Begonia wilted after repotting

anomalocaris · Wed Apr 05, 2017 6:14 am

Hi! Yesterday I bought a healthy-looking begonia. When I went to repot it, I saw that it was extremely root-bound, so I tried to loosen things up. I may have gone too far--I accidentally ripped out a chunk of roots, but I hoped it would be okay and repotted it anyway. Then it completely wilted overnight. Did I kill it? Is there anything I can do to save it? I'm really disappointed.

john gault · Wed Apr 05, 2017 6:59 am

It'll probably be ok. Some plants don't like to be transplanted and show signs of distress, I.e. they have a droopy look.

It's called transplant shock, but the plant usually rebounds after a while. I've noticed that sunflowers are prone to transplant shock and there are many other plants. Personally I'm not sure of Begonias...

anomalocaris · Wed Apr 05, 2017 7:05 am

Thanks--I hope you're right.

applestar · Wed Apr 05, 2017 8:40 am

Yeah, I think it will recover also. Just keep it in a shaded or dappled shade location for today and maybe next couple of days -- always good to do this after reporting and uppotting -- and keep it watered -- not too wet, but evenly moist.

Also, for next time, be sure to water (soak) well before removing from the smaller pot. Often the center of the root mass is completely dry. I would have plopped the root-bound plant in a container of water before doing anything else at that point.

anomalocaris · Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:54 am

Thanks, guys! You were totally right--I was about to give up on it, and then yesterday it started to perk back up. It's still looking pretty sad, but I'll keep watering it. I'm really hoping the buds didn't die...it would be nice to get some flowers.

rainbowgardener · Sun Apr 09, 2017 3:43 pm

Way more plants get killed by too much kindness than too much neglect. You don't want to let your begonia dry out, but they are sensitive to over-watering. It should be in very well draining soil. After it is watered, don't water again until the soil is dry to your first knuckle, when you put a finger in it. And don't fertilize at all until it starts growing again. When a plant is struggling, fertilizer, especially strong synthetics is just another stress.