What kind of soil did you use and what type of pot? What exposure did you have the tree? Did you protect the roots from freezing by burying the pot? Are you growing this as bonsai or just as a container plant?

You might want to post over on Tree Forum also. Please add more information on how you were growing this tree.

Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree Forum

The Pot is Clay pot...exposure just the winter month....we wrap the pot with insulation over the entire winter.

thanks

Hi Junmilo. I don't usually deal with trees this large, but I've dealt with some that were pushing 3 to 3.5 ft so I will tell you where I would start on this.

First off, you may be using a soil that is simply too compact (and has too much organic matter). Try to get your hands on some soil with more grit than your current batch. Or if you have enough left over I would take what you've got and mix in a bunch of hadite, or something similar.

I think the problem is that your tree is not getting enough drainage (from the sounds of the pot). The roots of the tree don't soak up water, they actually soak up water vapor so if your soil is always really wet the water probably doesn't have enough air passing by it to evaporate. Air is also an essential consumable for your roots and you don't want to suffocate them by using something like potting soil.

What I would do from here is repot the tree. I would remove it from it's current pot and get most the soil off the roots. Then I would place the tree roots in a bath of water and Superthrive (you can find this at Home Depot). I would let it soak while you prepare the pot making sure you add a drainage layer (and possibly more holes in the pot if necessary). Use the new (more course) soil to repot the tree and give it a thorough watering with a water-Superthrive mix. If your soil is correctly mixed the water should not collect at the top but rather pass right through the soil.

When I have similar emergencies this is what I do. I actually just had to do this on three Ficus trees. They are doing well but like you I did lose a few branches that just dried out. The house sitter neglected my babies!!!