Help me with my Astilbe

[heartmama]

I planted some Key West Astilbe a few weeks ago. They looked great at first, and I followed the directions to water them regularly, every other day or every two days depending on rain.

The leaves look almost burned now, like from chemicals or watering during the day. Neither of which I do. Should I pull them out, or do you think they might make a comeback?

FWIW I planted some regular Astilbe as well, and those look fine.

[dirtyred]

How much sun are are they getting, and what time of day?

[heartmama]

Part sun, mostly morning. Maybe a little in the afternoon, but the afternoon sun is not direct because of a huge tree.

[FoxInFiji]

Astilbe tend to suffer from transplant shock easily. Did it have blooms on it when you planted it? If so cut them off so the plant can focus it's energy on foliage and root growth. Keep watering it 1" of water per week. Put a rain gauge next to the plant so you know how much rain it's getting and how long you need to water it for. Over watering can increase transplant shock and poor root establishment especially if it was was root bound in the pot to begin with (very common at cheap nurseries).

Don't pull them out yet. I've had astilbe make big comebacks from their transplant shock either later in the season or the following spring depending on when I planted it.

[heartmama]

Awesome, that was the answer I was hoping for. I thought that might have been the problem, but I have never done astilbe before. I will leave them be. I may have started over watering, I won't lie I panicked that I wasn't watering enough when I saw the leaves start to look bad.

[vanillahip]

May 22, 2012 14:32:48 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

Don't pull them out yet. I've had astilbe make big comebacks from their transplant shock either later in the season or the following spring depending on when I planted it.

Ditto this! None of my astilbe looked great the first year planted, second year was meh but then 3rd-current they're full and beautiful and awesome. Don't give up on them yet!