Now that I have watched the station cycle, it's not nearly enough water. I just read that shrubs need water to 2 feet below ground. I don't have the right amount of water pressure. Many of the bubblers did not have enough pressure to fire. I took the tops of 3 or 4 of them and changed the setting from 15 minutes to 45 minutes twice a week. I really hope it's not too late, you can see salt stains on many of them.....not sure if I should keep the low flow and increase time to whatever it takes or to up the pressure for a shorter amount of time.......feedback appreciated!

take a hand trowel in and around the gob of soil you planted .. AND FIND OUT how far and deep water is getting ...

increase hours of saturation ... until the entire root mass is MOIST ... not sodden... allow to near dry .. before doing it again ... aka.. dig more holes ..

you will never READ a solution proposed by someone else .... .. about your soil.. in your weather with your system ...

you only need to water to the depth of the roots planted... i dont know if that is 2 feet or not ...

in my sand.. in my MI.. with my water tape... it might take 6 to 8 hours of running the water.. for it to get that deep ...

and finally.. also understand.. once its moist at depth ... except in extreme drought ... it shouldnt dry much below 6 inches ...

i lied.. one more thing.. lol ... i hope at planting.. they were properly and deeply watered in ... and not just bubbled in ... if not.. this is probably your base issue ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

above.. sunburn was ruled out ... but even a plant with high tolerance of any given variable.. can be affected by said variable.. if it is a transplant ...

==>>> lets call it stress ... whether it is lack of water.. tissue damage from sun caused by lack of water.. shipping damage from grower to seller to you ... etc ... or all of the above ... something along these lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUvzzEtNevY

as such.. imo ... they are not hungry ... they are stressed.. so fert is not a response ... perfect water ... and in tree/shrub time.. they will recover .. and that is usually after spring flush... when new growth hides old damage ... dont expect some of the worse leaves themselves to recover ... but any green on a leaf is still doing its job converting sunshine into food ...

ken

You can always get one of those watering spikes from HD and feed it with a bubbler, gets water down deep.

Thanks for all the feedback! Turns out that the drip line in the front is barely enough pressure and it struggles to clear the air from the line (which is causing some of the bubblers to fail). In general I think it's not enough water with salt burn and also we have had temperatures just below freezing recently so I'm thinking potential damage/stress caused by this. I did dig some holes near each plant and the ground was moist. I will up the run time by 100% and keep an eye out on them. Patience ......

They were planted recently. Their roots are barely beginning to extend outward from the original rootball. The leaf damage is from too little water. That damage will NOT go away.

It doesn't matter how tough, or drought-resistant, the trees/shrubs might ultimately become. Right now, the rootballs need water and, perhaps, temporarilly shade the aboveground parts, to decrease their water requirement a bit.

The most critical place to water, right now, is the root ball -- and more than 2/week. Then, occasionally add water outside the rootball.

To accomplish your goal, it's helpful to raise a slight ridge at the edge of the rootball.

Research for info about "how to water newly planted trees."

- Two years of supplemental water are required to develop a sturdy root system.

- The larger the tree at planting time, the more time it will need to grow the required roots.