They are the same - just very pot pound and therefore nutrient deficient

People stopped buying from them as they keep their plants in the pots way too long. I’m talking 7 year old plants in 1 gallon pots. Only get 2 or 3 year old plants.

They remind me of Girards...excellent at one point but just went down hill over time.

Thanks for your response. Yes they were 6 yr plants for $40 which seemed like a good deal but looks like they were never potted up. I apologise if this is a dumb question but if I plant and fertilize it will it come back to normal or is it permanently stunted?

Awesome thank you both for your help!

personally ... i would plant this fall .. not august ...

and i would mix in the potting soil into native soil ...

but i would not fert until late next spring ...

dont know where you are.. in tree time... it might take a few years to outgrow the situation ...

ken

I live in SD in zone 4. Yeah I was thinking fall planting too or even next spring since it gets so cold here. -50 for a few days last year. Thanks for the advice.

temp is irrelevant.. for a zone appropriate plant ...

plant as soon as night temps are in the 50s reliably ... so no matter what the heat of day is.. it will have a cool night to recover ... by which time.. day temps should be ebbing ...

do it soon enough that the soil stays warm for root growth ...

even better.. if they get buried by snow... a great insulator ... no winter wind ...

see link on timing ... plus all the rest of it ...

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

imo .... it would be harder to winter over a pot.. than just plant it now ... stick it in the ground ... presuming the ground drains properly ....

but it should be bare rooted and the roots untangled ... and some cut.. if necessary ... and planted on a cone of native soil.. then backfilled ...

do not amend the planting hole ...

ken

Sounds good I'll plant them early fall thanks for the link and help!

I’ve planted several conifers (primarily pines) that were the same size and condition. Many came from the now closed Edelweiss Nursery, which was owned by the late Joseph Braue and his spouse, Debbie. I didn’t know him well, but he did a lot of grafting and almost all of the stock I purchased eventually did well. I did my best to untangle the roots before planting, which sometimes seemed impossible, but with due diligence they should be okay. Just don’t expect too much the first 2-3 years.

Thanks for the comment. Yeah I'm starting to learn that it takes a lot of patience to grow conifers!

I would get them in the ground immediately. Winter comes early for you too. In my climate, I've had crappy luck planting anything in the ''fall''.

Yeah I've never planted in the fall here only spring so it makes me nervous. Weather seems only 80 for highs next 2 weeks so maybe I'll just get it over with and plant them now. Probably be snowing by labor day!...:/

If you’re around to water the next few weeks I’d plant them now. As you’re joke implies our season can come to an abrupt end up here and better to give the evergreens time to establish.

i planted one of these at the end of last September and it came through the brutal cold just fine.

Ok yeah I'll be around to water and keep an eye on them. Thanks

I still find it a shame that a grower thinks its ok to charge someone $40 plus say $10 to ship a 6 year old moderate growing pine in that shape and in a 3 quart container. Perhaps you're cool with it but let Cedric know you're not happy with the quality.

Yes plant now and you can fix some roots. As Mack mentioned it might be 2-3 years before its starts to look normal if it survives. I'll tell you first I've planted stuff like that (much more than I care to share) and it starts to decline 4-5 years later when bruised and batter in a cold zone like zone 4.

Good luck and I hope it does well - its a stellar cultivar.

Put them in the ground yesterday. Both root balls were like solid bricks of roots,took a long time to try and break them up without hurting it too much. Put some myke with it so hopefully that'll help them out too. I tried to contact him right away when I received them to express my concern about their condition but he hasn't responded to my emails and I doubt he will now a week later.. oh well lesson learned hopefully they pull through. Thanks again everyone for the help.