pottedbarerroot

Roots: Bare Root Vs. Potted Vs. Benchgraft

Right photo: Bare Root

When you buy a tree bare-root from a home center, the roots have been severed by a U-shaped attachment on a tractor in order to dig the trees up out of the ground. The roots are often hacked further to get them into that bag of sawdust. The fine feeder roots are devastated and the tree spends a year or two just recovering from this treatment.

Left photo: Potted

Although only a year old, this seedling rootstock had obviously outgrown the 5-gallon pot and had rooted through the drain holes on the bottom. If it were to be planted without straightening the roots out it would quickly choke itself. This is why you should always knock the dirt off potted trees before planting.

Notice the nature of the seedling roots; tough, vigorous, rope-like anchoring roots that extend deep into the soil.

Right Photo: Large Potted

This big 15-gallon potted tree seemed like a bargain at $60. But the potting medium, as is typical, contained large amounts of organic material that did OK as long as it was above ground. As soon as it was planted, oxygen was cut off from it and the organic material started to rot, robbing the roots of any oxygen that was left. Rot then killed the roots by season's end and this easily just pulled out of the ground.

Folks will take a big healthy tree like this home from the nursery and plant it, and inevitably the roots begin to rot. The owner will see the leaves wilting and will assume it's transplant stress, and will water and fertilize the daylights out of it. This just hastens the rot problem. It might have been OK if I was able to hose all the organic potting soil off before planting, but the root ball was too big and matted. Plain dirt is the best potting soil and will never rot your roots. But a 15-gallon container of dirt weighs a ton, so nurseries will never use it; thus it is best to avoid big potted trees.

Left: Benchgraft

This M26 benchgraft was grown in a 5-gallon pot for one year. We pulled it out of the pot and knocked all the dirt off the roots to show the extensive system of fine feeder roots it develops that nurture the young tree. These tender roots do not survive digging and transplanting well and are an example of the benefits of planting small trees in their permanent location instead of transplanting larger trees.

Notice the nature of the dwarfing rootstock: fine, tender roots that allow rapid growth and heavy crops but poorly anchor the tree. The roots are easily severed.

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