I have grown three apricots from seed. They are currently about two months old and a foot high. The roots are already growing out the bottom of the 1 gallon pots I have them in.

All the information I have seen indicates that I should wait two to five years to start training, but by that time (five years) they'll be full sized trees and bearing fruit.

Can anyone give me guidelines on signs of anatomical (rather than age) readiness for training?

by five years, i think they would not be full sized as they also would need to grow in terms of radius of the trunk. you can start training whenever in my opinion but in order to thicken the trunk you would benefit from planting in the ground for five years or so.

We've grown apricots from seed before, and it's usually three to five years before they start to bear. At that point they're apx 4-6 feet tall. You're right that they're not fully grown at that point, but they would be "tree" size.

I'm concerned that waiting that long will be too late, that the tree would be too large.

From your comments, it appears that the main reason for the extended period is for trunk development? I am a complete newby at this. Am I misunderstanding the process?

i stand corrected then maybe do this:


www.bonsai4me.co.uk/AdvTech/ATDeciduousB...BranchStructure.html

so maybe let it grow but then cut like shown or something. i am sure if you wait a while other people will comment who have had far more experience then me on this field, so i would wait for their good judgement.

I appreciate your help. You've given me more than I had before. That link has some good information.

I assume you are in a country where you do not have frosts. You can stop the tree when small to get some movement in the trunk, and during the winter after 2 years dig up and root prune removing the taproot and re plant. then after another 2 years transfer to a large pot. After this you can start to select branches and a leader.

Thank you for your help.

I live in an area that gets very cold, and very hot. Normal annual range is -10 to 40 C, or 15 to 100 F.

I am planning to put the tree in a 10 gallon pot on my front porch in the spring. Will that be large enough?

When you say "stop" the tree, I assume you mean I will top the tree, or cut the top off. Is that correct?