There should be plenty of water in the soil. I would try to keep humidity as high as possible around the plant and keep it out of full sun. I usually don't recommend misting, but a few times per day might be helpful in this case. It's not something that's ever happened to me (thousands of repots), so it makes me wonder what's up. You didn't fertilize heavily, did you? Hopefully it will perk up in a few days.

Al

Thanks for your quick answer. I've had this tree under a grow light, so will move it further away from it. Also, because this is inside, I keep the room at 45% humidity and regularly mist 2-3 times a day since most everything is tropical or subtropical and seems to like it. I also have a fan running 24/7 for circulation. I didn't fertilize at all, nor did I add the epsom salts during all this watering...I wanted the plants to settle in a bit first.

Something else has occurred to me...the first two were repotted in the bathtub because they are small. Since this one was large, I repotted it close to its normal location and opened the windows wide to help blow out some of the dust from the mix. Perhaps it caught a chill and was shocked as it was a little on the cold side that day.

I'll move it farther away from the light, continue misting and see what happens. Perhaps moisture meters don't work so well with this mix? I put tons of water this morning and it still registers 3 out of 4. In normal potting soil, it would be well past 4.

I do not use a moisture meter - I use a wick or a stick. Well, not a stick, but a wooden skewer. If I stick it in for a few seconds and it comes out damp, it doesn't need water. Or if it has a wick, I touch the wick to determine. I over watered my plants in this mix until I implemented these methods.

Heavens - moisture meters don't measure moisture - they measure electrical conductivity, so soils devoid of fertilizer will often read dry when they are soaking wet. Take a reading on a cup of distilled water, and you'll see the meter reading dry. Sprinkle some salt in the cup, and it will read wet.

Using the sharpened dowel, or feeling the soil or wick at the drain hole are good ways to check to see if your plants need water. Do you think the roots of the plant that is wilting had a chance to dry out during the repot? It only takes about 5 minutes of dry air to kill the finest roots that are responsible for the lions share of water uptake.

We're all hoping everything turns out well for you!

Al

Oh, wow, I didn't know that about moisture meters and that is invaluable information. I bought a new one three months ago because mine read dry even when in a glass of water (which was distilled, incidentally), so I thought it was broken. As I have no wick, I am going to use a dowel from now on.

I'll bet that is exactly what happened with the roots. I remember mostly seeing big, fat roots and don't remember seeing smaller ones but I'll bet I fried them. I've humidified it and moved it back from the light. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that one little root starts to drink soon. Thank you!

This did happen to me, more than once..The culprit?

I did not back fill in the gritty mix COMPLETELY around the bare roots, making sure to get the gritty mix between ALL the roots and around..I had to use a wooden skewer or dowel to keep pushing the mix between the roots, then water thoroughly..You should not be having to water everyday if the pot is filled with the mix correctly..Especially if you haven't sifted..:-)

I wish you the best..Since I made that mistake and learned from it in the past, I have yet to have any problems now..

MIke

Just to be sure, I double checked and the gritty mix is well tucked into the plant. I'm so used to repotting my orchid collection (where the mix is larger and really needs tucking in) that I think I just automatically did it.

I also have since repotted my orange tree and no problems, so the only one suffering is my surinam cherry, so I'm going to have to guess that the colder temperature gave it shock. Most of the new growth and some of the old has wilted at this point and become dried and crunchy and is starting to fall off. I'm going to let it just run its course and see how much it defoliates. After that, I'll try to figure out if it's alive or dead and if a little alive I'll ask for advice on pruning it back in hopes that it will come to life again. Thanks for all the advice so far.

Heavens,

Where did you end up getting your Gran-I-grit? I, too, live in NYC, and have been having a tough time finding a place nearby that sells it!

BTW, if you ever need more pine bark fines, Gowanus Nursery in Bklyn sells them for sure...

bmh0008-

You can get the gran-i-grit at the Morristown, NJ Agway store. They always have it in stock. The Turface can be had at Pollack paint in Yonkers. And I got the fines at Gowanus nursery, but they also have it at Nables Nursery and just called me today to let me know that their shipment has arrived.