I live in a colder zone in Canada and my soil is a heavy clay. Every year I order more bare root fruit trees. I have now planted around 100 bare root trees (apple, cherry, pear, etc) and have less than a 10% survival rate putting bare root directly into the ground. I have changed that strategy into planting the bare root into a container for the first year, letting the roots get a chance to establish themselves, then planting that the following spring. So far the success rate with that enhancement is over 90%. I have a cold climate, no topsoil, and heavy clay. I have found over the last couple decades that a lot of planting instructions that work great in warmer and well drained soils are fatal for that kind of environment.
Mine is not so cold but I also battle some heavy clay and some brutal summers. It definitely has its challenges no doubt about it. Glad you’ve found a method that seems to be working much better.
I put in some bare-root trees on the far side of the property where there is no water. I have to truck jugs of water over there periodically. Most seem to be alive still but I really need to figure out some kind of irrigation that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars.
We bare root our cocoa in Belize. A lot less labor to plant in the seedbed and to maintain, and the roots don't circle like you mentioned. There's still a lot of resistance in the industry who like to see rows of bags in the nursery for their Monitoring and Evaluation reports. Great story.
I live in a colder zone in Canada and my soil is a heavy clay. Every year I order more bare root fruit trees. I have now planted around 100 bare root trees (apple, cherry, pear, etc) and have less than a 10% survival rate putting bare root directly into the ground. I have changed that strategy into planting the bare root into a container for the first year, letting the roots get a chance to establish themselves, then planting that the following spring. So far the success rate with that enhancement is over 90%. I have a cold climate, no topsoil, and heavy clay. I have found over the last couple decades that a lot of planting instructions that work great in warmer and well drained soils are fatal for that kind of environment.
Mine is not so cold but I also battle some heavy clay and some brutal summers. It definitely has its challenges no doubt about it. Glad you’ve found a method that seems to be working much better.
I put in some bare-root trees on the far side of the property where there is no water. I have to truck jugs of water over there periodically. Most seem to be alive still but I really need to figure out some kind of irrigation that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars.
We bare root our cocoa in Belize. A lot less labor to plant in the seedbed and to maintain, and the roots don't circle like you mentioned. There's still a lot of resistance in the industry who like to see rows of bags in the nursery for their Monitoring and Evaluation reports. Great story.