Hello dear gardeners, I bought a pine in the pot in a regular big store for Christmas. Please help me with the following questions:
1. How can I understand that the tree and it's roots are ok so I can plant this tree? Please look at the photos attached.
2. Can I plant it outside now (Bulgaria, Plovdiv city: current temperature +15/+6, the day after tomorrow +3/-6) or should I keep it in the pot until Spring on the open balcony (or non-open balcony)?
3. If I should keep it in the pot, is the size of the pot is good enough?
4. There is a white mold you can see on the soil. Is it ok?
5. If I can plant it outside right now (Bulgaria, Plovdiv city: current temperature +15/+6, the day after tomorrow +3/-6), is there something specific I should know or just dig enough and plant the tree?

Here are other photos, I think it's only allowed for 1 photo per post, right?

And here is the tree full view

And leaves-needles condition

First we need to positively id the tree.
Any chance that's a Norfolk Island pine?
They are tropical... Can't be planted out where winter is a thing.
https://www.countryliving.com/...

Do you have the tag that came with the plant?

If you currently have this plant outside... disregard above questions.

Instead... Find out if the soil is frozen...

If you can dig a hole... I'd probably go ahead and plant... If the soil is frozen, I'd probably keep plant inside the garage to prevent the roots from being damaged by the winter cold.

As far as a bit of fungus on top of root ball? I wouldn't worry about it.

It is an outside tree (not Norfolk island pine )
I can tell from your photos
I would plant outside as soon as you have the chance
Experience has taught me the longer in the pot the less chance of a good transplant

water well when in ground and if possible a couple inches of mulch
Don't bury too deeply only to the soil line

Good luck

Thank you so much dear gaderners! So I can plant into the soil even with the upcoming temperature as +3 (day max)/-6 (night min)?

It looks like a fir to me. It needs to be outside in the cold. If the ground is not frozen, plant it. It will stay warmer in the ground.

Because of the small pot, the roots may be quite crowded and tangled. It would help it a lot if you are able to separate them and spread them out. Plan to dig a hole at least twice as wide as the root ball.

To be honest I even don't know whether it has roots Because mine it's not a "container" tree, as my sister told me... I hope the roots are fine and there is at least some roots to survive 😥. I'll post you the progress here, as I'll try to plant it tomorrow and hope it will grow...

Oleksii said: I bought a pine in the pot

Not sure what you mean by "it's not a "container" tree"? You wrote you bought it in a pot as your photo shows, that's the container. It has soil around it, it wouldn't be planted in soil and sold if it didn't have roots.

And it would also be very yellow and drying up if it had no roots. It looks really healthy, I think you will find lots of roots. Check the outside of the root ball for fat roots going around the root collar (that's were the trunk attaches to the roots). If the roots are too congested, you will have to do a bit of unwinding. Hopefully, digging a hole and plopping it in will be all you need to do. Make the hole as big as possible but don't add anything extra. Loosening the soil in the planting hole helps the roots break out of the root ball but adding extra stuff (compost, whatever) slows the whole process down.

Dear experts, thank you for your replies. I also watched a few videos on how to get the tree out of the pot and how to loosen the roots - I think I'll loosen then by hand.

There's another problem appeared - it's raining all the day I'm not sure I'll plant it today (I would love to, but I think my neighbor who has a shovel won't help/do ). So there a few extra questions:
1) tomorrow the weather will be like I mentioned before: +3 C° (day max) and -6 C° (night min) - will it be still fine to plant during such temperature (considering the pot size is around 25cm in diameter and around the same height)?;
2) IF NOT appropriate to plant during such temperature:
2a) should I move the tree in the pot to the closed/covered balcony (right now it's on the balcony that is open to outside/no windows or walls)? Because in the above replies you mentioned that roots may freez.
2b) do I need to wait for the weather without low negative temperature at night?

Either plant it or don't.
minus 6 Celcius... Yes?

Still not cold enough to matter... But... You don't want to let the soil freeze.

You don't want to leave it outside in the pot with the winter cold coming...

Those cold winds can damage the roots in the pot...

I prefer to plant just ahead of those heavy rain storms... not sure why you would wait until after.... Also... your neighbor has the shovel?

Maybe buy a shovel of your own....

Yes, plant it. The roots are going to freeze in the ground but roots in the ground stay at a more even temperature than roots in a pot. What kills them is the sudden freeze/thaws in an unprotected pot.

The problem with moving the tree inside is warm dry air this time of year will kill it faster than leaving it on your unprotected deck. Its dormant and needs to be cold.

Go borrow the shovel - the hole isn't going to be that big. Cut the pot off and do whatever to untangle the roots (if they need it) before you go outside. If you don't manage to get it planted before the rain stops, take a bucket of water out and thoroughly soak the root ball and ground around it. Wet roots are much more able to withstand freezing temperatures.

Lucy68 said: ...Wet roots are much more able to withstand freezing temperatures.

Wow, this is a surprise for me. I thought that wet roots and soil would freeze faster. Thank you.

Oleksii, How long did you have this tree inside your heated home?
For a living tree it is suggested no longer than 10 days so the tree doesn't break dormancy.
It is best to transition the tree back to the cold outside temperatures slowly. Transition for about 10 days in a unheated sheltered location before planting in ground.

ScotTi said:
It is best to transition the tree back to the cold outside temperatures slowly. Transition for about 10 days in a unheated sheltered location before planting in ground.

The tree was quite long inside, that's why I was curious is still looks good, I bought it before Christmas.
I decided to place it on the enclosed balcony (with PVC walls and windows) until the end of the week for a few reasons:
1) havy rains yesterday made the soil very wet so it will be hard to do anything, considering the tree is small and will be only 25 cm in the soil;
2) a forecast shows not only some freezy weather but also wind gusts;
3) next week weather will be great to plant, I'll buy 2 package of soil for plants (20 liters reach) to add when planting and also cover at the top to protect for some time from night cold.

I'll make some pictures of my first planting. I'm so happy to do it. I want to turn this into a good habit to plant a tree each year and involve kids to this ;)

Oleksii said:
... next week weather will be great to plant, I'll buy 2 package of soil for plants (20 liters reach) to add when planting and also cover at the top to protect for some time from night cold.

Don't add anything but the native soil to the planting hole. Adding other better soils slows the transition of the roots into their new environment. The roots will expand into the native soil much faster without your well intentioned intervention. What will help is loosening the soil so the roots have any easier time.

Don't add anything to the top of the root ball as that will cause crown rot. Plant the tree just a wee bit higher than it was in the pot so when the soil settles, the top of the roots will be at ground level.

Lucy68 said: Don't add anything but the native soil to the planting hole...

... the top of the roots will be at ground level.

Do not add any bought soil even in case the native soil is not good? I mean it's in the yard where there are 10-level buildings, so I thought the native soil is not perfect.

If the top roots are at the ground level, this won't hurt them during cold/ freezy weather?

Thank you all for such a great help!!! I'll make notes from this thread and create a short guide for my colleagues so everyone will be able to plant a tree and visit this wonderful forum!