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Wed, Mar 4, 09 at 11:09
| Hi, I hope somebody can help. I had a Hawaiian Umbrella tree bonzai for 2 years and it thrived. Suddenly it got leaf drop and died. I replaced it with another tree from the same vendor. It comes pre-potted in a ceramic dish which I placed in the same humidity tray as the first one. Now 3 months later, the leaf drop is starting again. Nothing has changed in terms of care or environment.
The instructions said to keep constantly moist, which I have always done. Could there be some fungus or something in the humidity tray that is causing this condition to occur again? I'd hate to lose another one. Thanks for any help you can provide. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Hi, you haven't given any information about lighting, temperature, or fertilizer to go by, so I'll just run through a few things. BTW, please note that it's bonSai, not bonZai - the trees are not suicidal, just small :-). Scheffleras need to dry out quite a bit between waterings so "constantly" moist is definitely not a good idea. Those care tags and/or vendors are often literally worse than useless because their advice so often fits no tree as they try to fit all, having no real knowledge of trees to begin with. Also, if your pot in the humidity tray is sitting directly in the water, instead of above it on pebbles (or anything rust-free) you're begging for rotted roots (and probable fungus), especially in early to mid winter when even indoor tropicals need a break from watering, which BTW should always be done from the top down, not by sub- or immersion, to wash out chemicals and bring in 02. House plant fertilizer should be used about every 10 days except in winter when monthly is better, and Scheffs need a lot of light up to 16 hours a day. Also, keeping any plant in a small pot more than a year unless it's very old and established, without repotting (which includes root pruning and replacement of soil) will eventually kill it as roots have nowhere to go and soil is used up. "Soil" in bonsai generally means no peat moss, which is the main ingredient in 'potting soil', as it first is difficult to 'wet', but once wet, doesn't drain and turns to soggy mush or concrete. Larger particle ingredients are needed (as is immediate removal of any glued on layer of pebbles BTW if your tree came with one) such as mostly aquarium gravel with just little bits of bark in it for organic nutrition and water holding, as well as fast draining soil from a nursery, a coarse, porous type (not from your garden!). A bag of Schultz Orchid mix can provide most of the type of mix your tree needs, though I'd break down some of the wood into smaller pieces (it's soft) and replace the stones with smaller ones. Bonsai are not just decorative house plants and need knowledgable care and ongoing maintenance, so you'd do well to start reading as much as you can. A good site for basics for both indoor and outdoor trees would be www.bonsai4me.com, as well as www.bonsaihunk.us/cultural.html, and for anything not tropical that needs to live outdoors for life, go to www.evergreengardenworks.com as well. |
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- Posted by geoff_cincy (My Page) on Wed, Mar 4, 09 at 18:29
| wow lucy... thanks so much for your comprehensive reply with regard to my BonSAI :)) I will indeed do more research, obviously I need to! As far as conditions, it's in my apartment generally between 70-80 degrees, gets southern light all day and the ceramic pot which has large holes in the bottom rests on gravel in a wooden humidity tray. Is some leaf drop normal? Don't know if any of that effects your diagnosis? Thanks so much for your prompt reply, I really appreciate it. |
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- Posted by head_cutter (My Page) on Mon, Mar 9, 09 at 19:40
| Most tropicals will experience 'leaf-drop' when they are shocked by a change in temp/light or humidity. Lucy gave good advice about light...very good advice, I will add intensity to what she said. I go through the same thing every year during our monsoon season, mostly with my Ficus. Daily light levels and temps are way below the rest of the year, it rains almost 24/7 for 2-3 months. The good news is that, being in a tropical climate, they pop right back. |
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