Plant was bought as a pair last October. Was in pot all winter, planted outside in March (zone 7B). One of the apple plants is thriving whereas this one pictured is nearly dead. The leaf of one branch started to wilt 2 weeks ago. I cut off the leaves off that branch and sprayed neem oil assuming powder mildew. Next day hosed the complete plant off just in case it is spider mites. Two weeks after, not a single healthy leaf on this one.
I was taking pics to post here and noticed that a couple of roots are exposed. When I felt them , they felt like dead wood and not like root system. Any of the cold snaps or sun might have killed the plant due to exposed root?
Should I try re-planting it deeper or move a little from the slope? Or just throw in the towel and get a new one?
Type: Red Delicious Location: North Georgia (Suburbs ATL) Recent temp is rainy + sunny, any plant should ideally thrive.
Other apple plant is 12-15 feet away and is thriving (I think Fuji). I removed all flowers from both plants in April so as to let them root this year. It might be a little late for transplant shock.
Images and videos are here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IvSaaMF9CO89qAn2ebK8yLbgVa_-x07H
