Mine were some strawberry plants from Burpee. But like I said they are doing real good now I really have no complaints other than I was a little worried about it at the time. That was this season I ordered them. I will leave them a good review in the end.
Nourse farm sells great bare root strawberries like Mara Des Bois for under a dollar a strawberry. I never understood why people buy potted strawberries.
It’s because their little world doesn’t go very far…like living in a sardine can.
They were the Purple Wonder strawberry plants, only Burpee sells them, and potted were the only option. That’s why.
Bluefairy?
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So I finally managed to get a Harrow Sweet this year, after missing out the past two due to pandemic shortage, and this is what Adams County sends me. Does this have any realistic chance of surviving? The trunk is around 3 feet long. Should I cut it down low as I dare in hopes it’ll push fewer leaves and be able to support them? in the time it takes to make some new feeder roots? This was my first order from Adams County, it’s a bit disappointing.
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Think I would pot that up to see if its going to make it. That way you don’t dig a hole for nothing. I’ve gotten a few like that over the years. Takes a long time to recover if it survives and I wouldn’t count on it putting out much leaf. Puts a bitter taste in your mouth, but I can tell you I’ve gotten one of those from just about everybody. Some were worse with just a knub.
I think it’ll make it just fine. I would actually recommend leaving the top as is, as it will give the tree more resources to grow roots. This is contrary to popular wisdom, but for bare root trees I’ve come to the conclusion that you don’t need to do much if anything to rebalance. The plant isn’t going to push out more growth than it can support, and the more leaves for photosynthesis, the more energy it can direct to growing the roots. Also, keep in mind the tree has some resources stored aboveground, too, and if you chop that off, those aren’t available to fuel growth top or bottom. There are times to trim off the top (such has for initial shaping), but if you’re trying to salvage an undersized root “mass”, you’re better off leaving it. Fully leafed out trees/plants on the other hand, would definitely need to be rebalanced if you chop a lot of roots off.
I’ll add to @jcguarneri’s comment that it is definitely a good idea to give it a good hydrate and follow the shipper’s planting protocols to the T. If you do end up with a claim, you want to minimize their ability to put it back on you.
Fwiw, I’ve had a lot more success than i would have expected with bare root trees that similarly had little root mass. Give it a try.
How much did you pay for that thing? It’s essentially a cutting, plus a pot and presumably some peat.
I mean, as long as it lives, then you’ve got the genetics, and you can easily propagate it as much as you like. But you probably could have paid less elsewhere.
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Thanks for the advice everyone. The hole was already dug ahead of time so I’d just planted it anyway even before posting. I was mainly concerned about whether or not topping it (or any other measures) would be advisable. I’ll leave the top though. And I realized it was Adams County, not Cummins as I originally stated. Which is worse, since Adams’ shipping is pretty high if you only order 2 trees as I did.
I know this post isn’t “fresh”, but it got bumped and I couldn’t help but notice the picture in the OP was of a ‘Hinnomaki Yellow’ gooseberry. Having grown quite a few varieties now I can say with confidence that while this cultivar produces absolutely delicious fruit, it is of VERY POOR VIGOR so the small size does not say poor quality or even lack of establishment in the pot. It simply is a very slow grower. I just ran outside in the dark and measured my five-ish year old in ground ‘Hinnomaki Yellow’ and it’s seriously only 20" tall even now after years of establishment.
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