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anasc

Is my Fukien Tea Bonsai dead???

anasc
17 years ago

I bought a F. Tea at a fair in Feb (my first bonsai).

We live in an apt. and have the tree sitting next to a big window. The tree started shedding leaves when it got here and I notices it had tiny mites and smelled damp (It caught my attention because I have never owned plants that expelled somewhat "unpleasant" odors).

We left for 5 days and totally forgot to leave the window shade opened, when we returned, the tree was turning yellow and the leaves began falling even faster until they were completely gone or "burnt" and curled up.

It's been 2 months, the tree has not leaves and non are growing back. It seems it's still alive (I scratched the trunk and it was green). I water it weekly and have given it vitamins, but nothing seems to work... The moss that surraround the trunk is green and healthy, but that's about it.

I would really like to revive this tree, the trunk is gorgeous and twisted. Is there something I can do to help this tree and bring it back to it's deep green folliage?

Comments (4)

  • lucy
    17 years ago

    Hi... F. teas do need warm rooms, very high light (usually supplementary full spectrum fluorescents 6 inches away x 15 hrs/day), and high humidity, which means you need a wide tray with 1-2" hi. sides full of stones for the pot to sit on, and full of water - never high enough to touch the pot though - for humidity. Spraying is a huge waste of time and creates mildew. They should be in a mix with lots of grit in it (either lots of perlite and/or some small size aquarium gravel) for fast drainage, and as little potting soil (too full of water retaining peat) as possible... a local garden ctre can help you find porous soil (but CLEAN) with slightly larger particles. They also - in that fast draining mix - need to be watered when the top of the soil is dry, not a day later, but not earlier either. Yellowing leaves usually means the soil is too wet, either because you water too often and/or because the soil's full of soggy peat with no grit. It's not a house plant and won't survive the way you're growing it. Good luck though and come back in a month or two to say how it's doing.

  • tanyag
    16 years ago

    Get rid of the moss and concentrate on the tree. If you can get away with watering once a week, your soil is definitely not free-draining enough. FT don't like to be dry either. I went five days and mine died when I first started out. I would definitely take it out of the soil, inspect the roots, and change the soil. Give it a few weeks and see what happens. They are senstive to movement and will drop their leaves just moving from room to room, but when mine did that, the new leaves were sprouting within a week.

  • sequitur
    15 years ago

    If your moss is doing well, that means your Fukien is not. Moss grows in shade and in dampness. It's not a health indicator for your tree. Fukiens need 56-76 degree temperatures, and it loves humidity. Don't overwater your Fukien. When you worry, you usually water. Don't do that, but don't let it dry out completely either. If you have a well draining soil mix, and if it's in good natural light, once every two or three days is good. Make sure it has adequate light, and screw the moss. Your tree needs leaves to make the food that it needs. Right now, just water as mentioned, give it diluted bonsai food (make sure it's diluted. When in doubt, less is more. Low nitrogen, high phosphate. Too much and it will kill your tree)and hang tight. Also, quit scratching your tree. When you're sick, would you like to be scratched? Some will tell you that your tree is hibernating, but they're wrong. Fukiens never truly hibernate, and by your comments, it seems that you're severely neglecting your tree. It's a growing thing and it needs attention. If you can't do it, give it to someone who can.

  • Rita Bansal
    3 years ago

    Hi, temprature here is 100ferenhite, my feiken tea bonsai came as a gift on 14 Feb it she'd leaves but sprouted new ones few flowers too. Temp increase and leaves fell heavily all branches llook very dry


    Please help I don't want to

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