Ground or Container ?

Hi all Ibc,

Just a "beginner question", or perhaps an old dilemma to all.... ?
as a beginner i'm purchasing these days (actually several months..) a lot of different trees. some of them need to thicken their trunk.
in this point i'm always wondering what to do, should i plant the tree in the ground (in my backyard..) or should i
plant it in big enough container with a modern soil. of course the goal is to thicken the trunk in short time.

what u guys say about it.. ?

thx

There is, of course, a third option: Buy bigger and better plants to begin with. There is no real way to know what a small plant will turn into when being grown out and many will turn out badly, though no fault of yours.

That said, field-grown plants grow faster and better than pot-grown plants. However, it is more difficult to do any preliminary styling on plants grown in the ground.

As long as you can give the ground planted tree the same care that you'd give a training box plant, the ground tree will develop size faster. But I find that there is less control over my ground planted trees, I don't fertilize them as well, and the watering isn't as consistent... So for me training boxes are the way to go. Also if you have trees that are not hardy in your area, you'll need to have them in boxes or flats that you can move to protection in the winter, can't do that if they're ground planted.

Not trying to persuade you away from ground growing, all things being equal, it is the fastest route.

Just make certain that any trees that you are developing for thickness have their roots sorted before planting, in the ground or in boxes. If left as they came in containers, they will forever have horrible circling. This does mean doing the work at the right time, usually spring, as the buds swell.

Put them in a pot and let the roots reach the soil. they will thicken fast at the same time you can work on the nebari without disturbing the feeder roots if needed be.

regards,
jun

jun wrote:Put them in a pot and let the roots reach the soil. they will thicken fast at the same time you can work on the nebari without disturbing the feeder roots if needed be.

regards,
jun

jun,

what do you mean by letting the roots reach the soil? does this mean that you have to put a big hole at the bottom of the pot, then bury it to the ground? please elaborate..

Have you thought about using raised beds? It's the best of both worlds IMO.

PeacefulAres wrote:Have you thought about using raised beds? It's the best of both worlds IMO.

Hi,

can u explain please....

thx

bonsai*john wrote:

jun wrote:Put them in a pot and let the roots reach the soil. they will thicken fast at the same time you can work on the nebari without disturbing the feeder roots if needed be.

regards,
jun

jun,

what do you mean by letting the roots reach the soil? does this mean that you have to put a big hole at the bottom of the pot, then bury it to the ground? please elaborate..

He is referring to the escape method here. It's where you plant the tree in a box/pot/container, with drainage holes and place it on the ground and do not ever move the box. This allows the roots to grow through the drainage holes into the ground, thus accelerating the growth. Then when you are happy with the trunk, you simply cut the feeder roots that grew into the ground. But before you put it into the pot, make sure you spread out the roots evenly and radially.

jun wrote:Put them in a pot and let the roots reach the soil. they will thicken fast at the same time you can work on the nebari without disturbing the feeder roots if needed be.

regards,
jun

Like reverse-airlayering?

Vega77 wrote: ... ... It's where you plant the tree in a box/pot/container, with drainage holes and place it on the ground and do not ever move the box... ...

Or pond baskets. Even better.

Use Google or please go to the library and start reading.

Colanders in raised beds of improved to a coarse soil state.

[1]
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Hochbeet_Vorderm%C3%BChle_1.JPG/250px-Hochbeet_Vorderm%C3%BChle_1.JPG

[2]
http://images.taunton.com/enewsletters/vg/kg08-raised-beds-09.jpg

Clip and grow in ground is good for deciduous trees, a lot off fertilizers and water , but you will adjust the growth every year, move the tree, turn it and cut the long and big roots after 2 or 3 years , put the tree in pot after 5 years or 8 years , or , don't move the tree after 2 years, but air layering after 10 years to have a beautifull neabari.

Vega77 wrote:He is referring to the escape method here....................

Thank u Jun.

evergreengardenworks.com has an article about "why the ground is not like a grow box" that might have useful information. it always seemed to me that colenders and pond baskets are so small that they would not be effective in growing large trunks (yet Im trying to turn 4" trunks into 10" trunks) I have tried field growing and large grow boxes and the field wins every time. The trees are planted in pure compost that holds water well. I never give them any fertilizer and watered them about twice this summer, their growth is far more than ones in growing boxes getting water and fertilizer frequently. However one advantage of having them in boxes is that you can take them to workshops and club meetings for advise on training etc... I sometimes guy wire field grown branches to bricks laying on the ground. I will train all my branches at the same time as growing the trunk using multiple sacrifice branches coming off branches that I plan to keep and of course sacrifice branches off the trunk as well. Its always fun to pot up things but even in ideal sized grow boxes, the growth just is not as vigorous.

bucknbonsai wrote:evergreengardenworks.com ......

Thank u bucknbonsai ,

helpful very much.

Greetings
Efi