Potted Plants vs Bareroot Plants
Sooner Plant Farm exclusively sells and ships only potted established plants. As experienced nursery growers we cannot recommend buying or planting bare root plant material in a landscape or garden setting. I have over 25 years of commercial planting and growing experience. I have literally planted hundreds of thousands of plants and I can honestly say, planting bare root plants is a tremendous gamble, and failure is highly likely. Unless many factors like harvesting, storing and shipping are carefully addressed by the growing nurseries, bare root plants are not likely to high survival rates.
Due to the fact containerized plants are shipped and planted with the root system intact, they can be planted almost any time of the year with nearly 100% success.
Bare root plants on the other hand must be dug or harvested at the proper time during the plants dormant cycle. When plants properly go dormant, chemical changes take place within the plant which trigger the leaves to naturally drop off, and the sugars within the plant turn into starch and is stored in the root system.
If the plant is harvested to early the plant will not have stored enough starch in the roots to keep the plant nourished until new leaves begin to produce food the next season. If too much of the root system is removed during harvesting the plant will not survive. If the storage temperature is not precise for each particular plant variety, plant loss can be expected. If shipping temperatures are not monitored or conducive to keeping the plant dormant, the plant will not survive.
Some nurseries are willing to sell bare root plants to gambling customers because the profit margin is so high. Also keep in mind many online plant companies selling bare root plants are not the growers, but are marketing companies taking orders and may have no idea how the plants are being cared for.
If you have any questions regarding any of the plants we sell, please contact us and we will be happy to assist your needs or concerns.