Braeburn apple - no roots....

[Hooky]

Hello lovely people

this is my first post so the requisite gentleness would be appreciated

I am new to fruit gardening and am rapidly developing obsessive traits...

My wife bought an online assortment of fruit trees on miniature rootstock. The trees arrived and I followed the planting instructions re soaking etc.

I was somewhat alarmed to note that the Braeburn apple tree had no discernable roots

The other trees all had signs of life, e.g. new shoots and roots. I am very new to fruit gardening and was hoping to draw on the expertise and experience of the vine, to try to find out if this is a peculiarity of Braeburn, or wether (as I suspect) I have been supplied a duffer...

Any help would be greatfully received.

[FB.]

All apple trees should have roots. Something isn't right with your Braeburn.
It could be that the nursery were rather rough when they dug it out of the ground and that most of the roots were left behind.
So long as there is something below ground, I think that it will grow.
I would plant it and keep it well watered. DO NOT PRUNE THIS YEAR AND DO NOT ALLOW IT TO FRUIT, since the apparent loss of so many roots will have caused enough stress to the plant already, without loss of wood ot trying to carry a fruit load, too.

If you can take a pic of the tree below the graft line, I'd be very interested to see.

[Hooky]

Thanks for the response and advice FB, much appreciated.

I would/should have taken a piccy before planting. Hindsight is a marvellous thing!

I have also emailed the supplier to ask if this is how the tree is supposed to look.

[WrexTheDragon]

Most suppliers will cut the roots, but you should have approx 6 inches. This is normal for dwarf root stock that need the tap root removed.

The best way to test it is to scrap a small bit of bark using your nails from near the tip of the branches. If you can see light green just under the bark, it should be OK.

Keep the plant well watered for the first year.