Starting plants from"bare roots"-sedum, phlox, echinacea

SpookyShoe · February 24, 2019

I picked up sedum, phlox, and echinacea from Wal-Mart that were bare root plants in some kind of packing material. I've never grown anything like this before. Does anyone have any experience doing this and if so did you have a good outcome?

Hoping to attract butterflies and bees.

MissMoustache · February 24, 2019

I've used these and the ones from Aldi. They work fine. I pot them up and baby them for 4 to 6 weeks.

I even kept some more sun sensitive things like hostas and plants that were quite small in pots all spring and summer until I could plant in early fall when the weather was cooler and the ground was damper.

SpookyShoe · February 24, 2019

I planted mine directly into the ground. Wish me luck. How long did it take for yours to sent up green growth?

clkeiper · February 25, 2019

the one thing I can warn you about is if it feels dried out and nothing there... that is probably the case. they allow these displays to sit in too warm of areas and the roots die. so feel the packages by isolating each root, bulb corm etc, that is supposed to be in there and give it a firm squish. if it feels like nothing or crumbles between your fingers don't waste your money on whatever it is. if you buy it and cant plant it immediately put it in the bottom of the fridge for a few days or weeks but continually check it. you don't want it to mold in there.

greenthumbomaha · February 25, 2019

If it's not too late, save the packaging and receipt. Walmart will refund anything with at lesat a piece of something to bring back. The cashier at Lowes said they get bare root plants like strawberries and blackberries all the time.As carolyn k mentioned, it is best to purchase bare roots early in the season so they won't be dried out.

If you watered the bare root in, it should show signs of shoots pretty quickly if the soil is warm. They really won't come into their own in terms of size and bloom for another year or two. Lowe's and Home Depot have the same return policy and I find their bare root plants are much more robust in size. They have some very nice bare root plants at the warehouse clubs too.

SpookyShoe · February 26, 2019

Green, if it takes a year or two for the plants to come into their own, I won't wait that long. If they plants don't appear vigorous when they emerge, I'll yank them and replace them with plants from a nursery. I should be able to find coneflower and phlox. Maybe sedum, I'm not sure about that one. I threw the packaging away. : (

clkeiper · February 27, 2019

Spooky, they should be decent plants as long as the roots were viable when you planted them. the sedum though will take quite some time to form a nice mat. be patient with that one. you might want to keep a close eye on it and pinch the ends as soon as you see nice growth. that forces the stem to make lateral branches filling it in quicker. then lay the little piece of sedum right on the ground and give it the chance to root in place.

greenthumbomaha · February 27, 2019

Absolutely don't give up on them, they are just babies and will grow into full sized plants. With your extended growing season it may mature sooner than a northern grower. Just think of a 4 inch plant vs a gallon plant. If the plant has been growing for more than one season, it will have more eyes or bigger roots and you will have a proportionately larger plant with more blooms. You can easily transplant to a less prominent area where you can watch it grow, and then eventually divide for more plants. Sleep , creep. leap!
- Lisa

SpookyShoe · February 28, 2019

My concern now is if they don't drown or rot due to a very wet winter and early spring. Very little sun to dry things out. I'll stay their execution and give it a little time to see if they make it.

Question: Are the bare roots supposed to show any green whatsoever? Mine were totally brown.

SpookyShoe · March 1, 2019

It looks like the sedum is coming up!

clkeiper · March 2, 2019

That's good news. I have had pretty good luck with these plants but I always pinch each root to feel for structure too. A few times I have had duds but not often.

roper2008 · April 2, 2019

I bought bare root phlox from Costco. I planted them immediately. It’s been around 2 weeks now. No sign of green yet? It’s still early though.

