Help! Help!

[Cornish Pixie]

I have 2 apple trees one I think is Breaburn and the other is a Bramley,(M9 rootstock), they are both in half oak barrells but the bramley is in a poor spot with the neighbours house keeping it in shade most of the time. It got blown about a lot last year and we staked it on 2 sides. I have been thinking all winter that I should move it to the back garden where it will get more sun and a little less wind.
I thought it was going to take me ages to get the root ball out of the pot, I put my shovel in to the edge of the pot and pushed down - well that was easy! All round the pot I did this trying hard not to disturb the roots too much, I grabbed the tree at the base and wiggled it to see if it was loose. The whole lot came out in one go with no roots at all!!!!
The tree is still alive - do I try and plant the stump or do i cut my losses and buy a new one??

[Nicos]

...no roots AT ALL??????

bare rooted trees come with very few roots- maybe 2 or 3 woody bits....if you've got more than the main stem then pot it up again- and keep it well watered! you may be lucky!
me being me though...I'd go and buy a replacement...then the other one is bound to recover!!!!

[bluemoon]

I 'saved' a Victoria plum tree which had just two and a half roots (one was broken) the longest of which was about 2". Plenty of water and a sunny spot and it might be OK. I suppose it really depends upon how much top growth there is.

[FB.]

No roots at all?
Rootstock M9 doesn't grow a strong root system and can easily die of water stress.
M9 is also is very weak and prone to brittle trunks, so has a tendency to snap easily when under stress. Are you sure that it didn't break off?

Re-planting the stump is worth a go, but I fear that you may have killed it.
M9 doesn't have much vigour and it could take ages to re-grow the lost roots.

If it were mine, I would try a last-ditch attemp (just trust me on this and don't deviate from the instructions):

Plant it with the graft 3-6 inches BELOW ground level.
Fill the planting hole with one part compost to four parts topsoil.
After planting, put an inch layer of compost over the ground as a "mulch".
Make sure the soil does not dry out all of the growing season, but don't let it turn into a bog, either.
If you're lucky, the remains of the M9 rootstock will sustain the tree long enough for the tree to grow it's own roots.
Bramley is a very strong grower, so I'd say that it has a 50/50 chance of having enough vigour to send out it's own roots before the M9 dies off.

However, an own-root Bramley has potential to turn into a large tree.
If it survives, it'll not grow for a year or two, but then will take off and is likely to gain 3-4ft per season for the next several seasons, until it reaches a final height and spread of well over 20ft. Possibly over 30ft, if the soil is good.
Cropping will be light in the early years.
But don't panic about it's possible size.......
You could calm it down and encourage fruiting by pruning only in early-mid August every year and not winter-pruning.

I would give it a go, but if it survives and you want to keep it small, you must summer-prune it very hard every year, or it will get out of control.

FB

[FB.]

...oh and if you decide to buy another, I suggest getting it on rootstock M26, which is more durable than M9.

[Nicos]

, until it reaches a final height and spread of well over 20ft. Possibly over 30ft, if the soil is good.


FB

sooo- you're not planning to grow it in a pot then?????

Interesting advice FB!

[FB.]

sooo- you're not planning to grow it in a pot then?????

Interesting advice FB!

I reckon that it could be controlled in a pot, by hard summer pruning. The comment was intended to warn of the consequences if not summer-pruning an "own-root" tree with such vigour as Bramley.

[Nicos]

Ha ! I was just wondering what sized pot you'd need for a 30 ft apple tree!!!

In the UK we have a nursery nearby which transports trees of that size to local country estates and wealthy gardens.
Tubs bigger than these!!!!....
http://www.hartcanna.com/planters2.jpg

[Cornish Pixie]

Thaks for all the advice.
I have just ordered another one - its the same M9 - from Tomson & Morgan, I had a voucher so I got that and some other seeds.
It will be planted in the back garden where it gets lots of sun most of the day, in a half oak barrel. The other one - poor thing - no roots left in first pot, so I think they snapped and died off with all the weather we had down here over winter - not to mention the bloomin snow!
My 2 pears and eating apple are fine and budding up nicely.
I will pop the poorly one in to a half oak barrel and keep an eye on it, if it lives then hey you can never have too many apple pies in this house!!