I had an orchid tree dug up and I soaked it in a solution of plantfood and vitamen B. Then I wrapped the rootball in sphagnum and wrapped that in moist newspaper and put a bag around that.
Now it's time to ship but the leaves are dried out! I'm soaking the roots (still wrapped in the sphag) in a weak plantfood solution with a little sugar added to rehydrate it.
What can I do? Will the plant rehydrate or will all the leaves fall off?
Help!
How long was it out of the ground? I dont take my plants up til the night before or the very day I ship them out. Just keep the roots damp and ship it out ASAP.
I shipped a magnolia out, the leaves wilted but the plant was fine.
It should come back out when it's planted.
Well it was growing in a large pot so I unpotted it and loosened the soil in the pot so I could extract the rootball. I soaked that in the solution above, and wrapped it up in moss and wrapped it newspaper in a bag so it would be like it's own little pot. I needed it this way so I could find out exactly how much it would cost to ship before I was ready to ship.
I left it this way so it could prevent shock and get used to it's new conditions but something went wrong along this whole process. Did this make sense?I'm half alseep.
Probably, in my guess, when disturbing the plant this way is not the ideal time to fertilize-- plant is stressed and not in a growing mode??? Also, it is best to dig and send as soon as possible; normally, one would wish to remove all traces of soil when mailing a plant, especially across state lines. This will also make it lighter. Some plants resent transplanting but will recover-- Phlox for example wilts badly. I think it will be fine, but the sooner it is replanted the better.