ground growing will speed up development. If thickness is ok them growing in a pot will give better control over developing branches and apex.

[JaseH]

The photos I've seen of it havent provided a great deal of detail, besides the general size, so I'll assess when it arrives. My orginal plan is to plant it in a grow box and air layer off some branches. I would put it in the ground but dont have a suitable spot selected just yet.

I'll post a pic up when it arrives. Is it safe to set some air layers this spring or should I let it build strength for a while first?

[kcpoole]

Pot it up as soon as it arrives and treat like any other tree just repotted.
You will be able to layer this year too IMHO.

Ken