Did I Kill My Pink Peppercorn Tree?

[CookEMann]

I recently repotted a Pink Peppercorn tree in a giant pot and it hasn't been looking good ever since. Leaves keep drying up, and falling off. Is this going to keep continuing, or is this normal for repotting a tree? The soil mixture I use was a third sand, a third compost, and a third peat moss? I feel like the soil isn't draining like I expected and wondering if its staying too moist. I gave it one good watering after the repotting, that was about two weeks ago. I haven't watered much since then except a little here and there. First time planting a tree, and first time using peat moss. Not sure what to do. Very Green. Should I repot, but this time without the peat moss?

 

[thistlebloom]

Hi CookEMann, welcome to the forum .

Is this a Schinus molle? Aka California pepper?
This is a potted tree that you have potted up into a bigger container?

If it is the pepper tree I'm familiar with that would be a lot of peat to put in a mix. They are tough, drought resistant desert type trees that grew and volunteered freely in our decomposed granite (in other words, poor) soil. Can you give us a photo and a general geographical location?

edited to add: My diagnosis would be the soil is too wet, and yes, repot without peat, I would use something light, more like a commercial cactus mix, maybe with some shredded bark and only a fraction of compost if any.

 

[CookEMann]

Yes, it's a Schinus molle. Potted into a bigger container. I'm in Oakland, California. I have a cactus mix, so I will repot when I get home today. What kind of bark? Can I use "gorilla hair"/ redwood. I have some of that laying around. And how about using some sand? Thank you. I'll post a picture later tonight.

 

[flowerbug]

i will be interested to see if perhaps the compost and peat moss got going further with added moisture. when you empty the pot see if it is really warm in the soil... i don't know anything about those trees at all.

 

[thistlebloom]

If you have cactus mix you can probably skip the bark. The point would be something fast draining. I'm not familiar with gorilla hair redwood bark. It might be too moisture retentive, and I would guess that pepper trees do best in a neutral pH soil.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

I recently repotted a Pink Peppercorn tree in a giant pot and it hasn't been looking good ever since. Leaves keep drying up, and falling off. Is this going to keep continuing, or is this normal for repotting a tree? The soil mixture I use was a third sand, a third compost, and a third peat moss? I feel like the soil isn't draining like I expected and wondering if its staying too moist. I gave it one good watering after the repotting, that was about two weeks ago. I haven't watered much since then except a little here and there. First time planting a tree, and first time using peat moss. Not sure what to do. Very Green. Should I repot, but this time without the peat moss?

Do you have any picture to send for that? let's see that tree... let's see if we can do something else... I know that a lot of people here in our threads will extend knowledge about that..