Transplant Shock in The Garden

/Home/Garden Basics/Plant & Lawn Care/Garden Problems and Solutions/Garden Transplant Shock

Some plants may show stress when transplanted




Mar 16, 2007Robert Dailey
Transplant shock can result in leaf scorch, stunted growth and dropping of leaves, among other things.
If it’s not spring in your area, it soon will be, and the urge to go out and grab up as many plants as possible for your desert garden becomes almost overwhelming.

Plants, however, can experience stress when transplanted, and need to be cared for and watched carefully.

Here are some basics that you need to know about reducing a plant’s stress when transplanting it:

Be careful when transplanting. Small tender plants need to be taken out of their containers by grasping the leaves, not the stems.
Lay the container on its side, and gently press around the base of the container. Then gently pull the plant out, along with its rootball.
Place the plant in the spot you’ve picked and prepared (it could be a container or a bed) and replace the soil.
It’s not a good idea to fertilize right away. Fertilizing, especially with a nitrogen fertilizer, will encourage the plant to produce new leaves. You don’t want that to happen right away. What you want is for the plant to produce a strong root system. Encouraging the plant to produce a lot of foliage before the root system is established is a recipe for disaster.
Tamp down the earth around the plant gently, but don’t squish it down heavily. There should be tiny spaces in the soil to allow for air and water.
Water the plant. The soil should be moist but not too wet. Too much water will not leave room for oxygen, which plant roots also need.

Copyright Robert Dailey. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.