You could actually be over watering. Symptoms of over watering are very similar to under watering. You say if you pour water in and it immediately runs out tells me that the medium is saturated. I had the same problem when I switched to GM, and now 4 years later my JM's look fantastic. I water 2 times a week, 3 times if its 90+ F.
I did an experiment where I put a volume of unused GM in a pot and watered it and left it for 1 week. I tipped the GM out of the pot and was amazed at how much moisture was still in the pot.

Did you leave it in the sun or wind, or with the roots exposed for more than a few minutes when you re-potted? Did you pot in in direct sunlight after re-potting?

Please give more details of what you did when you constructed the mix, and what you did during re-potting.

Interesting, I figured if the soil was over-saturated, it would have a tough time "sinking" in the soil. I figured since it comes right out, it must be fairly dry. I will say I the roots might have been out and exposed for around 5-10 mins during the repot. It is in shade. There is "some" wind I suppose. I constructed the mix as per the instructions in the gritty mix thread, and had not much difficulty..I thought..

Get some of those little bamboo shish kebab skewers. Stick one in the pot for 30 minutes. Pull it out and inspect it, if it is moist, do not water, if it comes out dry, water. Also lift the pot a few times a day and get to know the weight of it immediately after you water, and after 3 days. If you have a similarly sized pot fill it with GM and do not put ANY water in it. Use that as a comparitive referance. If the 2 pots weight seem similar, don't water. It the tree pot is much heavier, do not water.

This isn't a good time of year to re-pot, if you bare rooted it and left it out for 10 minutes, some of the fine root hairs that do the bulk of the water uptake may have damaged.

Keep it in a shady spot and water every three days. It may take a few weeks to rebound from the transplant shock.

Good stuff. I think it's def possible that some of the fine root hairs during the transplant got damaged or are actually gone now. Thanks so much for the advice I really appreciate it.

Here is a pic before the transplant.

And RIGHT after the transplant. It looks much worse now though.

I wouldn't panic. Maples are generally pretty tough trees.

Spaceman's advice is also what I would recommend. I would keep it in some shade for a couple of weeks and see what happens. The bamboo skewer or wooden dowel is a good idea, one that I also use with my trees. There's no point in flooding the roots, and the wooden skewer will tell you how wet or dry things are down in the root zone. The top inch or two of soil might be dry but chances are the soil near the bottom, where the roots are, is going to be damp or wet.

Keep us posted and good luck.

TYG

The fact that you bare-rooted a maple in full leaf in High Summer is the reason for the extreme shock. No doubt you killed many if not most / all of the fine roots. It might survive, it might not. Next time, re-pot when the tree is just about to break dormancy in the Spring, and neither you nor the tree will notice anything at all.

I agree with the recommendations here: get a wooden kabob skewer and use it to determine the moisture in the pot. Also, water slowly, preferably with a nozzle that has a "shower" setting, or a bonsai can with a water-break tip. Slowly, thoroughly, watering the entire surface.

Josh

Thanks guys..I will hold off watering it so much leave it alone, and see what happens.

As for transplanting it the way I did, I was just following the advice from the guys at the tree forum (shake of 90% of soil and repot in new mix) ha! Now I'll know for next time.

Thanks again guys, appreciate the help.