Re: bare root

There are a number of factors that can influence the choice on whether to by
bare root verse container grown plants mail order.

1) Cost-it is more or less less expensive to send a bare root plant than a
potted one.
2) Size-Bare root plants should be larger. So if planted and taken care of for
a few weeks after planting should be larger and more mature than small potted
plants.
3) When shipping plants that are dormant it is easier to see if the plant is
alive and in good shape before shipping while it is in a bare root state as
apposed to a potted plant.

There are a number of factors that also influence whether it is better to buy
bare root verse potted.
1) Some plants do not transplant to well when bare rooted.  As a general rule
I would prefer to ship those plants that have above ground basal foliage with
fine fibrous roots systems as potted plants. Those plants with large below
ground stems or large storage roots do very well bare root.
2) Potted plants can be cheeper to produce than bare root plants, Most bare
root plants are field grown. They must be planted and allowed to grow for a
year or two then dug and sorted then stored and then prepared for shipping.
Potted plants are planted into a pot from a plug and grown until it's time to
ship them.  Some go threw a dormancy period before shipping-but its less labor
than field grown plants.

I ship many plants bare root out of one gallon containers or 5.25" square
pots. These have some of the best of both worlds -- a complete root system for
quick growth once the plants are planted. Plus lower shipping costs.
Many plants I ship are bare root field grown plants with tops cut off and
roots trimmed back-these are larger plants than potted material BUT they do
need a little more care for the first four or six weeks. Bare root plants need
to be planted at the right depth and they need to be watered until they get
going. These are the reasons people fail at bare root perennials-One they do
not know how to plant them and they do not water in a consistent fashion.

Potted plant have these positive factors effecting their use.
1) they do not need to be planted right away. You can take them and set them
aside for months if you need to as long as you water. Bare root plants NEED to
be planted right away or kept in the fridge for a short time until planted.
2) Potted plants kind of take the guess work out of how deep to plant--just
make a hole about twice the size of the pot--remove the plant- brake up the
plug a little and plant the same depth as they were in the pot, just add a
little dirt over what they were and that's it.  They still need to be watered
but it is not as critical as bare root plants because they have a root system
that already has established feeder roots.
 I also like shipping potted plants because I do not have to worry that if
they get delayed in the mail-they will dry out or rot.
The last year or two I have been buying from other sellers to see how they
ship and what size plants they ship. I have been disappointed many times with
the size of plants I get for the dollar. Some have been good but I have
noticed a tendency. The fancier the catalog the less quality for of the
dollar. This understandable, they spend 3-4 dollars making a catalogue and
sending it out -- then they cannot use that money on there plant material. I
have found that I get better plants from my wholesalers than I do from those
fancy mass marketed catalogs.

Forgive me if this is a little disorganized- I am just putting this to gather
off the top of my head.
But I hope it's clear enough to be understood.

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