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shipping shock

I recieved a fig tree in the mail. It was in shipping for two days. It was bare root. I put it in a pot and I have it in the garage where it gets some light through a high window.. it is Humid outside and in the garage, but the tree is very droopy. I have been misting it a bit as well.  Is there anything else I should do?


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  • BLB

Very droopy I'd say. You could try putting a plastic bag over it like those from the dry cleaners. 

I remember when I ordered my Sierra and Sequoia from Jon a year or two ago. They were lost in the mail for two or weeks. They arrived very healthy.

Figs are tough and rarely go down that easily.
I wouldn't worry too much.

This is only me but this is what I would do, I would clip off some of the leaves, give it water and store under a shade and watch it recover in no time.

Good luck and don't worry about anything, it will recover.

Should I pull of the figs on it?

Do Not Worry,just do not place it in the sun,till it recover,and after recover place in semi shade,and then sun.
Yes it has a lot of leaves and it would help to cut some off,but leave the peduncle on.
At this point all those leaves are alive,so it is up to you if you cut some off or not.
Leave the figs alone they will ripe soon.
Every leaf has a peduncle or (stem). with which attaches to the Branch.

Thanks guys, What is a peduncle?

First I meant the older and bigger leaves. LOL

In my experience ( only ). when a tree arrives with figs on it and gets stressed like yours. The figs usually are doomed.

But I can't advice on if you should or shouldn't remove them.

I will let the experts chim in.

Good luck

I cut of 5 larger leaves.

Sounds like you're doing it all right.

I normally soak my bareroot trees in water for 30-60 minutes before potting.  No need to do it now, just wanted to share what I prefer.

oh well, that is good to know for the next time.

A nice trick when using peat/perlite mixes is to set the newly potted plant in a tray of water and allow it to soak it up for it's first watering. This prevents the perlite from floating up to the surface, the mix will then "set" and the perlite will stay in the mix better and do it's job. It's a bonsai trick. It works great for seed trays too.

I agree with,last poster,and also soaking in water,like previous poster indicated,that works for me every time.
I remember a week ago i planted in half Gallon growing pots ,young plants that came from a common larger pot,and tho,the perlite potting soil mixture, was wet,I did not soaked the plants in water,because the mosquitoes were eating me alive,and I forgotten,and next day the plants were ,all droopy like that and in much worse shape.
So I took plants in total shade and they recovered,but some leaves just became scorched and died,yet the plants are ok now and growing new leaves.

I received 2 trees that looked just like this one in August.  Mine were in pots though.  I babied them and the larger one recovered within a few days.  The smaller one dropped all of its leaves and is just now started to put out little leaf buds.  I've been very concerned about this smaller one but I am starting to be a little more optimistic. 

I'm glad I posted. I almost didn't. I feel like this is a lot of good info.

Bare root is for shipping dormant plants, not one in full leaf. Shade, water, and time. It will be fine.

It is perking back up. I took this picture just now. I still have it in the garage. Do you think it is safe to put it outside. We are in a period rain the next few days, but I don't know how long the tree will be ok in the garage with not to much light coming in.


If your soil isn't too wet do it tomorrow. If not wait and acclimate to outside.

What generation of SBC is that in the background?  (believe it's a SBC, can't tell if it's aluminum block GenIII or ??)

That's a pontiac block 400cid =-)

If I recall it's a 1974 dated block.

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