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HELP ME PLEASE! i think is dying, what should I do?

I just received from a friend ( from the forum)a young tree( Kathleen's Black) today, when I open the box ,I found the leafs curled up and a little dry , but the soil was still moist, I sprayed with water mist on the leafs and left it on the windowsill to get a little sun.
when I came back home I found the leafs droopy,
i did not want to repot it because I did not wanted to disturbed it,so I put it inside a larger cup , sprayed water inside the cup and put a lid on top to keep in the moist.

I don't know how the root system is, but there's no visible roots around the cup.

the soil is not dry , it is still moist.

what do I need to do?


Looks like you are doing all that I would. But I am just a beginner with figs. I would keep it out of harsh sun for a few weeks until it get over shipping. Looks to me that you should see root when there is roots, clear cup that is. From the ones I am rooting the root run up the side of the cup. Open it up some during the day to let it get use to being in the real world.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Zone 8
Southwest TX

stop misting the leaves. if soil is moist, putting it in the dome will provide enough moisture to perk up the leaves. even if the leaves drop, if the bud is green and healthy, it should be fine. 

only way to kill KB is to over watering. in the cup, the soils get saturated really quick. stop misting. keep it in the bigger cup with dome on, away from direct sun for a week or two. see how it's doing. 

if the soil is too wet, that can be problem. but since it just came through mail, you should give time for it to recover from the trip.

edit: that's lot of top without showing roots in the cup. i would be very careful with watering, as matter of fact, i wouldn't water it at all until the cup is very light and it definitely needs water. the bottom can rot before it has time to form enough roots to support the top. 

I agree 100% with Pete....don't water it any more.  Put it in indirect light in a cool place....not totally dark...just indirect light.  I wout also put at least 2 hole in the cover cup at the top to let the heat out.  You would be really surprised how hot the inside of that cup can get in the sun...well over 100.  I had a large tote I left in the sun for an hour on Saturday and when I took off the lid, the temperature was very hot.  I had to immediately move the tote inside in the air conditioning with the cover off.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bullet08
stop misting the leaves. if soil is moist, putting it in the dome will provide enough moisture to perk up the leaves. even if the leaves drop, if the bud is green and healthy, it should be fine. <br><br>only way to kill KB is to over watering. in the cup, the soils get saturated really quick. stop misting. keep it in the bigger cup with dome on, away from direct sun for a week or two. see how it's doing. <br><br>if the soil is too wet, that can be problem. but since it just came through mail, you should give time for it to recover from the trip.<br><br>edit: that's lot of top without showing roots in the cup. i would be very careful with watering, as matter of fact, i wouldn't water it at all until the cup is very light and it definitely needs water. the bottom can rot before it has time to form enough roots to support the top. 

Should I repot it with new soil with 50/50 perlite & seed starter ? I have a feeling that the soil might be to wet.
or should I just leave it alone uncovered so the soil can try a little bit?

It is of course a judgement call.  You are in the best position to see, touch, feel if the medium is way too wet and it is making life difficult for the plant.  If it is, it may be prudent to repot but I would really really suggest exercsing some restraint to repot. Speaking purely from personal (bad) experiences rather than as an expert, I have to say we sometimes  have to exercise restraint on this desire to do something. I have killed more plants than saved them by trying to do something drastic like repotting. Like what expert members have mentioned above, it probably is recovering from the shock of traveling. Give it a shady spot and refrain from watering further. The last thing you wanna do is to repot it and subject it to further shock when all it is trying to do is rest and recover. ;)

Btw, I am most impressed, no, make that envious, at your speed of collection. In the short space of 2 months you seem to have acquired some pretty good varieties.  Happy for ya!

You have drainage holes in the bottom, right?  Those leaves look pretty good.  You got the advice you need.  If there are viable roots and the soil drains well you should be fine.  If it feels too wet you can put a wick in the soil from the bottom and try to drain it that way.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rcantor
You have drainage holes in the bottom, right?  Those leaves look pretty good.  You got the advice you need.  If there are viable roots and the soil drains well you should be fine.  If it feels too wet you can put a wick in the soil from the bottom and try to drain it that way.

yes there are holes at the bottom of the cup

if you still think there is too much moist, I would use a spoon and scoop a little from the top and replace it with less moist soil... the moist will evaporate and wick up also. Good luck! the travelling is difficult when they are so young.

It is possible that it does not have any roots at all (or very small ones). Looking at the size of the leaves, it is when the cutting stops supporting the leaves solely using its internal energy. Would be nice to find out what is happening in the soil. If you water too much, those tiny roots will die quickly. I've seen this before, leaves and roots dont grow at the same time. Good luck!

best thing to do is what bob said. try to wick the moisture out of the cup using paper towel through the bottom hole. since you do not see the roots on the side of the cup, that means either it doesn't have any roots, or they are small enough it has not reached the side of the cup. disturbing the soil and the cutting at this time can break those roots if there are any.

Here is a simple test, take a bamboo skewer and gently push it down into the cup.  When you pull it out, if it is wet, too much moisture.  Make some bigger holes in the bottom and take the bamboo skewer and gently put some big yarn into the cup.  The yarn will help wick away the moisture.  Also, angle the cup about 30 degrees to the yarn side to help the wicking.  Keep the top covered....I use either a zipper bag or bigger cup and I spray water into that to add humidity.  Don't add any more water to the soil until you start to see roots.  Keep it out of the sun...just indirect light only.

thank you all for all your help, I did what you guys advised me to do and this morning when i checked , it seems to be recovering, let's see what happens in the next few days.

thank you all

Hello everyone, George got this Kathleen Black from me.

I am sure it has root. This tree has been out of humid dorm for a couple weeks before shipping, and I only water once a week. However, it haven't trained for direct sunlight.
George, this tree does not need more water for now. You probably should wick out excess water from the bottom. Also avoid direct sunlight. After it recover, introduce to sunlight gradually.

I took a few pictures right before shipping.










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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmychao
Hello everyone, George got this Kathleen Black from me. <br><br>I am sure it has root. This tree has been out of humid dorm for a couple weeks before shipping, and I only water once a week. However, it haven't trained for direct sunlight. <br>George, this tree does not need more water for now. You probably should wick out excess water from the bottom. Also avoid direct sunlight. After it recover, introduce to sunlight gradually.<br><br>I took a few pictures right before shipping.<br><br><br><img class="bbc_img" src="/file?id=1528045" rel="lightbox[1277646778]"><br><br><br><img class="bbc_img" src="/file?id=1528046" rel="lightbox[1277646778]"><br><br><br><br><br><img class="bbc_img" src="/file?id=1528047" rel="lightbox[1277646778]">

sorry I missed your post.

i stopped watering it and I kept it in the shade to recover , i think it will make it :)
thank you very very much, it's a beautiful free

it was my fault for putting it direct in the Sun, instead of letting it recover.
i still have a lot to learn , well I know what to do for next time

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