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How can I revive a Goji berry bush after it has gone into shock. I moved the bush to a separate larger space and it was OK for the first and second day, but has continued to wilt from then.

Will I have to get rid of it or is there a way to save it?

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  • More info needed...
    – Bamboo
    Apr 30, 2016 at 12:30

3 Answers 3

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It seems that you caused too much root damage and the roots now cannot load up water as fast as it is being lost through the leaves to the air - hence, the loss of turgidity.

You need to put it in a humidity tent or makeshift terrarium. In this limited space the relative humidity will stay near 100% and, in essence, no more water will be lost by transpiration. If the plant is small, you can make a tent with by cutting the bottom off a plastic container and placing it over the plant or you can use a translucent plastic bag. If it is a large plant you may need to make a frame around the plant, pot, and all that you cover with clear/translucent plastic (polyethylene) sheeting. The tent needs to be closed, but not 'hermetically sealed'.

Of course the tented plant needs to be in shade where it only gets indirect sunlight. You can spray inside the tent occasionally with a solution of 2 tablespoons 3% hydrogen peroxide in one quart of water. This will kill most fungi and bacteria that might infect your plant.

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I concur with Jim Young that only giving it indirect sunlight, and putting a humidity dome is a good idea (for pretty much any transplant). A humidity dome may not work if it's too hot, however. The hotter it is, the more ventilation you may need. I would personally give it at least a little ventilation whether or not it's hot, though. However, I would also like to add that giving it some extra potassium (such as potassium sulfate) should help it, too. Potassium should help the plant to absorb water and be good for the roots. Phosphorus may or may not also help. Nitrogen will hurt it, at this point, however.

Potassium sulfate has always seemed to help transplants, in my experience. Putting a milk jug (no cap) over transplanted tomatoes and stuff also helps, in my experience (if it's not too hot).

I don't concur with Jim Young about 3% hydrogen peroxide. In my experience, it hasn't done anything to limit fungi (at least the kinds I tried it for). Plus, the 3% kind can have toxic stabilizers in it (like organophosphates; I know, because I contacted the manufacturer of mine). These may or may not hurt your plant, but they are toxic to humans. If you want to use hydrogen peroxide, I recommend using the food grade kind that is super potent, and dilluting it (for safety and efficiency). It should be free of weird chemicals.

I've heard a rumor that rockdust is helpful for transplants. I don't know if it's true, but I've used powdered basalt a lot for transplants and it didn't hurt, at least. It seemed to help, if anything.

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Decided to answer anyway, although I would have liked more information. If you're saying you dug up from the ground a goji bush and replanted it elsewhere, it would be handy to know how big the bush was, or how long you'd had it in the ground, and whether you pruned back the topgrowth when you moved it. Assuming you did dig it up and replant, it now lacks the ability to seek out water for itself via its roots - those particular, delicate roots will have been destroyed or compromised by being moved. You can save it, it needs frequent and heavy amounts of water, until those fragile roots have re-established themselves, or grown anew. So water, water and more water - shade from any hot sun would be beneficial at the moment, if its exposed to that. And you will need to keep watering for at least a fortnight if your weather isn't torrential rain - a little bit of rain will do nothing for those roots, you'll still need to water. If the plant was large, and assuming you're in the northern hemisphere, its usual to reduce the topgrowth by a third so that the plant has less growth to support (reduction of transpiration) while it adjusts to its new situation and recovering from the damage caused, but its hard to say whether you should do that now without knowing how big the plant is and whether you did actually dig it up or simply moved it from a pot into the ground. If you moved it from a pot into the ground, the same thing applies - water.

You haven't said where you are in the world, but although water loss is the most likely explanation, if you're somewhere cold and the plant was in full leaf when you moved it to a more open position, then its possible its reacting to increased exposure compared with its previous position.

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