got my apple trees but have question please

[elijahboy]

i bought 5apples trees of different varieties from arbor day and they are about 4' tall and already sprouting

problem=the property that i want to plant them at wont be lived at till around july so i wont be able to water them regularly
question=do you think they will be fine if i plant them in 5 gallon buckets until next spring when i can plant into the ground

thanks muches for your input

 

[FarmerJamie]

The question is how big the root ball is.

Do you have somewhere you can plant them (and can dig up when you're ready to transplant)? I'd be worried about killing them in the bucket, but that's just my $0.02
for other responses

 

[Denim Deb]

Are they dwarf trees or standard size trees?

Don't know about apple trees, but I've seen farmers "trench" peach trees when they don't have time to plant, then dig them up later.

 

[elijahboy]

they are standard trees with a very small root system well i guess for a 4 footer

i am going to rent this house out in july so i cant really plant them here i dont think i mean i own this house but i figured it would be too much of a shock to only have them planted in the ground for only 4 months then transplant them 2 hours away in a totally different type of soil but the same climate

 

[FarmerJamie]

I've transplanted in similar situations, I just took some buckets of the original location soil, amended with with some peat moss, and used that around the roots in the new hole.

the key is to keep the roots wet and when you transplant, soak well to get the air out of the soil covering the roots.

 

[elijahboy]

lovely thanks for your input

 

[Denim Deb]

While a 5 gallon bucket may be too small, can you get some of those 18 gallon containers? They may be big enough.

 

[patandchickens]

Honestly I think you'd mots likely be best off planting them in the ground and just hoping for a non-droughty spring, and going out there whenever you *can* to water them. If you try to keep them straggling along in buckets for a year you will pretty much certainly damage their health severely if not kill them outright, whereas "in the wild" they at least have a fighting chance.

Contrary to the impression one gets from reading some books, it is NOT necessarily necessary to water newly-planted trees weekly. They do *better* of course if given continually-favorable moisture conditions, but as long as it is not a droughty year and it is a good site for them to begin with, they have a reasonable chance of surviving with no watering, and a good chance of surviving with occasional when-convenient-or-it-seems-really-necessary watering.

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[elijahboy]

i think i am going to go ahead and plant them at the property because i am moving there in july and i go there once a month right now so im going to try and swing it

Honestly I think you'd mots likely be best off planting them in the ground and just hoping for a non-droughty spring, and going out there whenever you *can* to water them. If you try to keep them straggling along in buckets for a year you will pretty much certainly damage their health severely if not kill them outright, whereas "in the wild" they at least have a fighting chance.

Contrary to the impression one gets from reading some books, it is NOT necessarily necessary to water newly-planted trees weekly. They do *better* of course if given continually-favorable moisture conditions, but as long as it is not a droughty year and it is a good site for them to begin with, they have a reasonable chance of surviving with no watering, and a good chance of surviving with occasional when-convenient-or-it-seems-really-necessary watering.

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat