Mine have always transplanted OK. Yours sounds like it was transplanted without cutting it back. I always reduce the top growth when transplanting one as big as yours. Al

Calistoga,

Thank you for your response! You are correct that we did not cut them back. We are novice gardeners so bear with us for asking probably basic of basic questions for youÂ

1. Is it too late to cut them back now?

2. How small would you cut your abutilon? 2/3 of the size? We are not sure how much to cut to "reduce top growth."

3. ÂHalo has multiple lax stems and would you thin them or would you still reduce top growth?

2/3 of original size might be about right. With Abutilon, as with almost all shrubs, you should cut back long stems to just above a leaf node or where it is branching. If they got moved to a spot with more sun than what they were originally growing in, they may need some temporary shading to help them adjust.

Bahia,

Thank you for your response! The spot we moved gets less sun and more protected from wind than where both Abutilons were originally growing.

We will cut them to 2/3 of the original size above a leaf node or where it is branching. Hope this still helps though they are drying out as we speak... I will remember your and Al's advice next time we move shrubs.

My husband and I started gardening 1.5 years ago and our backyard was a weed wonderland before then. We still have a lot of blank spots but things are starting to grow now so we have a hard time reducing the size of any plants... But we will do whatever good for the plants.

Thank you again for your advice.

Abutilon in cool shady areas does not bloom much and tends to sprawl all over. If you are zone 17 you may find your new location not sunny enough. If you decide to move it again wait for next year as it probably will not survive another move in its present state of shock. Al

Give it some Vitamin B1 for transplant shock or Eleanor's VF-11.

I've had good luck transplanting Abutilon but I did cut it back first. It's a pretty plant but eventually I had to remove them all because they attract ants like crazy. No matter where I transplanted them the ants found that plant and only that plant. They are an ant magnet and that's a big negative in my garden.

I found they do not transplant well. I just get new ones, as needed.

Al, FlyingFlower, and Bug_Girl, thank you for your advice!

Al, We thought about that too... I hope the spot is sunny enough. If not, we will replant next year. And this time, we will reduce size before replanting.

FlyingFlower, I have heard about Vitamin B1 this past weekend from someone else too. I will try this.

Bug_Girl, we were afraid to hear that... 2 more weeks passed and 'Halo' still looks very dead. We will probably keep it for until next spring and see what it will do.

I just found this old post, when I trying to see if there was any tips I could get on transplanting. I still have never transplanted an Abutilon to a new location useless it was very small. I found that the roots do not like to be disturbed. If you break up the root ball, they will go into shock and if there is hot or cold weather this will increase the shock and they may not live. I am wondering if anyone knows what is the deal with Abutilon? Why are they so hard to transplant?

I had just placed a new Abutilon in the ground from a garden center, but I did not score the root ball at all. The weather has been cool and its doing great, but I wonder if that means the roots will not make their way into the soil. It will probably die like an annual in the winter. But, never move one larger then three feet. I also had a tree size one when I bought the house and it had scales and I treated it. Over the course of a few years the wind began to break off the branches and then it just up and died on me. I will really upset, as a tree size one is very lovely, and very hard to obtain due to the mortality rate of the young ones. They don't like heat, and they don't like cold. The ideal climate would be San Deigo, I imagine and I am in zone 9 with very hot summers. They get spider mites which are the hardest pest to control.