SpookyShoe · April 2, 2019

My bare root phlox from Wal-Mart never came up. I think the "roots" had decomposed too much in the bag. Good luck with yours

February 24, 2019	#1
SpookyShoe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: El Lago, Texas Posts: 1,100	Starting plants from"bare roots"-sedum, phlox, echinacea I picked up sedum, phlox, and echinacea from Wal-Mart that were bare root plants in some kind of packing material. I've never grown anything like this before. Does anyone have any experience doing this and if so did you have a good outcome? Hoping to attract butterflies and bees. __________________ Donna, Zone 9, Texas Gulf Coast

February 24, 2019	#2
MissMoustache Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Cold hardy zone 4b-5a, Heat zone 4-5, Sunset zone 43 Posts: 228	I've used these and the ones from Aldi. They work fine. I pot them up and baby them for 4 to 6 weeks. I even kept some more sun sensitive things like hostas and plants that were quite small in pots all spring and summer until I could plant in early fall when the weather was cooler and the ground was damper. __________________ Books, cats, gardening...life is good! gwendolyninthegarden.blogspot.com

February 24, 2019	#3
SpookyShoe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: El Lago, Texas Posts: 1,100	I planted mine directly into the ground. Wish me luck. How long did it take for yours to sent up green growth? __________________ Donna, Zone 9, Texas Gulf Coast

February 25, 2019	#4
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	the one thing I can warn you about is if it feels dried out and nothing there... that is probably the case. they allow these displays to sit in too warm of areas and the roots die. so feel the packages by isolating each root, bulb corm etc, that is supposed to be in there and give it a firm squish. if it feels like nothing or crumbles between your fingers don't waste your money on whatever it is. if you buy it and cant plant it immediately put it in the bottom of the fridge for a few days or weeks but continually check it. you don't want it to mold in there. __________________ carolyn k

February 26, 2019	#6
SpookyShoe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: El Lago, Texas Posts: 1,100	Green, if it takes a year or two for the plants to come into their own, I won't wait that long. If they plants don't appear vigorous when they emerge, I'll yank them and replace them with plants from a nursery. I should be able to find coneflower and phlox. Maybe sedum, I'm not sure about that one. I threw the packaging away. : ( __________________ Donna, Zone 9, Texas Gulf Coast

February 25, 2019	#5
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	If it's not too late, save the packaging and receipt. Walmart will refund anything with at lesat a piece of something to bring back. The cashier at Lowes said they get bare root plants like strawberries and blackberries all the time.As carolyn k mentioned, it is best to purchase bare roots early in the season so they won't be dried out. If you watered the bare root in, it should show signs of shoots pretty quickly if the soil is warm. They really won't come into their own in terms of size and bloom for another year or two. Lowe's and Home Depot have the same return policy and I find their bare root plants are much more robust in size. They have some very nice bare root plants at the warehouse clubs too.

February 27, 2019	#7
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	Spooky, they should be decent plants as long as the roots were viable when you planted them. the sedum though will take quite some time to form a nice mat. be patient with that one. you might want to keep a close eye on it and pinch the ends as soon as you see nice growth. that forces the stem to make lateral branches filling it in quicker. then lay the little piece of sedum right on the ground and give it the chance to root in place. __________________ carolyn k

February 28, 2019	#9
SpookyShoe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: El Lago, Texas Posts: 1,100	My concern now is if they don't drown or rot due to a very wet winter and early spring. Very little sun to dry things out. I'll stay their execution and give it a little time to see if they make it. Question: Are the bare roots supposed to show any green whatsoever? Mine were totally brown. __________________ Donna, Zone 9, Texas Gulf Coast Last edited by SpookyShoe; February 28, 2019 at 06:08 PM.

March 1, 2019	#10
SpookyShoe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: El Lago, Texas Posts: 1,100	It looks like the sedum is coming up! __________________ Donna, Zone 9, Texas Gulf Coast

March 2, 2019	#11
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	That's good news. I have had pretty good luck with these plants but I always pinch each root to feel for structure too. A few times I have had duds but not often. __________________ carolyn k

April 2, 2019	#12
roper2008 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Virginia Bch, VA (7b) Posts: 1,337	I bought bare root phlox from Costco. I planted them immediately. It’s been around 2 weeks now. No sign of green yet? It’s still early though.