How much risk from dried bare root?

General Fruit Growing
#1

A nursery shipped me a bare root apple tree with nothing to preserve moisture around the roots which had dried when I opened the shipping container.

Not having encountered shipment like this before, I was wondering how great a risk is it to the tree. If it is significant, how long before I should be able to tell whether the, now potted, tree will not make it.

Thanks.

#2

My guess is it’s not serious. I used to think a little drying was the kiss of death. That was until an ole boy left bare root trees out in the sun all day. I thought they were dead. But they grew. Another recent incident with bare roots planted in bone dry soil, no water and no rain for 6 weeks, and they survived.

You’ll know in a month or two.

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#3

A few nurseries attached a planting instruction in the box suggesting you soak the roots of a tree in water for a few hours before planting. Would that help with your case?

I have always soaked my trees before planting. Never have one dies on me.

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#4

I used to soak roots, I don’t anymore. Our soil is usually near saturated for bare root season.

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#5

I also received trees like that before and they were fine. Dormant trees are pretty tough

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#6

Somebody gave me an Italian prune plum sucker that they yanked out of the ground and it rode around in the back of my car for a couple of weeks before I finally took care of it. It did fine until an incident with a backhoe broke it. (Suckers from that root are still going for me.) Of course, that was a plum and they can be weeds!

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#7

Probably depends somewhat on the type of tree. Two summers ago, a contractor dug the exterior of my house to re-waterproof the foundation walls. They dug out some roses and just tossed them, almost completely bare rooted, into a big Rubbermaid bin. They left the bin out in the middle of the back yard. That was as the beginning of August. We moved in at the end of September, when I found the dead looking roses. I figured that they were surely dead after two months out of soil and in the hot August sun, but for the neighbour told me that they were beautiful roses. So rather than toss them out, I potted them up and left them over winter. Both plants survived and actually bloomed last year too! I was amazed!

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#8

I would not be happy. I would try to pot or plant the tree and see.

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