Without seeing the roots or knowing how long you have them I would go ahead and plant them. First year roots I always pot to have better control for the first year and then plant them in the garden in the fall after the rainy season starts. When you plant them in the garden they must be planted high enough that the buds are exposed to air temperatures for most of California to get enough winter chilling. Al

I was reading about grafting last night and it said to soak parts in a bleach solution before making cuts. You might want to try something like that.