I bought a rootstock at the HOS Annual Sale. I wasn't able to plant it right away so I kept it temporarily in a pot. I then posted here in this forum for advice and was told to heel it in as there was no drainage in the pot. I did move it to a spot in my garden where I could heel it in for temporary storage until I could plant it permanently. It's now leafing out nicely and appears to be doing well. My question is: is it too late in the season to transplant it to it's permanent spot in my backyard? I was thinking of doing it next weekend. Or should I wait until fall to do the transplant?
Also, when I've transplanted other items in my garden, I've used those commercial transplant solutions that ease the shock of transplanting. Is it OK to use this type of product when I transplant my young apple tree?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Ellen
Ellen, the rootstock should transplant fairly easy – just get a big stable load of soil with & under it. I wouldn’t think any transplant solution is necessary.
What do you plan to do with it, Bud this summer or graft next spring..? …I always transplant in the evening…
[quote="Viron":1tbgaoee]
What do you plan to do with it, Bud this summer or graft next spring..?[/quote:1tbgaoee]
The HOS actually grafted the apple variety (Spitzenberg) onto the rootstock when I bought it at the sale.
Thanks for the tips on transplanting, including your tip to transplant in the evening.
Ellen
Just to let you know, there is an easy way out of your predicament.
I have seen where people merely plunge the whole pot, plastic and all, into the ground to help moderate summer temps. Of course they still need to keep it watered and fed. Pots above ground get VERY hot. Below ground it is much nicer.
The following winter, the plant is dug, roots trimmed however you want, pot removed and replanted, no harm no foul. The plant doesn't even realize what happened!
Yes, roots grow out the pot-holes, but since it is dormant when you dig it, it never knows what happened. Not stress at all to it.
I am 100% with plumfan here. I have had nurseries say,"Get it into the ground!" when I bought a tree on sale in August. I removed it and planted it then. It suffered visibly. I think what plumfan said is THE thing to do if you buy a tree in summer in a pot. I've done it and the tree likes it sooooooooooooo much better. Summer is a terrible time to make the tree make this difficult adjustment, with all the fine roots, etc.
John S
PDX OR
The young apple tree is not currently in a pot. I potted the rootstock and scion after I brought it home from the HOS, but removed it from the pot after I was warned that there was no drainage in the pot. It's a good thing because when I heeled it into the ground, just rootstock and scion, the pot was totally filled with water. What I get from what you're saying is that I should probably put it into a pot before planting it in the next couple weeks. Is that right?
Also, when could I reasonably expect to be able to eat my very first Spitzenberg apple? Would the summer after next be stretching it a little?
Thanks.
Ellen
What I hear you saying is that its roots are currently in the ground, but you want to know if it is now okay to transplant it to another spot.
I would not recommend that. You will disrupt roots, and the weather has been warm. It could set your tree back some. Why not transplant it next spring before it breaks dormancy, opting to water and fertilize it where it is right now? That would present the least trauma to your new baby.
So no, don't put it back in a pot, just leave it in the ground.
Ellen, you wanted to know when you could get fruit? If it is on semidwarfing rootstock, I would guess maybe summer after next would be a possibility. Keep it watered and fed with nutrients and I see no problems. These are never instant food machines, they take awhile to build up some steam!
Anyone else want to add factors that can hasten or delay her fruiting?
If you put it on M-111 stock, it might be a few more years beyond that. 111 is not precocious, but the semidwarfs are.
Good luck, Enjoy your little miracle!
What I hear you saying is that its roots are currently in the ground, but you want to know if it is now okay to transplant it to another spot.
That's correct.
I would not recommend that. You will disrupt roots, and the weather has been warm. It could set your tree back some.
Thanks for the recommendation. With it leafing out nicely, coupled with the decent spring weather, I was concerned that transplanting it now would be a bad idea. You've confirmed that my concerns were valid.
Why not transplant it next spring before it breaks dormancy, opting to water and fertilize it where it is right now? That would present the least trauma to your new baby.
That would be easy to do as the tree will be fine where it is for the next 3/4 of a year. Which month would you suggest I do the transplanting?
