If your choice was to buy what they say is a 1 year old grafted bareroot grape plant for $8 or what they say is the same grape that is 2 years old in a pot for $16, which would you choose in order to get fruit ASAP?
Obviously shipping would cost more for the potted plant also. Is that difference in growth potential negligible?
If it carries over from figs, potted plants produce sooner than in ground plants, so likely the 2 year old potted one. However this is more of an informed guess than something based on experience with grapes. For all I know, them being potted makes them sick because the pot used was too small ( I doubt it though). At most there’s going to be a one season difference
One consideration is who the source is and can you ask them. For example, most of my grapes are from https://doubleavineyards.co and id trust their expertise on it.
I have never purchase grape in a pot. However, I did purchased 2 bare root vines and have a couple of cutting from my own grape vines this year. The bare root vine is a toss up. One grew over 10 feet, while the other one grew only a foot. The cutting only grew half a foot or less.
The one that grew in a pot will likely do better and have a more consistence growth. In 3 years, it may not matter much. Grape vines grow fairly quickly, unless there is something wrong with the health of the plant.
IMO potted is always better. That’s been debated plenty of times on here though. To me the bare root has to spend time rebuilding the roots lost when dug.
2 year potted.
Not as much stress to replant than it is for bare roots since bare roots get ripped out of whatever they’re in to become bare roots
It’s an unfair comparison. 2 year old plant will be larger than 1 year old plant typically and will fruit sooner.
BUT 2 year old bare root might be larger than 2 year old potted. And is likely to have a better root system - no circling.
When I find it I will attach a photo of a bare root persimmon that arrived with no fine roots - it grew tremendously despite that.
In a 1 year old bare root or potted… you usually get a whip… 2-3-4 ft tall.
I spend that first growing season encouraging it to make 5 ft and above that can start working on scaffold branch development.
Anything below 5 ft is deer food here.
With a really nice 2 year old tree bare root or potted… it may already be 5 or 6 ft tall with some nice scaffold branching started.
All of those do well here growth wise… but to me the 2 year tree is worth the extra bucks… especially if it is really nice (scaffold branches forming) and saves me a season of growth.
TNHunter
I’ve kind of given up on bare root trees because the ones I can get locally have been root pruned so aggressively their survival rate is really low