Unless it's one of those 'instant garden' plants, I suggest you remove it from the ground and check the root ball. You said it had been parked in a basement over winter: it may be that the root ball is internally dry. Drop it into a bucket of water. If it bubbles like a kettle on the boil that's where you start. Sometimes, if a plant has been in it's container for a while the roots will have felted across the bottom and there won't be much available to take in food and moisture. Brutal though it sounds, cut off the bottom inch, and gently scrape off the old surface soil. When you've done this, plant it into a container that is no bigger than an inch wider than the root ball. Shallow is fine. This is because Camellias can be slow to send out roots and having too much potting mix means water will be sitting - a sure bet for rotten roots further on. Put some fresh mix on the surface to replace what you took off but don't add any extra fertiliser. Be sure that the mix you use has NO 'water crystals and is very free draining to encourage root growth. Stand the pot on feet in a spot that is sheltered from the wind and midday sun. Wait. It may take all summer for a recovery. Keep it lightly moist. It's probably best to dunk the pot in water once a week so it is thoroughly wet, then slowly dries out, rather than spritzing it with the hose. When you see new leaves emerging sprinkle about a teaspoon of a reliable slow release fertiliser on the surface. Another possible is pelletised sheep manure. Just make sure it doesn't crust and stop water getting through. As summer moves on, give it more light and let it get its new leaves toughened up. If you're prepared to provide it with frost shelter over the winter (frost cloth or a hessian cover) and it has recovered, you might want to plant it out at the end of August when the soil is still warm and you've got about eight weeks before Frost in Earnest begins. (I'm assuming you're at the southern end of the Island.) If you check over the hole you created for it - is it flooded at all? If so, choose a better-drained spot. You could do it now and use the site for annuals - weeding and feeding until it's time to plant out. PS - I've had Apple Blossom in a 20l bucket since 1987. Flowers reliably. In good health. It's an option, anyhow.

Glad that my suggestion may help, gatormomx2. The "pot-within-a-pot" system has the added benefit of protecting the tree from blow-over damage in strong winds. Also, you can incorporate a tree into a garden area without it looking out-of-place. For my Key lime, I used those circular storage tubs you can get from WalMart for about $5-6 each, and they have heavy woven nylon rope handles. Cut a few drainage holes in the bottom, and they're good to go. puglvr1 -- I use the large 10x12 frost blankets, and try to use them double-thickness when I can, although on the larger trees I have to spread them all the way out. As for heat, I, too, use Christmas lights on a couple of trees. But for my mango trees and citrus, I use a 140-foot heating cable I bought from Charley's. I planted six of my most sensitive trees (including three mangoes) near an outside outlet, so I can loop about 8-10 feet of cable around the base of each tree. The entire cable puts out 700 watts, so each foot is worth 5 watts...not much. As the trees get larger, I'm going to have to augment with Christmas lights (on a different circuit!) as well. The winter temps up here are brutal! This past winter, even with the heat and frost blankets, killed my jakfruit and knocked my Mallika mango back to an inch of the graft. It's so frustrating to try to grow nice things, and so incredibly labor-intensive too. I must have rocks in my head... -Bruce

I would be interested if you get some good answers here. I do know that a lot of plants do not live if they lose their leaves but maybe the Roma will. I live in Western NC and have had a lot of problems here between the wind, the rain and an unexpected cold night in between. My husky cherry tomatoes and romas hung upside down in plastic buckets (5 gallon with a handle) are having a problem with brown leaves. I cannot tell if I overwatered or didn't water enough. Also, the sun does not directly hit them. Used Miracle Gro organic soil. Maybe someone will answer all our questions. Good luck.

If you have new green growth, it will likely survive but you set it back a long ways. You gave your pepper plant a severe case of sunburn. Basically the same thing that happens to us if we go outside without protection early in the spring. Usually we don't loose our arms, legs and hair though. Give the upper stem a little more time to recover, but if it continues to die, then prune it just above the new growth. In the future you need to "harden off" your peppers before dumping them out there in the brutal sun and wind.