# Planting Apple trees - Bare Root or Potted?



## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

Help me decide. 

What can I expect if I plant bare root trees that are 4-5 ft tall vs potted trees that are 6-8 feet tall besides a huge difference in the price?

The county extension service is offering bare root trees for $17.50 each or 5 for $80.00. The potted trees aren't available yet, but I think they were around $50.00 each last year. 

I know the potted trees will bear fruit sooner, but what other differences, if any will there be?

I'm tempted to go with the bare root trees because I can get so many more for lots less money.


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## Farmer Willy (Aug 7, 2005)

The biggest advantage with potted trees is timing. Bareroot trees need to be replanted as soon as you can get them in the ground. A potted tree could wait--weeks or months if need be, as long as you take care of it. Say you got them and it rained on you for a few weeks---gonna be hard to get those trees in the ground without compacting the soil. I would advise, if you're going the bare root route to dig the holes before they arrive. If it is freezing weather store the soil where it won't be frozen, else just cover it to keep it dry enough to work with.
My personal preference for planting trees is late summer/early fall as you avoid the summer watering and heat stress. Oh yea, don't go cheap on the hole either.

One last thing is find a new place to buy your potted trees---$50 is about twice the price I'd pay for an apple tree. You don't need huge trees to start with. The bigger the tree the more root ball you need to have survive. Go with smaller trees, but ones that the nursery has already started pruning into good scaffold branches, and then trim even those back a bit. Until the roots are established that tree can't do much more than just survive.


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## badkitty (Jan 29, 2013)

I've had good results with bare-root trees - that's mostly what I've been able to get my hands on. They seem to be hardy enough, and, like you, price makes a big difference to us. I'd say to go for it, especially if you don't need the trees to bear immediately.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

I have planted quite a few of both bare root and potted trees... can't say that I've seen much difference in bearing time or general vigor.

Mainly, potted trees are nice because you can technically get them and plant them at any time of year that your ground isn't frozen. Bare root trees are often only available in the late winter/ early spring, especially if you are doing mail order.

I would suggest ordering trees from mail-order if the selection from your local nursery or extension service isn't all that you might hope for...

Here is a nursery that ships potted trees year-round:
http://www.rollingrivernursery.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12

I've had good luck with their trees


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## Steve in PA (Nov 25, 2011)

I've always gone with bare root trees except when I find clearance trees at the end of the season. My understanding is that the potted trees are just last years bare root ones that didn't sell so they get potted and sold for more money.


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## BobbyB (Apr 6, 2009)

The nursery I do business with buys all bareroot and pots a lot of then for customer covenience, but they also have them bareroot in a sand bed . Same trees, $12 more in a pot. And they recommend bareroot.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

We buy the potted trees and usually wait till they go on clearance.
We have planted an apple, plum and 2 cherries so so far and they are doing quite well.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

Bare root trees will do better. They adapt faster. Potted trees do not necessarily have fruit sooner. In fact, potted fruit trees are often bareroot trees that the nursery placed into a pot, so they have the shock of being transplanted twice.

I like to plant young bare root fruit trees because the younger they are the faster they take off and grow.

I've got bare roots and potted in my orchard and the first to produce an apple was one of the bare root trees. No fruit yet from any of the potted trees. (but spring weather last year prevented any fruit on any of the trees).

The potted trees cost a lot more and are usually purchased locally, which means you don't get the selection. You can get some really unusual bare roots in the mail.


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## BobbyB (Apr 6, 2009)

Another thing that was talked about at the fruit tree seminar Karla and I went to was, planting your trees directly in the native soil. Not to mix anything with the back fill. The reason being, that tree is going to have to make it's living in that soil and the sooner it gets established and putting roots into it the better it will be.

That is also the reason they recommended bare root trees over potted. No potting soil to interfere with this.


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

I love reading the responses. I have always been afraid of bare root trees.Maybe i shouldn't be!


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

Definitely do NOT be afraid of bare root trees! 

So long as you can get them while they are still dormant and it is fairly cool outside, they are a very good option.

There is a lot of what I think of as "conventional wisdom" that really depends on the individual situation... bare root trees adapt faster and don't amend the soil in/around the planting hole are two of them.

So long as you are getting healthy trees that were provided by a nursery (or other organization) that cares for them well - or more likely obtains them from a good wholesaler, either bare root or trees in containers can do very well for you.

Since I've been into planting fruit trees these last dozen or so years, I haven't lived someplace where the soil had much in the way of good texture or fertility to start with. It can be hard to backfill a planting hole with lumps of clay  

Adding some compost or other organic material is not a bad way to go. Nor will it hurt the tree in the long run, in my experience. I'm sure there are some lucky folks out there that can just dig a hole, plunk the tree in and backfill nice loose crumbly soil around the roots. Unfortunately, I'll have to keep adding a little extra to my plantings to get them started on the right foot.


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## eruehr (Feb 22, 2007)

At our new place I have had a heck of a time planting bare rooted trees out directly in the spring. I don't know why I just don't have luck with it here. I started planting them in pots or buckets in the spring and then transplanting them in November. They do GREAT that way. It's much easier to keep them watered and growing though the summer when you can keep them right up by the house and they really take off planted in the fall with the soil from the container around their roots. Best of both worlds. Not sure if it adds more time or not - since they never did particularly well for me here when directly planted I guess it doesn't matter!


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## LoonyK (Dec 12, 2009)

I like bareroot better, sometimes potted trees end up bareroot when you have to tear apart their circling roots or it will end up girdling itself.


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## WestFork (Dec 20, 2012)

we sold hundreds of bare root tree in our nursery. We would bring them in toward the end of January & keep them heeled in sawdust until the buds broke in the spring. By then most of them were planted in someone's orchard. Bare root trees do great, as long as you prepare the planting hole with lots of loose soil, compost, and a little manure. 

The trees that we didn't sell were potted up. You can't keep bare root through summer, heeled in sawdust. They must be potted in soil & irrigated. If they are left in the sawdust holding area, they will start looking pretty bad in a short time.

We have planted plenty of potted trees. The question... how many growing seasons has the tree been in the pot. 1 season is fine, but after that it needs to go into a 10 gallon pot or get planted in the ground. In the Pacific N.W. the potted trees are more expensive because of the labor cost and soil cost. It is a convenience to find a fruit tree in the nursery during the summer. As a rule, if a potted tree has lots of new growth and is nice and green, buy it. If it looks unhealthy, its root system is in bad shape & it probably won't recover quickly.


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