Planting potted plants as bare-rooted

I just wondered if anyone else prefers to plant potted plants as bare-rooted ones, by removing most/all of the soil before planting? There may be other benefits too perhaps, such as stronger root development in the new settings.

My reason for considering this, is due to the constricting teabag-style mesh-like papery fabric that plant roots start their life in at the nursery. They are meant to biodegrade, but in my experience, the plants often arrive almost strangled by the whole experience of growing in this unnatural(?!) state.

 

I think if you're sure those tea bags are there, and they're accessible enough, just slit them with a knife and remove them as far as is possible. You just have to be careful of completely damaging the finer roots, but even slitting htem enough for roots to get through properly should be enough.
Then just plant them, assuming they're big enough for that at this time of year. If not, then repot and wait until next year for planting out.

 

There are a couple of nurseries, I sometimes buy from, where I do remove quite a bit of their compost plant up with my garden soil in a pot and wait for growth to recommence.
With some rockery plants I do remove as much compost as I can, get the roots down into the planting slot/hole/crevice refill with a mix of soil and grit and then water in.

 

For me it depends on the exact plant and if I transfer in the compost of a similar structure or not.
And very often if roots are still tiny all the compost falls down anyway when repotting.
It happens that plant may be root bound, then I would try to free roots as much as possible even if it means I damage quite a lot of those.
I definitely try to remove the mesh around roots if there is any.

 

In general I don't because the types of plants I buy don't seem to be mass produced, therefore don't have a tea bag but I think this might be something we all need to consider moving forward due to the changes in the growing medium of many nurseries. Some of the plants I've seen locally are in a medium that just doesn't seem to hold onto water and that is fine if you are watering often but not for something in the ground. I also don't think having the surrounding soil of a different make up will help.

 

If there is a teabag around the roots and it is easily accessible, I’d try to remove it or slit it as @fairygirl says, trying to cause minimal disturbance to the roots. I buy mainly perennials and shrubs that are ready to plant out and I’ve never noticed teabags on them. I’d say it depends on the type and age of plant and how they have been cultivated. I’d avoid any that I knew were teabagged or grown that way by a particular supplier.

 

Thankyou very much, everyone for your helpful replies.

This mesh 'teabag' stuff seems to turn up on all kinds of plants from different sellers. I was beginning to wonder if most people removed it as a matter of course. I suppose it is possible that some types of mesh do degrade more quickly than others and some don't degrade even after several years.


My worst experiences have been with shrubs in 3 litre containers, where the mesh is not immediately apparent because of the thick layers of compost and roots which often grow outside of the mesh but become sort of stuck.

 

I've had plants [clematis] from renowned, trusted sellers which have died because of those things. It isn't always obvious unless you poke about in there [not always possible] and in the case of clems, they aren't tiny slips - they're at least a couple of years old and in fairly large pots, and similar to what you describe @ClematisDbee .