Ellen, you wanted to know when you could get fruit? If it is on semidwarfing rootstock, I would guess maybe summer after next would be a possibility. Keep it watered and fed with nutrients and I see no problems.
Are there any particular fertilizers that are good for apple trees?
If you put it on M-111 stock, it might be a few more years beyond that. 111 is not precocious, but the semidwarfs are.
I ended up using an M-9 rootstock.
Good luck, Enjoy your little miracle
Thank you! I do have another question. I saw a book called The Backyard Orchardist by Stella Otto for sale at Amazon. I was thinking of buying it since I'm a beginner when it comes to having a fruit tree of my own. Do you have any opinions on the book?
Thanks for your help!
Ellen
…we’re talking about a rootstock bench-grafted this spring… …I’d not transplant a 2 or 3+ year old tree now, but certainly think I could get the bulk of roots from that little thing… With a $10 dollar hole (for a $5 dollar tree) awaiting it one evening. But if it’s not a problem where it’s at - then I’d leave it, too; but if you had to move it, you could.
As mentioned, you’d want to maintain the ‘root ball’ or soil structure as much as possible, to protect the fine new roots. And you could/should shade it the next day or two… Anyway, that’s what I’d interoperated, and suggested 
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Thanks for the recommendation. With it leafing out nicely, coupled with the decent spring weather, I was concerned that transplanting it now would be a bad idea. You've confirmed that my concerns were valid.
My concern with it being leafed out is that it also has a small root system, being that no more leaf area appears and no more growth occurs than the size of the root system will allow. You can take a pretty good sized tree fully dormant, and whack off 90% of its roots and it will likely do just fine when it wakes up for the spring (although you will not have a vigorus tree, and the internodes might be pretty close together!). But you cannot do that same stunt to an already woken up tree with all the foliage that a whole root system would allow. You'll only stress the poor thing out. Been there done that bought the t-shirt.
Now if you catch it real early, before full leafage has occurred, then you could probably transplant it like Viron suggests with very little stress to the tree. Personally I think it is a bit late for that, today being close to the end of May.
That would be easy to do as the tree will be fine where it is for the next 3/4 of a year. Which month would you suggest I do the transplanting?
December through March is probably good. Anytime the leaves are off is good. There is a pretty big window of opportunity.
Are there any particular fertilizers that are good for apple trees?
You'll probably get a variety of opinions about what is best. I feed some of my baby trees dilute urine and they seem to like it. I also use the blue crystaline houseplant fertilizer of the 15-30-15 variety to make tiny trees grow big in a season (but more roots to dig too!), I am sure some folks here use triple 16 from the farmstore in carefully measured amounts, some might throw composted cow manure around the drip line of a tree, etc. There are all kinds of fertilizing schemes as you can tell. They all work to some degree.
I ended up using an M-9 rootstock.
I would predict that you get flowers and fruit year after next at the latest and most conservative, but it might not be a mega crop. You might elect to only leave 4 or 5 apples on the tree so as not to tax it too much. Bigger crops will come as the tree ages. M9 will need to be staked eventually. I personally like that stock, it never gets out of hand for me. Ditto Bud9.
Thank you! I do have another question. I saw a book called The Backyard Orchardist by Stella Otto for sale at Amazon. I was thinking of buying it since I'm a beginner when it comes to having a fruit tree of my own. Do you have any opinions on the book?
I cannot really advise on orchard books. But if you buy it and learn a bunch of stuff out of it, what harm is there. Get it and study it! You will become pretty savvy by reading and doing, imho. I bet everybody on this forum does it!
By Michael Phillips I read a lot of this book and I thought it was fantastic. Problem is, most of the stuff I already knew but it took me a long time to learn that. A lot of it is about general gardening. ON some of the sites you can read part or all? of it before buying.
John S
PDX OR
Thanks plumfun and John.
To plumfun: That was a great example you gave of transplanting trees. I could easily see that it would be much safer for me to wait until December thru March to transplant the little baby. Anyway, that means more time to get the spot ready in my garden where it will eventually go 
Ellen
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