Pix and your location would help immensely. If you click on the comment box there is an icon to click to add pix. Failing that, we need more info. How big are they, was the browning on the branch tips or inside, do the tubs have drainage…that sort of thing.

tj

Should I dig them out and go after the rootballs more aggressively?

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yes.. but that is done in dormancy ... not in the heat of summer .... we need big city location for more info about that ...

i also.. would have just held them in the nursery.. in the heat of summer.. and planted them in fall ...

i hope the repotting was pretty minimal ... [though i am going to guess.. bigbox.. right???]

next time.. tip teh plant out of the pot at the store ... [though i am going to guess.. bigbox.. right???] .. and dont buy them if they are as bad as you make it sound.. unless they are 5 bucks apiece ...

forget about plant gizmos.. learn how to water without such ... trees in pots like a sip of water.. then full complete draining.. and err towards dry ...

if the roots wont allow water to move freely thru the root mass... put it in a bucket and soak the pot to make sure there is water in that pot ...

once you et yourself cleaned up ... get us some pix ...

ken

ps; keep the receipt so you can return them if they fail ....

Try slicing through the roots on two opposite sides with a sharp spade or heavy knife instead of trying to pull the whole thing open, keep the roots in that new position. New roots made from the cut ends will then grow away from the centers of the plants. The best time to do this would be end of winter, because spring is when cold climate adapted woody plants form new roots. (Hence, presumably the tradition of timing the selling of bare rooted nursery stock for early spring planting).

Reply to all: Thank all of you for taking the time to help me. Please forgive my wordy response as I try to provide you with the best info I can. I have added pictures, which includes one of the original pots next to my replacement tubs for your comparison and shows the location where the trees will summer and perhaps winter, and what I called a hand cultivator. Also, a closeup of the tree with the driest needles. Placing them under the fir trees provides them cooling shade, there is morning sun exposure and the vinca does a wonderful job of keeping their roots cool.

Unfortunately I had repotted before I decided to ask for advice as generally I am pretty competent with trees so I have no pictures of the root balls. I purchased the trees on the spur of the moment from a Walmart sale table. They were pretty dry, but I thought it would be worth a try to save them (especially since Baby Blue Spruces were on my wish list). Right upfront I made two mistakes, one was looking at the needle color and ignoring their feel; and two, I did not check the root ball (just never thought to).

When I got home I put them where they are now, under the Douglas firs, and I spent a good 20-30 minutes watering each one but was really struggling to get them wet. I am a little distracted as my husband and I are full time ranchers in southeast Washington state and we have our hands full with the ranch as well as the current heat situation, so I just mindlessly struggled for a few days trying to get the get the pots moist. After a couple of days, I decided to try the moisture meter and found I could not insert the prongs. So I finally took the time to really look at the pot from the top and through the drainage holes and discovered that the roots were just a single solid mass. It was still a couple of days before I could get the necessary tubs to put them in. I had hoped I could just gently loosen the roots, spread them a bit and put them in the tubs (I drilled plenty of good sized drainage holes) with a potting soil mix. But when I pulled them from their small pots the roots were so tightly bound that I could not even find any discernable planting medium around the roots at all. Using a hand cultivator, I literally muscled some side roots and some of the bottom roots loose and repotted them that way. I then thoroughly soaked each one and crossed my fingers. I had hoped to transplant them this fall when it is cooler but I am not sure they will be doing well enough by then. The good news is that the needles, especially on the lower branches, are beginning to soften somewhat so I do have some hope they'll make it.

After reading the suggestions provided here, I am considering wintering them where they are and transplanting in the spring - provided they survive. This leads me to another question; if they survive, I want to plant them on the side of a bank that is very rocky. I realize that Blue Spruce trees originated from rocky areas, so I am thinking of digging more than twice the depth and width of the tubs and planting them in good soil so that they can get a decent start before hitting the thinner, rocky soil. Any thoughts on this as well? Any special steps to wintering in the tubs?

Again, thank you for your input.

When the time comes to plant do not dig the hole deeper just wider and do not amend the soil. Do the slicing embo suggests. The two end plants look to be in their death throes but maybe… The next time you water I’d put the tubs in a container and fill it with water to the top of the soil line and let them sit for a half hour.

tj