Advice from Others - M. G. Kains

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“Still another handicap all nursery stock has to meet is the drying of the roots, branches, and trunks (in the order named) when dug and exposed to sun and wind, when packed loosely, when shipped long distanced, when unpacked and again left exposed to sun and wind, when planted loose, dry soil and when with unpruned tops already explained.

Experiment and experience agree that fruit trees and shrubs of ordinary nursery sizes may be shipped safely without soil around their roots but with damp packing materials of various kinds. If it has been stored or has been long in transit it will be benefited by being plunged, root and branch if possible, in a pond, a stream, a barrel or a deep tub brim-full of water and so kept for a day or longer before being planted. It will thus “plump up” and have a far better chance of growing than if planted at once, or just as it arrives. Burying in sopping wet soil for three days to a week will give equally good results. I have saved almost brittle-dry stock in this way.

Analyses of countless cases have proved that attempts “to get fruit soon” are responsible for more failures and disappointments in amateur planting than is perhaps any other one thing. The fact that professional tree movers succeed in transplanting mature trees, perhaps in full leaf, tempts many inexperienced people to buy large stock. They do not realize that the tree movers’ trees are specially handled by experts to insure success. Many of them are prepared for thte ordeal of transplanting by perhaps years of tedious and costly root pruning, or previous transplantings; others are dug with exceeding care to save the largest possible amount of roots which are kept moist by wrappings of wet burlap. Finally, care is given at frequent intervals for at least a year, especially as to watering.

All this is very different from planting the ordinary “bearing age” trees which some nurseries offer for sale at advanced prices. Unless these are prepared as just explained the losses of roots in such cases are so great that the trees rarely recover, much less continue to develop into beautiful fruitful specimens. Generally, therefore, smaller, less costly trees become established promptly and not only catch up with, but outstrip larger ones of the same kinds.”

In essence, he is saying: 

· Bare root trees (apple, plum, etc.) may lose some roots when transplanting, but they are not root-bound in a pot which can stunt them for life.  Most people are eager for fruit, so they seek out "mature" specimens, yet bare root trees outgrow them within a few years.  The exception is taprooted trees like pawpaws and persimmons, in which pots are preferred (these weren't around much when he wrote his book).

· Fresh bare root trees are better than stored ones, but all should be placed in a bucket of water for at least 2 hours immediately after receiving (he says more, but it may be excessive). We also suggest adding some mycorrhizal fungi powder to this water and a little kelp or seaweed extract. The roots will absorb some of this, then water the tree in with it. This ensures a great start to root development.

· He also mentions a problem with transplanting being “unpruned tops.” This is because the roots and top should be in balance. Dug up trees and any transplanted tree or plant incurs root damage. So, with trees, if your feeder roots were reduced by 50%, then you should consider taking an equal height off the top. However, where you make this cut will be where multiple branches start, so cut it at a height where you can envision your lowest branch starting. 

Here is a word of caution:

o Dwarf trees (less than 50% of full standard size/seedling size) – DO NOT remove the top until the 2nd season, and DO NOT place companion plants near them for 2 years, and mulch heavily (4” away from the tree in a circle). They do not have the long taproot of seedlings or larger format root stocks, and therefore they are dependent on feeder roots to get going. Once they get going, they bear earlier and at an easier-to-pick height than larger format trees.  This applies to our apples only, as we have several dwarf stocks.

“Why might you want to grow an entire orchard of seedlings? This is an attractive concept to some people. After all, it’s the cheapest route, and might seem the most “natural.” Some people also believe that grafted trees are inferior (they’re not!). And, people considering growing pawpaws usually find out before long that they can often get seedlings from wholesale nurseries for as cheap as $1 to $5 per tree. What a bargain! What I have to say about that is this: don’t do it if you want to sell premium-quality fresh fruit or want maximum yields and profit. The reality is that wholesale pawpaw trees in this price range are field-grown specimens of random genetic background, are not dug carefully, will have very compromised root systems, and many will fail when planted. Wholesale trees like this are meant for wildlife plantings and reforestation, not fruit marketing. Modern orchardists growing other common fruits to go to market would virtually never consider planting an orchard of seedling trees.

Note: pawpaw seedlings potentially can live much longer than grafted pawpaw trees. When grown in excellent conditions, grafted pawpaws have a productive life of about 15 – 20 years before they slowly stop producing fruit and go into decline and die. In decent but not optimal conditions, they have about 15 to 20 years of good production before starting to decline. Seedling trees allowed to create suckers and spread can live for decades, possibly a century or more. So, if longevity is a main concern to you, plant high-quality potted seedlings of good genetics, or otherwise integrate them into your orchard operation. It’s probably a good idea to give the seedlings their own row or area, so that they can sucker somewhat, if this is what you’re after. However, most of us will be plenty content with two decades of solid production from a grove, and will have probably planted another fresh new grove within that time frame anyway to replace the first grove that will soon decline. 

Seedlings grown from excellent genetic backgrounds (parent trees) often produce excellent quality fruit. However, unless utilizing grafted trees, it’s always somewhat of a gamble because some of those will not prove as good as the parents (though likely not awful like many random seedlings are). Remember, if you want premium fruits, plant premium trees. This is the same path most modern farmers take whatever they raise.”

This is our take on the above:

· Seedlings from wild genetics are not predictable and grown in a cluster versus individual pots results in poor trees and damaged taproots.  We offer seedlings of Sunflower, Prolific, and Wells pawpaws - superior genetics (not wild). 

· Seedlings from superior genetics (Sunflower, Prolific, etc.) produce seedlings of similar quality, unlike apples for example. Pawpaws have not been over-bred and their genetics are easily transferrable versus what some say is a 1 in 10,000 chance of an apple seedling being like its parent. Good pawpaw parents = good seedlings and good fruit.  Grafted pawpaw trees = guaranteed product.

· Growing and caring for nursery stock is critical with pawpaws. Bare root apples and pears don’t have an issue with such practices, but pawpaws want no root disturbance until they are in the ground. All of our pawpaws are grown as individual seeds, in individual pots from superior genetics, making for a great seedling or a great root stock for our grafted varieties. Genetics are the key.

· Pawpaws are versatile in that they can be used to sucker as a hedge (seedlings), let grow to a tree and just mow down suckers (grafted or seedlings), or pruned to keep it at a nice picking height. They take pruning and training well after year 2, but little is usually necessary.  These can be almost entirely maintenance free once established and pests prefer apples, plums, cherries, etc. to pawpaws.  Deer don't like the leaves either.