I am babying some for 1 year, then plant. Some others, the extreme will be 5 years in my yard. In all this time, yes, they get PERFECT water, perfect fertilizer, weed control, disease monitoring, staking, pruning, etc. It's not as much time & work as some would think. I've planted trees on my farms from seeds to 1 year old trees and actually planted 5 year old trees SO I'm not opposed to directly going straight to farm in any form. BUT - this way, I have a lot more control. For example, no matter the case, the last 2 years, unless a guy has some major equipment (water tanks, trucks, trailers, etc) & huge time - they would have lost most of what they planted. Then, yes, there's a group I don't fit into but is very common - guys that don't keep up with weed control, fertilizer, spraying or disease monitoring. If I had a dollar for every tree planting I've seen fail because folks just don't do the OBVIOUS & somewhat easy things they need to do, well - I'd have a lot more $ to buy trees.
Some things, even the most anal can't control and drought and some disease, etc. Also, by starting in rootmakers, you are developing a far superior root system compared to bare roots or from standard pots. So, even 1 year old trees in rootmaker pots have far superior roots that will allow much better success at planting, grow faster, produce faster & have far less failure.
So, this is just one piece of the puzzle on success with trees and you'll absolutely see me continue to do direct seeding or pulling my tree planter with bare root seedlings. Place for everything.
No, the cost is not enormous & it's ALMOST a 1 & done type cost. The rootmaker pots absolutely do not break the bank. You have many options for soil but I do spend $ & get the blue bagged moisture controlled soil. I'll even fertilize down the road with some miracle grow & pelletized lime and it's cheap in the end. Pots are re-useable. Trees from seed are nothing or very cheap if you want some some different varieties like I do. Grafted trees are not bad in bulk. Grafting yourself is cheaper yet. unless your a maniac, I'd save some hassle & buy already grafted trees though. Buying in bulk for 5' tall grafted apple/pears is $10 and that's about the most expensive tree in my whole line up. Many others were $0 (seed), & purchased seed, maybe a nickel or less a tree if I had to guess? Some others I shopped around for were $1-4 a tree (lot of variables). I specifically & only wanted to target: premium & my preferred apple varieties & pear varieties (best in MY OPINION & what I wanted), 3 preferred chestnut varieties, the 2 persimmons which WILL grow well on my farm & a few other unique things that my farms do not have. My farms are already loaded with 5+ varieties of oaks all over the place so my time on oaks is best devoted to releasing premium oaks VS planting more of the same. The only oak I'll probably plant is some hybrids & DCO's since my farm lacks those.
