I’m in San Jose, CA (Zone 9b) and recently ordered a 3-gallon grafted Super Alphonso Mango and a Mauritius Lychee from a Florida nursery. Unfortunately, the shipment was delayed and arrived on the 5th day. Both plants look extremely stressed.
I sent photos to the farm, and their advice was to “continue watering daily and give it sunlight.” However, I’m worried this is the wrong move. I suspect the plants are suffering from root shock and aren’t taking up water effectively. I’m concerned that following their advice to water daily will just lead to root rot.
Here is what I’ve done so far (today is day 5 since delivery):
Removed all shipping plastics.
Watered heavily once (on arrival) and applied mist to the leaves all other days.
Both plants are moved to a shaded spot.
I plan to up-pot these into 15-gallon containers once they stabilize, but right now I just want to make sure they survive. Does my current approach sound safer than the farm’s advice?
Day 5 plant progress photos duly attached (unable to attach more).
I predict you will have leaf drop, regardless. New leaf and stem buds should begin emerging a few weeks afterwards. Avoid over watering the roots. Misting the existing leaves is ok but it should be nearly salt free, e.g. from your refrigerator’s filtered water. Gradually introduce them to the sun after the current rain storm. Start with about 4 hours of morning sun.
Thats alot of damage for only 5 days. Were they shipped bare root? Thats the only way I can see that being root stress. On the mango, that looks exactly like cold damage. Usually when its root stress, the leaves are droppy and don’t take the bright brown color, more like the color of the lychee. The lychee looks like drought/root stress damage.
I defer to the advise above. CA and FL have very different growing conditions.
Thank you for the tip on using salt free water. I will continue to shade them such that they receive indirect sunlight. Do you recommend putting a clear plastic bag on the leaves to retain moisture/humidity?
I was fully aware of the different growing conditions and knew it was going to be an uphill battle. The transport during the coldest week (across the US) is what I was unprepared for. Here’s what the plants looked like on the day of arrival.
I made the mistake thinking the Mango was healthy and gave it full sun the first day.
I just planted two mangos from a nursery in Los Angeles. Browsing told me to water the root daily (not deep) to keep the ball moist. Was warned of leaf drop cause transplant shock means water does not go to the extreme leaves.
The smaller Mallika (3’) is doing well after 5 days. The taller (7’) Carabao leaves have paled at extremities.
Hi all - sharing a quick 2 week update. It’s finally warm and sunny in CA and one of my plants are on a path to recovery. The air-layered lychee is doing better now with small foliage growing.
The Alphonso tree seems to have died (brown core). I have not given up on it yet cos every morning I see 1 of the modules (where the leaves joins the stem) dripping with water. I suspect there is little activity but not sure of it.
