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29-04-2004, 01:07 AM

(Glenna Rose) writes:
before planting a potted plant or shrub, or transplanting, the roots of
the plant should be thoroughly soaked with water and to wait at least a
half-hour before doing anything with the plant. The purpose of this is to

Sounds good to me. I don't know the precise reason, but assume that the
finer roots will inevitably be damaged in the process, and that as many
of the surviving rootlets as possible should be immersed in moisture so
that the plant can still manage to draw up what it needs to replace that
being lost through the leaves. That's why removing half the leaves is
sometimes recommended, to limit the amount of water loss on hot days.

What is the procedure you use for transplanting? Do you "overuse" the
water like I do or do you transplant "dry" as he did?

Probably some seedlings are more tolerant of dry conditions than others,
so people find they can get away with less attention to the trees needs
with some species. Most are sufficiently expensive that when transplanting
I'm more than happy to supply all the water I can! It's good insurance.
--
John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)