yup lol, my guess is that its all going to drop or i’ll need to remove it. the thing i’m most mad about is that its grafted, totally false advertised. i can see on the rootstock where’s they had to cut a million suckers off of it.
Since it came unlabeled i’m also not sure if its actually a Missouri giant or if its a Crandall or a black topaz. i emailed and asked for a refund.
the raintree select goumi was small and way over priced for the size of it (its like maybe 9 inches tall), but it looks fine and healthy otherwise.
Im curious, would most people here consider that sentence meaning rooted cuttings or just good amount of roots on a plant (and not literally meaning rooted cuttings). I wish i could add a poll to this post (maybe not in mobile?) as im curious what interpretation people lean towards.
I would consider “well rooted” somewhat ambiguous, but leaning towards implying own-root. However, I never trust any nursery to sell anything own-root though unless they either very unambiguously state it is own-root or unless it’s a species that is easier to root than to graft.
As far as Im concerned there is no good reason to buy anything from this second coming Raintree Nursery but just being the devils advocate here one does have to not assume a plant or tree is not grafted. I dont know anything about Goumi but whatever nursery Raintree purchased your plant from must have decided that it is more feasible to use rootstocks and graft than try and root cuttings. To declare this is maybe yes maybe no depending on the company. The only time its absolutely a must is if the rootstock has some sort of regulating effect on the scion.
I would say that, based on the pic, the only complaint you might really have here is if you pulled the plant out of the pot and it wasn’t well rooted.
I think it’s fair to be disappointed that it was grafted (undisclosed in advance) in the case of species like this Ribes which are naturally suckering as an expected part of their growth and establishment. It will result in a constant battle to keep the grafted shoot from getting crowded out by growth from the rootstock, and will eventually cause loss of the desired variety once that trunk gets too old to be productive and needs to be cut back.
Also i spoke with them and we addressed some of the issues in the past. Hopefully everything changes from this season onward.
Also one thing that no one’s mentioned and I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it or not:
When i was driving there i noticed multiple rivers surrounding the nursery. The nearest ups pickup station is over an hour away so they don’t do pickup and ship as often due to location. But I’m hoping with the popularity throughout the years and business that they start delivery every 2 weeks instead of monthly. Also also- ALSO, if it’s during the rainy season and the rivers flood out, they can not do shipments/ delivery and have to wait out until the flooding stops. The rivers are close to the roads over it. From September - February/March depending on how much it rains in Washington state, their delivery windows can be a hit or miss and that’s heavily dependent on the rivers nearby. Had i known that, i would’ve been more understanding with my shipments as well. They never said anything to me about this, this is something I’ve observed on my own.
*the roads to the nursery run over multiple rivers. If the rivers flood, there’s no access to the nursery/town that they’re located in
They are less than 30 miles from me but around the mountain so it takes me 1.5 hours to get to them even. Also the mountains surrounding them have dangerous roads sometimes
I see, so the currents are treated like raspberries where you select renewal canes to replace the previous years fruiting canes?
If thats the case then grafting to a dissimilar rootstock would screw things up.
agreed Sam is such a good hearted person. A few years ago I ordered a couple of plums and Im not kidding you, they hacked the trees off right where they fit into the box. Plus, they a
have added a lot things to the catalogue that don’t do well here in pnw, and say that they do well. Just doesnt have integrity.
The currants of this type are more woody and not short lived canes like raspberries, but they can become less productive over time and cutting out old wood can refocus the energy on younger and more productive growth. They are meant to form large, multi-trunk clumps.
And I agree with you. Sam and I get together along with Gary Moulton once a month at the Skagit Co Op for breakfast to chew the fat and discuss general small scale growing. Sam is one of those kind people who despite the negative things happening around him doesn’t like to say negative things about people.
This past winter I looked everwhere for a Missouri Giant on its own roots. I could not find one, so I bought a grafted one.
When I planted it I scratched the bark good in a few spots above the graft and put rooting hormone on it and planted it deep.
Next March I will check it over for new roots, if it has enough new roots I will cut it free from the rootstock.
Following that statement, that would mean they don’t have any grafted fruit trees… Whoever corresponded with you was clearly just an office person and not a plant person with any real grasp of horticulture. From the one picture, it looks pretty undeniably like a graft scar, but maybe you can get some more pictures from other sides so we can see all the way around.
Looks like W&T but don’t be so sure. Bark/wood can do strange things all on their own. I’d have to see the same thing on the other side to go against the nursery.
If there were a clear difference in bark pattern or color it would be more certain.
