What’s the best way to keep alive 6-7 ft tall RED MAPLES just purchased from HD in a 3gallon tub until property is cleared and ready to plant trees permanently?
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2Can you give us an idea of how long you expect the trees to stay in their pots?– Stephie ♦Commented Apr 13, 2023 at 19:35
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Do you mean Red Maples (Acer rubrum) or Red Norway Maples (Acer platanoides cultivars like Deborah, Schwedler, Crimson King)? Acer rubrum have three-lobed leaves that are green in the growing season and turn scarlet in autumn whereas the Norway maples have very large five-lobed leaves that are dark red-purple or brown-purple during the growing season and brown in autumn. A. rubrum trees grow a lot slower than A. platanoides and can be kept in pots longer. They also REQUIRE acid soil to thrive.– JurpCommented Apr 14, 2023 at 13:20
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1 Answer
It depends a bit on what time frame we are talking about. There are two scenarios on both ends of a time scale, for anything in between, interpolate as you see fit.
Scenario 1: just a few days, weeks, perhaps months, but in any case, short-term.
Your main goal is to keep the tree from drying out and supplied with the necessary nutrients. The comparatively small pot means that depending on the mass of foliage & water loss through wind, sun and warm temperatures, you need to be diligent in watering, and after the first few weeks, you may want to add some fertilizer (unless the pots were supplied with slow-release fertilizer granules), especially when the tree goes into the spring growth phase. Another factor with such large trees in small pots can be toppling over in strong winds and possible mechanical damage. If you don’t have a protected place to store them, just lay them flat in particularly windy weather. (But that’s really just an emergency measure.)
Scenario 2: The trees should stay in pots for months or even years
Acers, especially some of the smaller Japanese maples, an be kept in - big enough - pots for quite some time. For your trees, that means giving them way more space to grow roots and take up food and water. I would go “as large as feasible”, but remember that when the time comes to plant the trees in their final spot in the ground, you need to dig a hole that’s significantly larger than the pot (that’s by that time is probably filled with roots), so find a good balance. You still need to deal with watering and fertilizing, but the larger buffer means more tolerance.
