Hi all. I just received another apricot tree today. I am leaving for a short week-long Easter holiday and will not return until the 6th of April. Can I store my new bareroot apricot tree in a large tub of water while I am away. I really will not have time to plant it as it arrived so late! Thanks.
That might be too long sitting in water? Why not just pot it up in a small container?
I have seen discounted ($15) bare root trees at OGW sitting in half drum of water. But if you can use some potting soil or shredded cardboard/paper both moistened and in a trash bag with a couple of holes.
Wow you really are a European now! A week long holiday isn’t short by American standards
1 Like
Yes, i’ve been that way for a very long time! Ha!
2 Likes
I do have one pot left that I can use. We’ll be having rain while I’m away.
I think that the water will damage the roots of left that long. In a pot of damp wood chips is how I like to “keep them on ice.”
1 Like
I got 2 serviceberry and a montmorency cherry in yesterday… too wet to plant… just rained.
That is what compost piles are for.
You can easily temp plant something in a compost pile for a few days… in extreme cases I have done two weeks in the past.
I store everything that i get in wet woodchips in some tubs and 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom in a shady spot. Those same woodchips get top dressed on the things when they get planted.
I only have a terrace
1 Like
A week in water and it will go anaerobic. A few hours before planting is fine but not a whole week. Store it in a 5 gallon bucket like @krismoriah said. Damp wood chips, peat moss, compost or straw all work well. Or just heal it in an extra garden bed outside.
1 Like
Thank you. I found a pot. It is going in this afternoon. thanks all. Will it really mind being repotted when i return?
Forgive me if I’m off base, I’ve been out of the country when a bare root tree came (thanks a lot raintree for shipping stuff about a hundred months after I order it every time) and had my neighbor open the box and put it in a giant pot I had with an open bag of soil in it to just dump to cover the roots. I was gone also a week and put it right in the ground the moment I got home.
My point is, if you’re home, why not plant it immediately in it’s permanent spot as planting a tree anywhere takes almost no time. Assuming you know where you want it to go, why bother with a temporary spot? I could understand if it came while you’re away but it is coming before you leave.
Use a wicking system! I finally set up my tiny pots of vegetables and other things with wicking irrigation and they lasted the week indoors under LED/Fluoros no problem. If you nest the pot you plant the tree in within a bucket of water and provide a wick (shoelaces work well for small pots but you may need to use several) that connects the soil to the water reservoir. It can be on top or underneath. I was able to keep a 1 gallon pot watered with just one shoelace/lanyard. Cotton/acrylic lots of materials are suitable.
Thanks. I have a terrace. The soil in the bag weighs a ton. I have a large grow pot that is black and I am 77 years old! So somethings just have to wait. Permanent planting is out of the question today. So its in soil in a 3’ grow bag. We’re also having tons of rain this week while I’m away in Italy.
1 Like
It should be okay, a few I have soaked to plant and put them back in sawdust for a week some i potted for a month and put them in ground when they were growing 1/2-1” green tips and they all did fine.