I ordered a Hong Kong guava and Meiwa kumquat tree on monday Nov 26 and received them on Friday Nov 30th and they looked somewhat healthy when i first got them. these plants were raised outside in an orchard in Georgia before i got them. i followed the planting instructions by planting them in a good sized pot in well drained organic soil and watering them with clean water enough so that their soil is moist. these plants are indoors and receive artificial light for seven hours and they are next to an east facing window but they have received no natural sunlight because it's been cloudy everyday. The humidity is 70% here in northern Vermont and it is 75 degrees F in my room but 15 degrees F outside. I also spray the leaves with water everyday. But for the last couple of days, the guava's leaves are turning yellow and drying up, so i cut off all of the guava's severely dry leaves. the kumquat's leaves are turning yellow and falling off like crazy. even the new growth is falling off. I sent some pictures. what am i doing wrong? what should i do to help the trees?
Transplant shock. The plants have experienced an extreme change in environment. I am surprised that the nursery you ordered from would actually ship to you this late in the year. Will the plants die? Difficult to say. I have had plants loose their leaves and look dead, but will begin to grow again March-April when the daylight hours lengthen. Back off on the water as the roots, right now, are at risk for root rot. As long as the branches appear to be soft, the plants may recover. Living a colder, more northern environment, we have to be very careful when ordering plants from nurseries in the South. One can pretty much count on a good two weeks where the plants are at a high risk for environmental/transplant shock. A small amount of water goes a long way, as the roots may not take in water...placing them at risk for root rot.
i believe you markinwestmich about the transplant shock. I'll probably continue watering the kumquat since it has most of it's leaves but the guava i may water less if the soil feels dryish. the guava has little buds on it though, does that mean that it will grow new leaves soon? Also I changed the position of my light so that the plants can receive more light, the trees are piled together and the light now shines above them. i also received a dormant goji plant as a dead looking stick but amazingly it sprouted new leaves within a week! that gives me more hope for the guava and kumquat. thank you!
malsprower, Like you, most of my plants are at the east window, my Meiwa kumquat, Key Lime, Mexican Lime, Mayer Lemon, kafir lime... are OK, but guava didn't grow well at east window, it may survive, but fruits are not mature and may drop. My guava plant become a refugee at my husband office every winter.
Wow that's a beautiful guava! I'm jealous of you et2007. :) how can i get my guava plant to look like that?
malsprower, I grow this guava from seeds, and it take only 6 months to produce fruits. My husband murder my first guava, this plant is a second generation. I summer it outside, and feed with Fish emulsion, winter time it stay in my husband office. I don't think it like east window. I will let that fruit ripe for seeds, if you want to try i can give you some seeds. I think if your guava get more sun, less water, and if branches are still alive, leaves will regrow. Good luck to you and let me know if you want some seeds.
Wow I'm surprised that it only takes half a year for the guava tree to produce fruit after sprouting, because it usually takes many years for other trees to fruit after germination. . i really hope that my trees survive, I'm going to install a huge light for my plants and i hope that it will benefit them. thank you for offering me the seeds. I sent you my mailing address to your email, i hope the seeds dont freeze during shipping because the temperature here in Vermont is -10 F. What species of guava is yours?
malsprower, I don't know what species of this guava. I bought the fruit from Indian grocery, I didn't expect to grow for fruit, just wanted to grow for fun, and all the seeds from that guava germinated. Sadly non of my friend wanted and i don't have the space so i only kept two, 1 in my husband office, 1 at home. The 1 at home die, the 1 in the office by the end of the summer there were 23 fruits on that small plant, but when i put it inside my house at the east window fruits and leaves dropped, only 3 mature in my husband office. The plant i have now is from one of those 3 fruits. When my friend see those fruits they wanted the plant, and my friend plant is bigger, lots more fruits, but he said they are not mature. I wonder if my husband office at NASA have some kind of ???? I have your mailing address. I'm still waiting for that guava to "tree ripe". I will try to get it to germinate some because it take a long time to germinate, but i will save you some seeds, maybe i should mail to you in spring when weather not freeze and if i have the baby plant then you can enjoy the fruits sooner.
I think I might be a little late. I notice this thread was in 2007. The Guava tree appears to be in soil that holds water. It should be in a good loamy soil, something that drains well but provides a good source of nutrients. It appears to me that you have been watering all of your plants too much. Transplant shock is only going to happen if the root system it bundled and pot-bound and you tear, break etc. parts of it. If you sucessfully removed the plants without distrubing the roots it would most likely not respond to shock. Too much water and not enough adequate light.