Transplant Shock
A newly moved plant wilts, browns at the leaf edges, drops leaves, or simply sits and grows nothing for a season. It is not a disease and it is not catching. The roots left behind in the move cannot yet supply the top of the plant.
Disease checklist
Four things to look for. If most of them match what you are holding, you are in the right place.
What gets rid of it
Gentlest option first. For most backyard cases the first one is enough, so try these in order and stop as soon as it works. If you do spray something, the product label tells you how — please read the notice further down.
1Water deeply and regularly
Soak the root ball and the soil just around it once or twice a week through the first two growing seasons, more often in heat.
tree watering bag slow releaseTry this first2Mulch but keep it off the trunk
Two to three inches of mulch out to the branch tips, pulled back a few inches from the stem.
shredded hardwood mulch3Do not fertilize to fix it
Feeding a stressed new plant pushes top growth the roots cannot support. Wait until it is growing again.
4Plant at the right depth
Set the root flare level with the ground. Planting too deep is the most common reason a new tree never establishes.
5Loosen circling roots
Cut or tease apart roots that wrap around the root ball before you backfill.
hori hori garden knife6Give it time
In Zone 6 a tree needs roughly one year per inch of trunk diameter before it is fully established.
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Which plants get transplant shock
Every plant we cover that gets transplant shock, grouped by type — tap any one to open its page. A note beside a plant came from that plant’s own entry, because the same disease can be a minor nuisance on one plant and a serious problem on another. Plenty of plants we do not cover get it too.
trees3
Plant families hit hardest
Related plants often share the same problems, so if one plant in a family has it, check the others. The largest group here is Ericaceae, with 3 of the 7 affected plants.
- Ericaceae3 plants
When to treat
The first two summers after planting are when it kills, so water on a schedule through both of them rather than only when it looks thirsty.
Timing only — the label is the law
This page tells you when to watch for transplant shock and when treating is worth considering. It is not a recommendation to apply any particular product. Read and follow the product label before you spray — under federal law the label is the legal instruction, and using a pesticide against it is illegal.
- Check the pre-harvest interval. Every product that’s cleared for an edible crop sets a minimum number of days between spraying and picking. Find it on the label before you spray anything you intend to eat.
- Check the re-entry interval before you or anyone else works in the treated area again, and use the protective equipment the label names.
- Confirm the product is registered for your crop in your state. This page groups many different crops together, and a product legal on one of them is not legal on all of them — state registrations differ too. Your state pesticide agency or local extension office can confirm both.
- Rates and mixing instructions come from the label, never from us. We don’t publish them because they differ by product and formulation.
Other problems on the same plants
If a plant gets transplant shock, these are the problems it most often gets as well, so they are worth checking for while you are out there. They tend to appear together; one does not cause another.