"I water it every evening".... that's probably the trouble unless you specifically have checked right down into the soil for moisture (or lack of it), possibly with a chopstick left in place until you're more familiar with its needs. What mix is it planted in? How deep is the whole thing? Can you post a picture? Conifers generally like to dry out between waterings, then get a solid drink. Is there drainage under the ... slab? How much sun does it get and is there any natural water within a few hundred yards (larch appreciate that for natural humidity, but I would think Michigan has enough, though if your tree's soil has been too hot (current circumstances) with no relief, and possibly needs water MORE often, especially if the slab is shallow, that's another thing to explore.

Not sure about the mix, it looks very black and fine, the crust on top is hard and I have poked small holes in the top to receive the water, when I water it it does obsorb the water. The shallow pot is about 3 " high 12 x 27". Yes there is drainage under the pot. it has sun from 9:00 AM till 3:00 PM. We have a fountain near by. We live in okanagan Canada, perhaps my zone number is not correct. Not sure how to post a picture.

Hi again (from Moncton!). I think 5 is about right for where you are. You said it absorbs the water, but how fast does it drain? How have you been judging dryness up until now? "Black" does not sound very good unless it's also grit (vs loam, etc.).

"Fine" sounds even worse, but you said you have a bunch of other bonsai... what are they growing in? I hope you realize trying to repot a forest will be difficult as you'll need help, if only someone else's hands holding the whole thing together underneath when you lift it up/out. Can you get hold of a local club to do that?

Thank you for your help, yesterday I poked some chopsticks into the soil, i measured the soil with a moisture meter that read very dry we lifted it into a large water filled container for about 15 minutes, misted the forest all over, the meter now reads wet. The forest was planted by a Bonsai Master in Surrey B.C. Yes I belong to a Bonsai Club. We hope to have the Surrey Master for a work-shop in September and will have to address the re-potting. With your help my forest will survive, I will keep you posted. Thanks again, you have been a great help.

Hi - Please, please learn to judge dryness on your own, meters are not going to do the job perfectly and often do it very imperfectly, but you should want to know for yourself how to judge things and not depend on a machine... that's not 'doing' bonsai :-). Also, it is bad practice to dunk trees/pots at all. You should be watering from above like rain, til it reaches the drain holes. You will continue to have trouble if you don't understand what's going on with your trees on a day to day basis, or how to treat them properly.

Okay I will water it from the top like rain, I love my forest and want to do the right thing.On my last e-mail about the content of my other Bonsai, which is Academa. While poking into the forest soil we found some grit and loam. Your help is greatly appreciated. thank you from British Columbia, Canada. What does Optional Link URL: or name of Link: mean? Keep me posted I need your help!

I guess OL URL is if you want to add a link to your own (or refer to another) website for any reason. Do you have to be so far away (from New Brunswick)? The kind of grit you want is Akadama, but it's expensive, so look at other things. I find that gravel for aquariums is clean, comes in natural colors and diff. sizes, the tiny glassy kind being too small for some trees, but not others, and the small pea-sized painted-look kind just right. Don't use found stuff if you can help it because you don't know what else is in there, like insect eggs, etc. The only time you'd use it would be when transplanting a dug tree and needing to keep its own large rootball until you get a chance, at the right time of year, to get it into a container.