Transplanting Kacchnar in soil

[azhaque]

Yesterday I bought two Kacchnar saplings from Awan nursery Haripur for Rs 80 each.

Size is about 6 feet each .The nurseryman told me to trim the top before transplanting in soil.

My question is should I trim the top ? If yes how much ?


Thanks
azhaque

[M Farooq]

I don't see the logic behind trimming the top. Anyway, Kachnar or Bauhinia does not like transplating esp if it is quite old like your plants. Make sure the roots are not disturbed. Once the tree grows new roots, you can trim accordingly.

[Izhar]

trimming the top, especially the foliage reduces the transpiration greatly and saves large plants from de-hydration during transplant..

[mikhurram]

Trimming can be avoided provided if you are able to transplant it without disturbing the gacchi. You may trim the side branches to reduce stress on the plant but avoid trimming the main stem on the top otherwise branches would start growing sideways horizontally.

Make sure to plant it in a site having full sun and spacing between saplings should be atleast 8 feet.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Most large saplings in a nursery have roots growing in soil from the drain hole which are cut on delivery the nursery man knows you have better chances of its survival if the foliage is reduced. I will advise to leave it in pots for at least two weeks before transferring to soil.
Arif

[Rohail Asad]

In my opinion, he advised you for the purpose of shaping the tree not for rooting or transplanting problem. Most of the plants of Awan nursery Haripur are not in pot but in tube (polythene bags) with good roots. , your plant has not grown to 6 feet height, but he uses long stem cutting for sapling, it means you have purchased a young plant. weather of islamabad region is very good in these days.Plant it with Gachi. trim or not should be your own decision because its not a technical issue.
I had purchased too many plants from Aiwan Nursery in past years and all have grown well.

[azhaque]

Thank you all fellow gardeners for your prompt and helpful responses.

I have already transplanted the kachnars in soil where each will receive full sun. The spacing is 9 feet.

As Rohail said these were in plastic bags with roots coming out. So I guess it is a young tree/sapling.

I have decided to wait for about a month for the saplings to establish. Due to rainy spell nowadays I hope the transplantation shock will be minimum. So for now I will hold the trimming. After about 2 to 3 weeks I plan to fertilize with little NPK to help growth.

Will post pics.

Thanks again everyone.
azhaque

[mikhurram]

Fertliser should never be applied to a newly planted sapling and should be applied to a plant when it is is a growth phase. The only exception is application of bone meal and Epsom salt at the base of the hole in the earth and care should be taken that roots shouldn't touch them by adding soil on top of it and then the gacchi can be placed but since you are novice i would advise skipping the usage of any fertliser which at this stage would do more harm to your saplings. Instead the focus should be on enriching the soil by adding organic compost.