How cold was it when it was brought home and are there drainage holes in the bottom of the pot?

tj

did she repot it also??

its stressed from some big event ...

if she likes that pot.. use a pot in pot system .. hiding the ugly nursery pot inside the pretty pot .. and then you can lift it out to water it properly ... and once it drains ... slide it back in the pretty pot...

if she did repot.. what media did she use???

i would probably try to return it ... cold exposure could have happened during shipping.. but also.. they sent you out of the store without protecting it for you.. so its on them on some level ....

ken

That didn't happen in a couple of days from over-watering or poor drainage. I too, suspect chill injury as the underlying cause as the symptoms are classic

It helps to know where you live ...... or at least a large city near you. Was it carried from the store w/o the minimal protection of a bag covering the foliage, or carried to a cold car? Plant's needn't be subjected to freezing temps before chill injury occurs. It can occur at temps as high as 50* if the drop in temperature is sudden enough.

Al

That's what we figured, we're in Montreal and it's the coldest January in years. When she picked it up it was -20 C (less than 0 F).

The next question is will it come back to life?

Maybe. Don’t overwater and wait. I’d let the foliage stay on the plant as they may be able to transfer some carbohydrates back to the plant. Like Ken, I question any store that sells such a plant in bitter cold.

tj

There's only one degree of dead, so if it's no longer viable, it's sure to stay that way. OTOH, the woody parts of plants are better able to handle cold than the roots and foliage. It's a good bet the duration of the too cold temps was short enough that the root/soil mass was largely unaffected. If the tree has enough energy to push a new flush of growth to where some of the new leaves are able to reach about 75% of their maturity (the break-even point where the leaves are able to create more food/energy than they are using to grow), the tree should recover to the degree that the only thing you'll have to remind you of the set-back is the memory. Even if the upper part of the trunk has been damaged, the plant should come back from the base.

There are 2 things that should be mentioned. The first is, be sure you monitor soil moisture levels carefully. 1) The tree will use only a fraction of the amount of water you might expect it to because transpirational water loss w/o leaves will be almost nil. DAMP or MOIST are the operational words, and there should be no room for WET or SOGGY. 2) If the growing tip of the main stem has lost viability, you might get several branches competing for position as the new leader. Your decision then will be whether or not you want a tree with a single trunk or a clump with a number of trunks. If you want a single trunk, rub off the unwanted sprouts as soon as they occur, which will force the tree to expend all its energy on the trunk you choose.

Al

Al