Author Topic: Bare rooting a 15 gallon Navel orange  (Read 946 times)

DurbanDude

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Bare rooting a 15 gallon Navel orange
« on: July 13, 2019, 06:30:15 PM »
I bought 5 new citrus trees, planted 1 (fairchild mandarin) but I have my doubts about the soil they were grown in. The soil looks like 60/40 wood chips/sand which is an "industry standard" but only because it's cheap and light. Wood chips are great for 6-12 months but then they break down and turn into muck. If you have light soil with great drainage then it might not matter but if you have heavy soil the muck surrounding the root ball might cause problems. In my case I'm planting on a hillside so they are most likely fine to plant but I was just wondering how risky it would be to bare root a 15 gallon citrus. I've bare rooted 2 five gallon home depot citrus trees before and they are growing well but I suspect 15 gallons might require a different strategy.  I'm guessing that it would be better to bare root a 15gal citrus in the winter, summer time bare rooting might just be asking for trouble.

I was just wondering if anybody had any citrus bare rooting experience or stories.

Bomand

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Re: Bare rooting a 15 gallon Navel orange
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2019, 07:50:07 PM »
I dont have stories but....bareroot in summertime is a no no for me. I would wait till the sap is down to bareroot. There is a difference in transplanting and planting. Hence the reason trees are sold in pots....because they can be planted anytime. The soil and rootball is planted without disturbing the plant. Bareroot is transplanting....taking from one environment and putting in another. If you go with bareroot....take time to dig a big hole, put your soil in and water till you mash all the air pockets are out of the roots. Keep watered well until tree shows new growth.