Against all advice and most reviews I decided for whatever reason (self sabotage?) to go ahead and order a peach tree from TyTy (TyTyga) nursery. It’s pictured below. Is this tree even worth planting? Maybe I’m being dramatic but it looks super wonky to me.
The shape is probably not your biggest problem. You can prune to get it shaped back up.
The main problem is most likely that it is not the variety that you ordered. You could get lucky and it still be suitable for your area but I will give five to one odds that it is not true to label on variety.
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look towards the base and see if there is a graft there. (the picture doesn’t show enough of the base, but it looks like there is something right where the plastic ends)
It isn’t a fantastic specimen, but a year in the ground and it will make a good rootstock for a variety of peach you choose (read through some grafting threads).
At least the leaves look like a peach…
Scott
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It looks like it might actually be a peach tree and although the root system looks pretty small, it is presently alive. Woo Hoo!
That’s about as good as it ever gets with TyTy. I’m assuming it is not the cultivar you ordered. That would be hoping for too much.
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One of my first ever fruit tree purchases was from TyTy and it was also a peach. Mine came half dead and diseased. It was also not the variety I ordered. I have no advice, just commiserating. If it was healthy and I didn’t have an alternative, I might plant it anyway.
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You paid for it, you have to at least see what it does. Try it out in a pot long enough to see what it is. If that is a leafed out bare root I wouldn’t expect much.
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Yes that is one thing I looked for when it arrived. It has a nice sized graft right where the plastic is there.
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It could be a peach, a nectarine or an almond. Who know what variety it is if it is even a named variety.
You are lucky than most that the tree arrived alive.
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I am surprised that I’m the first one saying this, but I also find it a little disturbing (though not at all surprising knowing TyTy) that they send you a fully leafed out plant as a bare-root specimen. No, that doesn’t mean it will certainly die, and I know this has happened with other nurseries from time to time. But Tyty will just dig up a fully leafed out tree almost any time and send it bare root like this one. While that doesn’t guarantee its doomed, it certainly makes it much less likely that it will survive. The fact that they sent a large, fully leafed out tree and then almost no rootball makes it even worse.
If it does, and if its a variety you can live with (it almost certainly won’t be what you bought it to be),then you can probably prune it back into decent shape eventually. But overall, this is classic TyTy. Anything for a sale. Good luck
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id prune it back hard to compensate for the small root ball. then plant it. if you’re worried its not what you ordered buy some scions you want and graft it over to make sure.
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With that being said, is the trees best chance of survival if I plant it in a pot and let it bounce back by establishing more roots, access to more nutrients, and more stable/thorough watering? Vs. just putting it in the ground as is? Another commenter suggested waiting until next year to put it in the ground. Thoughts?
I’d plant it now and prune the snot out of it. That’s what I do leafed out or not. It actually looks like a pretty nice tree to me. I’d cut it off about where the tag is. But if that’s too short for you leave more but remove 90% of the foliage. Cut off all that big stem on top that jogs left. Then shorten every branch to one green sprout. That will get it back to a foliage level in line with the roots.
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You can cut it back as folks have stated. Also if you want to give your tree the best chance of growth in this season, I would be very gentle with the rootball when planting since it already leafed out.
My experience with Tyty:
Tyty shipped me rotten bamboo shoot cutting with larvae inside. I asked for a refund and they said no. Worst nursery, lesson learned.
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Although Tyty does not have good reputation in business. But we should not assume every tree they sent out is wrong type. While we share what they did wrong, we should be fair and not make judgement or conclusions before we are certain that this tree is a wrong cultivar. Guilty has to be proofed first.
I do agree with all of you that it is not a sensible way to send a fully leaf out tree with minimum roots or soil attached. This will make the tree harder to survive.
If this is my tree, I would prune the thick branch that bend to one side off to reduce the water.evaporation. plant it in ground and shade the tree until the tree start to recover from transportation/envoroment/transplant shock, whatever the stress the tree is under. Of course, need to water it in regular basis depends on the location you are in.
I recommend plant it in ground because, In general, a in ground tree has much stable environment to live in than a potted tree does. Imagine a potted tree has to go through soil moisture fluctuations. Sometimes soil too dry sometimes soil too wet; the soil temperature fluctuation, sunny days the pot is heated up, and cloudy days the temperature stays low …
Well, you know the risk and you are willing to take the risk. You have to live with your decision, good or bad. We live and learn. Meanwhile, Try to make the best out of it. Good luck. If it proofs a wrong tree, then you should file a complaint against Tyty.
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I would absolutely 100% plant it in ground now. But just make sure you give it lots of water. Yes, there is such a thing as too much water which can lead to root rot and drowning, but on a leafed out tree with so little roots and the fact that its going to be warm to hot very soon, I’d err on the side of LOTS of water given frequently. And as others have said, I’d prune it pretty hard so you can get the shape you want started over.
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GO AHEAD AND PLANT IT! It looks fine
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We are being fair with TyTy. We are not assuming every tree is the wrong type. We are assuming that they did something wrong with almost every single tree that they sent out and if it isn’t something obvious, then it may be the cultivar. In this case they sent out a tree that was apparently already leafed out and has a tiny root ball. That is HORRIBLE all by itself.
This is not a court of law. We don’t have to prove anything. But about 90% of the time we read about a TyTy purchase, there is a problem, even if it’s nothing more than charging outrageous prices for mediocre or poor quality trees.
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This is what my newly planted peach tree looks like. It has 6 shoots. That’s twice what I need to make a tree. Prune the TyTy tree like this and it will likely survive.
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Absolutely cut it back hard, then plant in a pot, or in the ground. Some shade might be in order if temps are above 70 in your area already.
I’d not stress by trying to graft anything to it at this time.
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