I went against my best judgement and ordered a atomic white nectarine last week to give my bees a bunch of early spring forage (this will primarily be a landscape plant). Here’s the tree I purchased:
I planted it in a nice sunny spot on Friday and it’s not looking good. The leaves are turning yellow and the overall tree health looks poor. Here are a couple of pictures:
I thought I could baby it through the summer and get it into a position where it would pop next year. I stuck my finger down an inch into the soil and it feel good. Not too wet and definitely not dry. Based on what I read online this looks like it could be transplant shock though I’ve never had to deal with that. Any suggestions on how to get this guy into a happy state? A bit of nitrogen? Aggressive pruning? Some sage wisdom I don’t know? I definitely won’t order this late again in GA!
It looks dry. Don’t be afraid to water say every other day until it starts growing. Then you can cut back to once or twice a week until fall. I’d make a small basin around the base of the tree to hold water. Or water gently thru the mulch.
Some shade would help right now. You might cover the top of the deer fence with a couple layers of agribon 19 or similar. Attach it with clothes pins all the way around. That would help a lot until it starts growing.
Thanks a ton Steve. How can you tell that this is water related? I have a basin around the tree (you won’t be able to see if because it’s covered w/ mulch) and watered it good last night after reading your reply. I’ll continue to do so until it perks up.
I planted a white oak last year around the same time (I’m in Georgia too.). The thing needed to be babied all through the summer. It hated the bright sun (leaves almost looked like they got sunburned and fell off.). We ended up rigging up a contraption that blocked the overhead light and the western light using an old white curtain we no longer used. It allowed a tiny bit of light in, but not much. The only unfiltered light it got was the morning light.
Also, you know how they say trees should be given deep, infrequent waterings? Throw that advice out this first summer. Give it lighter, more frequent watering a to make sure the soil doesn’t dry out and is kept moist (not wet, OFC). Also, a mulch will help. Compost, dried grass clippings, whatever. I might stay away from wood mulch. A lot of people say it’s a myth that wood chips take nitrogen away from the plant to decompose (and I generally agree.). But, for this tree, I would take no chances.
I think I finally stopped babying it and took down the shelter in late September when more mild weather rolled in. (Not sure where you are in GA, you may have to adjust that earlier or later.)
Mind you, this all helped keep the tree ALIVE. It looked stressed and miserable over the summer. It was late to leaf out this spring, but finally did, and now it looks good.
Good luck with your nectarine.
Maybe it might be a better idea, if you can, to dig it up and pot it, so you can keep perfect control of the watering and put it somewhere where it will get shade before introducing it gradually to the GA summer? Not sure if the move would stress it out to the point where it dies, though. Just a thought. If you decide to do it, you could plant it out in the fall and assuming its semi-healthy, it should be able to grow good roots over the winter and be fine the following spring.
Thanks everyone for the sage wisdom! My nectarine is finally leafing out and it looks like it just needed a bunch of water to get established. Here’s a pictures of the growth I observed this afternoon:
