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[savitchl1]

Hi

i live in Southern California and bought an acacia tree. We planted it 3 days ago, watering on the day we planted as well as the day after and noticed yesterday that the top leaves are drooping and browning. After doing some research I wondered if perhaps we were overwatering but the soil yesterday felt cool and moist not overly wet. Today the soil is cool but definitely dryer than yesterday and the top leaves are droopier. Please help!
novice acacia grower

[Tom]

Hi. I think it’s perfectly normal: your plant was in a nursery, watered twice daily, sandwiched between lots of other plant, lots of air moisture going around, and now it’s likely alone, in full sun probably (?) and having to work new roots out in the soil around it. So it needs to deal with lots of new challenges!

If it were overwatering, leaves would turn yellow, not brown. I think that the air now is much drier around it , so it has to pump more water to the leaves than it used to. In the meantime, it sacrifices the most resource-draining leaves: new ones that require lots of sap and haven’t yet fully matured. These tend to “leach” moisture out more than older leaves, so the plant cuts its losses by sacrificing them until the roots are able to cope with the extra demand.

For me, I’d just keep making sure the soil is moist but not soggy, and if it isn’t too hard to set up, stick a few posts in the ground and hang a shade veil so the tree is in the shade during the hottest hours. This only needs to be done for a few weeks, normally roots get to work and spread within a month after planting already.

[Fast Driver]

It’s still adjusting to its new location and what it has are the effects of what’s commonly called as transplant shock. Just give it some time and continue the care you’re giving.

Tom has explained it well!  🙂

[Author]

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