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Working with Tree Plugs

Plugs are considered containerized plants, meaning they have soil around their roots, as opposed to bare root.  This soil helps to keep the roots moist, and can be more forgiving and adaptable than bare root plants.

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Unlike bareroot plants, plugs are available and can be planted any time of year that the ground is not frozen, not just Spring bareroot season.  This is particularly helpful for projects with unreliable or changeable timelines, or unique sites that are flooded during the rainy season.

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Though it is important to consider, if you will be relying on rain to water your seedlings, then ideally tree plugs are planted Spring/Early Summer or in the Fall.  However, if you plan to water the young seedlings, then tree plug can really be planted at any point in the Summer (perhaps avoiding excessively hot days/weeks).

Upon Receiving Plugs

If the seedling has not yet undergone significant bud swell nor leafed out, then your new seedling could actually be kept in the refrigerator with the soil/root ball wrapped in plastic to keep the soil moist (not dripping wet, nor dry.. Both are bad).  As long as the seedling is staying dormant and the soil moist, you can keep the seedling in the refrigerator through late-May.  At that point, you will need to plant the seedling.

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Sometimes the soil and root ball don't hold together and the soil will fall off and/or crumble.  If that happens, just treat the seedling like a bare root plant.

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Planting a plug is as easy as using a shovel to create a slit in the ground deep enough for the entire plug to go in (the soil of the plug should be at ground level).  Softly press the soil back down around the seedling plug and water.

Dealing with Mold

When storing tree plugs in a box over the Winter, sometimes the cold/moist conditions leads to mold growing on the soil ball or even along the trunk of the seedlings.  As a general rule, small amounts of this mold does not damage the seedling, and once planted out into the environment, this mold quickly disappears.  So do not be alarmed if there is mold on your soil plug and/or seedling.

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That said, if you are going to be storing them for awhile before you plant them, and are concerned about the mold, you can mix up the following anti-fungal/mold essential oil spray and apply to the roots/seedling.

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