Hi There - I need your help!! Yesterday I pulled up my 4 ft Pride of Barbados plant - upon the pending threat of severe storms - I transplanted it into a pot and this morning it looks practically dead (looked fine yesterday) what do I do? I'd hate to lose it as I've tried for the past couple years to grow from seed - this one was my 24th attempt which was quite successful until now! I would have had to dig it up anyway because of the winters here.
Help!! Pride of Barbados
Can you post a picture? My guess is that when you pulled it up you didn't get enough of its roots with it. When you have something planted in the ground, you have to dig a nice big rootball when you dig it up, otherwise there won't be enough roots to support all the top growth. If the plant is really big relative to the size of the roots that came up with it, you might try cutting back the top so that it's more proportional to the roots. I would also make sure you got as much of the garden soil off its roots as possible and plant it in nice container mix, garden soil is too dense for containers and you're much more likely to end up with overwatering/root rot. Also make sure you keep it out of direct sun for a bit to let it recover from the stress of transplanting. And you could try putting some Super Thrive in the water when you water it, that seems to help with transplant shock.
Thanks so much for your reply. I don't have a picture of it yet - it's 4ft. And when I pulled it up yesterday I did think the roots were relatively small compared with the size of the plant - I probably did lose some roots when I pulled it up. I cleaned off all the garden soil when I transplanted (with Miracle grow potting soil) I'll follow your advise and will trim it down - but how much? Would a foot be okay?
It depends on how much roots there are--you want the top of the plant to be proportional to the size of the rootball. What size pot did you put it in? If you can't get a picture, that might help visualize how much of a root system you have. I'd say if it's a 4' plant in something the size of a 1 gal nursery container, you'll need to cut it back more than that. But if it's in more like a 15 gal pot (and the roots take up a decent amount of that space), then just trimming a bit off would be fine.
I'm hoping someone else will jump in here with some advice too--I've seen some people post previously in similar situations that it's better not to cut things back, can't remember exactly why they said that but it sounded good at the time! Trimming things back when transplanting has worked well for me though.
Hi,
it does not like it's roots be disturbed. It is better to not let the roots be exposed to air. Usually it is better to leave a ton of soil around when transplanting. It sounds like it is in transplant shock. You can try superthrive and see how it does. Goodluck.
Hi There,
Thanks for the advise - I'm going out this afternoon to see if I can find some super thrive. When I transplanted it - it was only exposed to the air for about 5 mins max! I unfortunately didn't try to get the soil with the roots - I just shook out the dirt before transplanting. I did think notice that some of the roots broke & I did put a trace amount of root stimulator hoping it would lessen the transplant. I hope it comes back! Thanks again for the advise because I've never had this plant grow for me!
In this case you're still better of shaking off the garden soil before you put it in the pot--if you were moving it to a new place in the garden then it's fine to keep the soil on the roots, but garden soil in a pot is a recipe for trouble. But if its roots don't like to be disturbed and exposed to air then it sounds like you can't win with this one! Next time maybe you're better off keeping it in a pot year round--that's how I've grown this one before and lots of people in colder climates do it that way. Then you don't need to disturb it like this every year.
yes. Usually with this kind of plants(mimosa family) I would plan not to relocate. Another trick I use is to carry a container with water with me and as soon as plant comes out, it goes into the water. This way roots don't get exposed to air. This technique works well for me here in AZ.
Thanks for the advise - I'll know better next year. It's a gonna despite my efforts to save it - the leaves and branches have all shriveled up! Someone suggested planting it in a pot & simply putting it out in the garden location that I had it this year as it' may have just liked the sun conditions etc. - well back to the drawing board for the 25th time (sigh) & I was soo close too! I'm glad I live in zone 6 but wished it were a warmer zone so I wouldn't have to worry about it freezing in the winter