What is a cutting, and what are the differences between cuttings, saplings, and seedlings?
To help you better envision these plants, a seedling is a young plant that is grown from seeds planted that very season. It is tender, small and vulnerable, and should be grown indoors or in a green house until its stem has turned woody. Does not always grow true to parent tree, and will take a while to flourish. Saplings are 2-3 year old plants that sprouted from seeds but have the highest yield. They grow the fastest in the field and have woody stem, can withstand damage and has strong, established root system called a root ball. Cuttings are clones of the parent tree and grow truest to the parent tree.. It may yield fruits the fastest but requires more time to get established because of a weaker root, which is a shoot, rather than a system (unless the cutting is 2-3 yrs old). I would not advise on buying seedling, because of its vulnerability. Always ask a seller (especially on ebay) how these trees are rooted and how they are shipped. They never show you a picture of the exact tree. Never buy a cutting that has NOT rooted (I've seen one seller that sells 3 sturdy branches for $15.99, NOT ROOTED- very unethical because these cuttings will just rot in the novice hands. They sell these unwanted branches to you while they trim down their trees). Then I've seen another seller who sells rooted pencil stick cuttings, but they are ensured to grow under the right care. Never buy an unrooted cutting. The best time to ship plants is during dormancy, in the fall/spring. You should plant them as soon as you get them; fall is best, as it gets a chance to establish the roots.
