Grow Rootstock in Pot or In Ground

General Fruit Growing
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I received a bunch of persimmon seedlings as future rootstocks. Just wonder if it is better to plant them in 4" x 9" tall tree pots, or plant them in ground. I prefer the former, but concerned with how much they can grow this season. The roots fit the tree pots really well now, but can’t go any deeper.

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I’d put them in the tree pots. Prune back the taproot a bit to encourage lateral rooting. Not too much, though, as you want the resources stored in those roots to encourage top growth. I put almost all my persimmons in 14" deepots, and those are about 2/3 the volume of your treepots. I grafted them all last year and they grew well, but I think most of them could get away with a second year in those pots.

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The 16" pots are much taller. So I think my 9" pots may be good just for one year. Then have to be grafted this dormant season. Not sure about next year…

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I’d be more worried about soil volume than depth for pot longevity. When the roots hit the bottom holes, they’ll air prune if you keep them off the ground. You end up with a better branched root system than if you let the tap root grow. I have one persimmon in a 4x9.5" treepot (I ran out of the deepots) and I think it will be just as fine growing in that another year as the deepot ones. That being said, I’m planning on planting mine out and maybe giving away or selling the extras, so I may not get a definitive answer.

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Similarly, mine in tall tree pots, 14" …pots are 75 cents each. Will hold till next spring. IMG_0535 .
Plus, thanks for Kasandra!

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What do you guys use for the soil in the tree pots

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@cdamarjian
Where did you get those long pots? I looked for such a while ago and found nothing.

Thanks

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Pots came from my local greenhouse store. This looks like a good sale on them.

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Thanks so much… Now I know they are called tree pots!

All I haver right now are cracked pots… :joy:

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We grow things on pots out of convenience. Growing them in the grown will give you better results.

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Generally a good potting mix for something like this is one that drains well but holds some moisture and also provides some amount of nutrients for growth.

I like using peat, coir, diatomaceous earth granules, and various other things like sand or compost as available. Look up threads for potted plants for more specific potting mixes.

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I’d say it depends. On a small scale, or if you have a greenhouse, containers make it much easier to stretch out your growing season. Also, is a lot easier to baby a few dozen trees in containers in one spot than to manage a handful of trees that are spread out.

On the other side, a tree in the ground will usually grow more than one in a container if properly cared for. Some species like containers better than others and you don’t see much difference.

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