Wow, I think I have the world's friendliest pachira lol. Mine likes to stay lush, and comfort me when I have done something stupid which has angered my other plants, lol. I've had it for years and it tends to be on the more cooperative end of everything I'm growing. It's true what everyone is saying about less water than a typical tropical though. I don't water mine until the soil is dry all the way down to the knuckle of my pointer finger when I stick it in, and then i flush the soil completely. I also think maybe a little less than full sun too, Mine tends to bake and wilt if the light is too strong, and does fine in the winter under some growlights inside. I've never fertilized it, or done anything in particular to encourage it, but I I do give it lots of love and chat with it while I'm making my rounds about my plants. Anyway, Best of luck!! and PS, I love the nest-egg analogy Zenthumbs!!

without doing any research... i dont see how a internal systemic can help with an external fire blight ... it will also help.. if you specifically ID the EXACT problem ... if you have not done so already .... read all labels.. and use chemicals or cures.. according to the labels ... a good full service garden store.. will help greatly .. compared to bigboxstore ... remove all fallen.. infected leaves .... and prepare to spray at the appropriate time of year.. i have about 10 crabs ... only the mature 20 year old... previously existing tree is phased by whatever it is ... i was told fire blight .. but refuse to expose the kids to spraying ... especially on a crab .... if it werent shading my hosta.. i would be done with it.. and when the oak trees mature enough to cover the hosta.. this particular tree will be gone .... frankly .. its a losing battle ... IMHO .... ken

I am in a very similar situation: new house, new crabapple tree ('snowdrift') at front, severe black/brown dots on the leaves. The snowdrift cultivar is supposed to have medium-high resistance to the scab... perhaps this fungus is a new strain? The tree was also planted 8" too deeply in our heavy clay, which suffocates the tree and makes it susceptible to disease. We just replanted this past weekend. From what I read, these fungus/bacterial infection does not live on the tree, they drop with the affected leaves and wait to re-infect the tree's new leaves next spring. Hope you are lucky to have powerful winds (we do) to minimize maintenance effort. All trees have their respective problems and benefits. Crabapples give stinky fruits and brown leaves in the fall in exchange for unequaled spring flowers, reduced insect problems and heavy clay tolerance. Even we originally wanted a serviceberry from the city (which gave it to our neighbor), we will take care of the crabapple as best as we can. In order to shift the attention in the fall, we planted a cutleaf staghorn sumac. Very, very nice shrub!

It could have dried out a bit since being planted. Sometimes the potting medium doesn't take up water, even though the surrounding soil can be quite moist, particularly if the plant is a bit root bound. Have a poke around in the root ball and check that it is damp. If not, either set a hose on just a drip and leave it for a few hours, or set up a bottle of water with a tiny hole to drip onto the root ball. This will ensure that water actually seeps into the root ball and not into the surrounding soil.