Transplant shock

A plant sulking for a week or two after being moved: wilting, dropped leaves, no new growth. Usually the plant is fine and the answer is water, shade and patience.

Disorder Disfiguring Doesn't spread

What you'll see

Wilting in the afternoon for the first few days despite moist soil, then recovering overnight.
Leaf edges browning and crisping, and older leaves yellowing and dropping.
No visible growth at all for one to three weeks after planting.
Flowers and fruitlets dropped while the plant concentrates on roots.
On a moved shrub or tree, a thin, small-leaved first season and a normal second one.

Why it happens

A plant takes up water through fine root hairs that are almost all lost or damaged when it comes out of a pot or the ground, while the leaves go on losing water at the old rate. The plant is not sick — it is simply out of balance, and the sulk lasts until it has rebuilt enough root to supply the top.

Worst when a plant is moved into hot, dry or windy weather, when it was pot-bound, when the rootball was broken up, or when it was moved in full growth rather than at the ends of the season. A tree moved in leaf can sulk for two or three years.

Treating it

Water thoroughly and deeply at planting to settle the soil around the roots, and keep the rootball itself damp — not just the ground around it.
Shade the plant for the first week with fleece, a propped board or an upturned pot in the afternoon.
Remove flowers and any fruit on a newly planted vegetable or fruit plant, so the energy goes to roots.
Do not feed. Fertilizer on damaged roots makes matters worse; wait for new growth before feeding.
Leave it alone otherwise, and give it a fortnight before deciding anything is really wrong.

Keeping it away

Harden plants off properly over seven to ten days rather than putting them straight out.
Plant in the evening or on a dull, still day, never at midday in a wind.
Water the plant well an hour before you move it, and keep the rootball intact.
Tease out circling roots on a pot-bound plant, but do not shred the rootball otherwise.
Move trees and shrubs when dormant, and plant vegetables young — a small transplant establishes faster than a large one.

Who gets it

Anything moved or planted out, but tomatoes, brassicas, squash and newly planted trees and shrubs show it most.