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| Hello. About 2 weeks I received an umbrella bonsai as a gift by surprise. It saw it was healthy on the top, but many of the leaves at the bottom were dry, shriveled and falling off. I read the plant's instruction pamphlet which told me to water by misting the soil well, and apply mist to the plant often. It also suggested facing southern sunlight, to get plenty of it, and not let temperatures fall below 50 degrees F.
Apparently the person who sold the plant was very concerned about it traveling to my home that day, since the temperatures were in the 20s with high winds. On its journey it was wrapped up well, and had about a 25 minute journey home through the cold. The friend who bought it did not remember seeing dead leaves on it in the store. I wondered if they might have died on the way home in extreme temperatures. Last week I was on vacation and I had another friend coming over to care for my plants. He was more familiar with bonsais and noticed that the soil was extremely dry so he soaked the pot in water, and said I had not been watering it enough. He also put the tree on a shallow tray of water to maintain humidity. The "soaking" was about 8 days ago and the soil is still moist, so I am guessing the plant isn't drinking much. When I returned from vacation I saw that new leaves were sprouting on top (and a little growth in other places), while more leaves on the bottom of the plant had died, and are continuing to die. I still have only been misting the plant since it doesn't seem to need a drink (soil is moist), and it is always in a shallow tray of water. My apartment only gets southern light which is quite sparse since an 18 story apartment building is directly to the south. With the winter days I am guessing the tree sees no more than 6 hours of light a day, and many only 3-4 of it direct, if that. I am hoping for an expert opinion on what I can do, and what may be causing the leaves to shrivel and die. Also, should I should remove the dead leaves or let them fall naturally? My friend already removed most of them. Should I re-pot it and look for rotten roots? The branches where the leaves are dried appear to be brittle and dead too. Should I remove these or give them more time to recover? I have read that pruning in "off-season" for growing may hurt the tree. Any help is greatly appreciated. Please advise. Thank you! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Ok, first get the pot out of the water... the roots will rot (trust me). Second, stop misting the soil. You'll get mold and who knows what. Dig your finger into it deeper than 1" and if it's dry there, water properly from above - enough so all the roots actually get a drink, but drain it in the sink - it may not have been watered properly in a while. If it's not dry though, don't water til it is - Scheffleras can get pretty dry between waterings and will react badly to being kept wet all the time. Thirdly, get it into more light for a lot of hours a day. And lastly, DO get a wide and high-sided tray of stones with water up to just below the stones. THEN put the pot on that for humidity - more effective than spraying but won't rot anything. Also keep the whole thing in a relatively warm but not drying atmosphere. Don't worry about the dead leaves - remove then if you want to, it doesn't matter much. And be patient... give it time to recover. Just remember once it's properly watered continue to do it that way, but allow a lot of the soil to dry out in between times. If you can repot, it would be best to do so adding lots of grit (perlite, small aquarium gravel) for fast drainage, which is really the key to growing healthy trees. |
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| Thank you so much Lucy! I will try this and let you know how it goes. I am off to buy a nice tray and stones tonight, and I will stop misting too! I moved it to where it will get more light and I'll do my best with the humidity temperature. Humid days in NY like today are sure to be helpful. I will plan to repot in the near future too, once I have what I need to do this. Thanks again! Your advice is very helpful. |
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