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redsun9

Plant Bare Root Tree, Water Right Away?

I planted two care root trees. But it got too dark and I did not have time to water them. The temperature is about 25 to 40 F and the soil is moist.

Is this a problem? I'm going to water them tomorrow.

Since the soil is moist, I figure the roots are not dried out. The roots are buried about 1' deep and I did pressed the soil with feet.

Comments (10)

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    9 years ago

    If the roots are not allowed to dry out, they should be fine. I hope all the roots aren't 1' deep! If so, you'll need to correct that tomorrow before watering. See link below (especially sections 4 and 5) for planting info.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub

  • RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Just watered the trees. Do not want to take any risk. Actually they are dormant and have been in transit for several days. The most soil cover is more than the dormant plants in the shipping box.

    Just get the peace of mind....

  • tete_a_tete
    9 years ago

    I think that bare-rooted trees should be watered in immediately after planting.

    I love bare-rooted trees. I love the fact that they have not lived inside a pot. And I would always choose bare-rooted over potted any day of the week. Er... well, in the winter months.

    Redsun, for future reference, if it gets too dark to water next time, just water in the dark and hope for the best. Even when the soil is moist it is best to settle the soil around the roots and this is best done by watering, not squashing it underfoot. Though a little bit of squashing is what I would do. (Before watering of course. Never afterwards.) Light squashing. With one foot.

    It is very important of course (and this is just for people who have never heard of buying bare-rooted trees) to protect the roots from the moment the tree is pulled out of its wet sawdust (or whatever is used in the place of purchase) until it has been planted in your garden.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    your are perhaps confusing two things ...

    you need to water.. to settle the soil around the roots ...

    i would think that more important ...than whether the tree needs it.. this time of year... dormant ... leafless .... with moist soil ...

    you think you settled it all in by stepping on it.. but did you???? who knows ...

    i am glad.. for your piece of mind... you did it tonight.. why not.. it probably took you longer to fire up the techno.. to ask us ... rather than do it.. and when you get to that point.. just do it ... lol ..

    i also dont understand why the roots are ONLY one inch deep ... perhaps you meant.. they are properly planted.. and none more shallow than one inch ... that would be peachy ...

    remember.. watering in at planting.. settles in the soil.. and removes those pesky air pockets ...

    at least you didnt have it in the house.. next to the heat register.. in 50 gallons of water ... with what you did.. i doubt you had much to worry about ...but why find out.. eh???

    ken

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    9 years ago

    Ken, one mark like ' means feet, two of them like " means inch.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    shut up brandon ...

    i am watching hockey and trying to help a tree guy ..

    sobriety is questionable ...

    if he cant take the time to speel out FEET .. it is 4 letters...

    then he can deal with me not seeing some microscopic second ..MARK ... as you call it ...

    some of us might call it a single quote.. but thats a lot of letters to type out..

    so maybe you are watching hockey also ... though i suspect you TN peeps wouldnt know an ice rink.. if you fell on it ... its water in a HARD state ..... though probably not the state of TN ...

    lol

    any comment as to watering in.. to settle the soil ... or did you just want to mess with me ... .

    you are a card ... lol .. i know you are messin with me ....

    ken

  • RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    When the bare root trees are shipped, they are wrapped in damp media, be it wet paper, sawdust, or gel. When the trees are planted, they are covered with several inches of moist soil. Since this is early winter, the soil is very moist. So I do not see there was a lot of danger not watering them right away. But I did water them the same day.

    The trees were planted at the original soil levels....

  • NathanJames
    9 years ago

    The purpose in watering a bare-root tree right away is not so much to get water into the plant as it is to settle the dirt around the roots and force out all the air. Dormant trees aren't taking up a bunch of water, but being exposed to air (whether above ground or below) can dry out the roots, and bareroots need as much root function as possible.

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    9 years ago

    The necessity of removing air pockets that night was a very different thing than removing air pockets for the long-term. The need for moisture immediately after planting (like if you didn't have time until the next morning) would be to keep the roots hydrated, NOT to remove air pockets. Using to water to remove air pockets is normal, but not a requirement, to keep the tree alive, AT the immediate time of planting. Normal roots need air to live, so removing all the air from the soil is a very bad thing.

    BTW, depending on the situation, I usually use water as part of the planting process, not just after the planting is done. If I ever didn't have time to water, I'd just wait until the next day to plant. Of course, as was pointed out above, initial watering usually only takes a very short time.

  • calliope
    9 years ago

    Air transfer is done at the root hairs. Some bare root stock have precious few of those intact, so you do want to preserve their function as best you can. It does not take long at all (matter of minutes) to essentially do an air prune of root hairs and that means no uptake until they regenerate. You do not remove all the air from the soil by watering at time of planting to settle in, IF the soil is draining properly. However, if the soil is moist, there is usually enough humidity generated that even an actively growing plant's root hairs won't dry out when exposed to small air pockets, still it's good to do the water-in if at all possible ......as soon as possible. I've addressed more than one tree where the person who intended to come back soon to do the water-in simply forgets to until I asked some days later. They've usually survived just fine, but that's not optimal.