Sad cypress tree

Medz

Hello folks,

 I took a punt and ordered a pair of cypress trees online. 

One arrived healthy; full; and well. The other arrived ‘threadbare’; and with broken branches and crown. 

I would like to care for the second tree back to full health and a match to its partner. 

How do I do that? As always, simple instructions for the uninitiated much appreciated. 

Many thanks and best wishes. 

Apodemus

Hard to tell from the picture, but has it tried out in transit?  If it has, you may struggle to revive it, but the first thing to do would be to give it a good soak (do both trees!) for a couple of hours, then let the pots drain properly.   Take plenty of pics and tell the supplier that you will be looking for a replacement for the sick one.  It may or may not survive.

Medz

Apodemus said:

Hard to tell from the picture, but has it tried out in transit?  If it has, you may struggle to revive it, but the first thing to do would be to give it a good soak (do both trees!) for a couple of hours, then let the pots drain properly.   Take plenty of pics and tell the supplier that you will be looking for a replacement for the sick one.  It may or may not survive.

The supplier has refunded me as they are out of stock. I still want to do my best to save the tree though. 

By soaking them for a few hours you mean shallow fill a container and then place both potted trees inside? 

Black_Cat2

Hiya can't help with the trees but love your raised bed, what are you growing in it? 🤔

theoretica

How I soak potted plants is by putting just the pots into a bucket of water.  Those looks fairly small pots for the size of tree - I would also move them into something more spacious.

[Deleted User]

Apodemus said:

Hard to tell from the picture, but has it tried out in transit?  If it has, you may struggle to revive it, but the first thing to do would be to give it a good soak (do both trees!) for a couple of hours, then let the pots drain properly.   Take plenty of pics and tell the supplier that you will be looking for a replacement for the sick one.  It may or may not survive.

Completely agree, the quality of the damaged one is very poor,  i'm always surprised at some suppliers sending out thewe things, i'm sure they rely on some customers not challenging them.

I bought some clematis from a small supplier this year, different to the larger supplier i bought from last year and the difference in quality was massive - not happy, contacted supplier, they were less than helpful so duly noted and won't return to them again in a hurry 🙄😣

Medz

theoretica said:

How I soak potted plants is by putting just the pots into a bucket of water.  Those looks fairly small pots for the size of tree - I would also move them into something more spacious.

I have soaked them. I have to get some larger pots for them this morning as I don’t have anything suitable to hand. 

What’s the minimum height and diameter pot I need for each one please? 

Medz

Black_Cat2 said:

Hiya can't help with the trees but love your raised bed, what are you growing in it? 🤔

Thanks. I used the ‘wrong’ side of decking planks for it.  I’m growing ‘highly scented primula ballerina’. They looked pretty on the picture and they have a scent so I thought I’d try anyway. 

There are a few trail-y things on the edge.   Possibly they are violas maybe. 

Black_Cat2

Fingers crossed for a great display, looking good so far, will look those up for ideas for my garden ty 🐈

-taff

Depends on how long you're going to keep them in pots. If a couple of years, fairly big pots, those things can grow 25cm a year so something with a bit of weight would be good too , you don't want them blowing over. I'd say at least supermarket flower bucket sized for now.

I got a couple last year, one was also lookng a bit weedy but I've put them in the ground and this year they are taller than me already.

Medz

Thanks Taff. I have ordered a pair of these from Amazon. 

I’m reassured that your less healthy cypress bounced back. Fingers crossed with a bigger pot; some root booster; and power of positive thought(?) mine bounces back too.