Mexican Sycamores - Plant & Die

1,467 Views | 7 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Builder93
yestoast
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Need some semi-professional opinions H&I.

Bought 2-45 gallon Mexican Sycamores to plant in the line of site of my West facing back patio. Dug holes about 1.5-2X as big and +6" deeper than the bucket. Put down conservative amount of root vigor and re-planted.

That was Saturday. Watered the HELL out of them and, granted we've had a ton of rain and wind, this is what is happening:


Enhance:


ENHANCE:


Best I can figure after reading the WebMD equivalent of "your trees are dead, dying have aids and your family is next" is that the clay here in Houston's soil is acting as a bowl of sorts and trapping water in the root ball and flooding it out completely.

With my aggressive water-new-plants approach and the rain I think they're simply drowning. Other options would be disease (not likely since there's no green veins on the leaves) or lack of iron content in the soil, but the quick turnaround in color lends me to believe that's not a current issue.

Anyways, thought I'd post up for thoughts.
Sticks&Stones
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AG
Since all of the brown leaves are deep in the plant and not on the growing tips, I think your tree will be fine. It's just stressed from the transplant and the heat. I had one of these for years and this type of thing happened every year. When conditions are perfect in the spring, the tree will put on a ton of leaves, but will shed the inner leaves when it gets hot and dry.
txaggie_08
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AG
Could just be stress from transplant but watch the overwatering. I overwatered my new trees this year because I was simulataneously trying to keep new sod alive. The lower branches' leaves all turned brown and eventually died. The trees survived though, and have begun putting on new leaf growth in the past month or so. Of course 3 of the 4 will be shedding all their leaves in the coming months.
water turkey
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Yep, you planted during the most stressful time of year. Give them time, they will be fine.
Cromagnum
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AG
Have fun with the mess those trees create.
pants
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+1 on the stressful time of year and transplant shock.

Also, I've always heard sycamores drop leaves from august through the middle of winter. Maybe that's just American Sycamores though.
Tree Hugger
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AG
Quote:

+6" deeper than the bucket


Make sure the root flare isn't buried, planting to deep will not allow enough air to the roots
pants
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Yeah, most advice I've read says to dig the hole only deep enough for the tree to sit at the same level it was in the pot.
Builder93
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AG
It depends on the makeup of the natural soil. Where are you located? In BCS you should plant the top of the root ball 6" above the surrounding soil. It's actually not a bad idea to plant above the surrounding soil in other areas also. Mexican Sycamores don't like to be transplanted and they have a narrow window where to much water is bad and too little is bad. The tree will most likely do really well next year after it establishes a good root system. Just don't over water it and don't underwater it.
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