I have had a cutting that I placed in a pot around Sept. 7th and it had not been showing any signs of growth. Now I would like to mail it to someone using the bare root method but I just looked in on it now and as of today it has started to bud. I have been keeping the planted cutting next to my oil furnace in my basement.

I took a closer look at it and it looks like it does have a good root system on it but I won't know for sure until I remove it from the pot. It's in a fairly large container and rather heavy. The cutting itself is larger than usual.

Can I ship it out bare root now that it is showing one bud opening up?

Photo attached of the cutting.
Thank you

Lou   NE., PA

Lou,

I have had pretty good luck bare-rooting trees, even when not dormant.  If you are concerned about the weight, you can remove "most" of the growing medium (maybe leave about 4" diameter and 4" tall or so).  Wrap the remaining growing medium and any exposed roots in damp newspaper followed by a plastic bag or foil.  Watering the tree a couple of days before you strip the extra growing mix will allow it to have some moisture without extra water weight.  I've also found that moist soil comes off the roots easier than if it were dry.

The file attached shows a pomegranate tree partially bare-rooted while still in leaf.

~james