Need Help With Bare Root Peach Tree

[greenthumbomaha]

Gurneys just sent me a wonderful bared root peach tree that I had ordered last November. Unfortunately I won't be able to plant the tree at my weekend home for at least two weeks. I have a recycled 5 gal tree container I can "plant" it in. Would straight sphangum peat moss be too dense? Should I bundle it in a grow bag ( landscape fabric)?) Closest I can find to pine bark fines is shreaded pine mulch. Thank you for your responses and from wandering over from the tomatoes to help me.

Heeling in with the heavy clay soil here isn't handy!

[Elizabeth]

I am having some hardscape work done (new retaining walls) so I ran into the same dilemma - bare-roots came in, and no home for them yet. I have mine in 20 gallon pots (plan to use them later for sweet potatoes), but 5 gallon should do fine. I bought potting soil, but searched around for the best draining stuff I could find - it has lots of fine woody bits, but has added nitrogen to balance things. I was trying to emulate what potted trees come in, and they usually have fairly woody fast draining mixes. So far my trees seem pretty happy - two low chill cherries, a nectarine, a fig and an avocado (last two not bare root, they were sleeved, but they are getting same treatment). The nectarine is taking it's sweet time to bloom, but I can see the buds swelling.

We had to remove some 6' high bushy strawberry guavas for the walls and they were also plunked in 20 gallon pots with the same mix. They were dug up 2 weeks ago and are still perky.

The potting soil is so loose the trees should plant easily, and it won't cling to the fragile new roots like a heavier soil would. I have to water more often than if I used a heavier soil, but since this is temporary I'm not worried about it.

[greenthumbomaha]

I have the trees wrapped in wet newspaper and in their original box. I started to prepare the containers (btw now I have "5" peach/nectarine trees in waiting) by purchasing a roll of Preen block (didn't really want Preen but it looked like the strongest fabric ) and lining the containers I had stashed from previous purchases. I'll have to go to a private nursery and get some barky type potting soil, but till I get time off work it will be peat moss.

Your containers look fantastic, but oh my gosh 20 gallons of potting soil is a small fortune. Those will be truly pampered potatoes. I hope your construction crew can get those containers moved for you. I'm bemoaning moving my 5 gal containers. Thats part of the reason I went bare root.

Good luck on your construction. That's a pretty neighborhood. So lush compared to the plains where I currently live. My mil has a fig tree in her small yard in New York.

[dustdevil]

When you plant that peach tree to your weekend home, it needs to be kept moist for awhile. Watering it when you leave and coming back weeks later could be the kiss of death if it doesn't rain. Once the tree has started sprouting, you need to get it into some sort of soil pronto. Straight peat moss is a bit too acidic for your bucket mix.

[Tom C zone 4/5]

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

Closest I can find to pine bark fines is shreaded pine mulch.

Shredded pine mulch is pine bark fines...

[ddsack]

If you're just holding for a couple of weeks before planting in the ground, it might not make that much difference what the packing material is, since it takes a while for the cold storage bare roots to hydrate and get going again. Just don' t let the roots get dry or too warm. Seems like the nurseries around here keep a lot of bare root fruit trees around for many weeks, by packing them in burlap and mulch. Maybe you could call one of your local nurseries to see what they recommend.

I recently ordered a dwarf peach and dwarf nectarine that I plan to grow in large pots permanently, since my zone is too cold for ground growth. I plan to hold them in winter dormancy in my garage or cold furnace room. Don't know if I will be successful, but I would love to have a fresh peach from a tree.

A couple of websites I found helpful, even though they are about container peach trees -

http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_...ainer-grow.asp

http://lifeonthebalcony.com/just-pea...ines-in-a-pot/

The UK site seems to favor a heavier than normal potting soil.

[greenthumbomaha]

So you don't say , Tom C!

Thanks everyone, now I have a plan. The weather is going to change dramatically from the upper 80's we enjoyed last week. The forecasters are alerting everyone to a possible frost early next week. Some of the tree buds are starting to swell so I'm off to start potting now and will hold (and water!) in the garage. Pics coming soon if you are interested.

[greenthumbomaha]

Here they are in homemade grow bags, well actually folded over weed fabric stuffed with .. ahem .. pine bark fines aka shreaded pine mulch and outdoor pro mix. I put a sprinkle of potting mix with water crystals in there for good measure.
The tree in the foreground is the Flat Wonderful Peach , then we have Contender and Reliance, and a nectarine. They are all semi dwarf from Gurneys and will join a standard bare root Faye Elberta that I planted last fall.