Transplanting caesalpinia pulcherrima

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basilio Athens, Greece(Zone 9b) Jul 28, 2006

I purchased recently a hundred caesalpinia pulcherrima seeds and almost all of them germinated quickly, so I have a whole lot of baby caesalpinias all around :). I put the seedlings in plastic pots since they were a couple of days old and they have grown to about 5 inches tall and equally wide within a couple of months. Generally, they are doing great, they love sun, heat and water and they have plenty of those. The problem is that I initially planted them in collective pots, putting from 8 to 12 seedlings in each, but now that they've grown I'm trying to transplant them to individual pots or the ground and the seedlings seem to suffer greatly and almost die from the shock. Most of their leaves dry out and fall almost immediately (although their growth remains intact, at least for the moment) and they generally look miserable and in danger. I take great care to minimize root damage, but occasionally a little root may be cut, as they are very tiny, long and sensitive. Do you have any idea what do I do wrong? I'm obviously a novice gardener and have no previous experience with growing plants from seed.

P.S. The soil that I use for all of my pots is of very good quality and the seedlings seem to appreciate it, as long as I don't move them.

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jul 28, 2006

I've found that C. pulcherrima is touchier and more sensitive than the other Caesalpinia's, so it may not be anything that you're doing wrong. I've had this happen to me with C. pulcherrima seedlings as well, and also with Delonix regia. I've had the same thing happen to a much more full grown plant too--I had gotten it through mail order from a company in a much more humid climate than where I live, and even though I babied it after potting it up all the leaves shrivelled up and fell off but the stems are still green so I'm hoping it'll adjust and come back!

One thing you could try is to increase the humidity for the seedlings after you transplant them--I've found this helps sometimes until they adjust to the new pot. I grow seeds in flats with a plastic lid over them, and some places sell a tall domed lid that you can put over larger seedlings, this is what I've used.

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