Saving Dawn Redwood Bonsai

15 years ago

Hi,

I recently bought a couple of 4' tall Dawn Redwoods from a nursery, and am now trying to transition them into bonsai. The leaves were already a little brown, supposedly because fall's approaching, but otherwise they looked healthy.

However, I think I made the mistake of dramatically trimming both their roots and foliage. I later read that you're supposed to do one or the other, but not both, in order to give the plant time to recover from the shock.

I'm now growing the plants hydroponically indoors using a deep water culture, on a sunny window sill with supplemental fluorescent lighting. I've used this method to successfully grow a White Willow and Ficus.

While both Redwoods have grown back a lot of their roots, nearly all their remaining foliage has turned brown and died. They still have a lot of small green buds, but they don't seem to be growing any new leaves.

Is there anything I can do to save them at this point? My house is air conditioned, and the air's a little dry. I've read that Dawn Redwood's do well is wet soil, but do they also require high humidity in the air?

Comments (3)

lucy
15 years ago
Hi, A/C is bad for any plants really, and the air will be drier than you realize for plants, however what I think did in your trees (if there's no green under the bark when you make a scratch on the trunk, they're goners) is the timing of your work. Spring, just before buds open, is when you should be doing all that pruning. Trees are in the process of going dormant now for winter and don't do well if stressed by cutting. I think we've all been there though, so try again next year. Fall and winter are not the time to do any work on trees except maybe light work on indoor tropicals. BTW, roots grown in water as yours are (tho' it won't matter to them at this point) are generally not as strong as those in soil, and when you go to pot them up, don't always do very well as a result.
betula_pondula
15 years ago
do you have any pics? i also agree with lucy that ac is bad for any trees i have left trees indoors for a few days with a/c and they wilted up when i took them back outside from dramatic heat shock. not good.
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cerin
Original Author
15 years ago
Sorry for the late reply. I didn't realize this forum doesn't have reply notification.

Thanks for the tips. However, I don't have any intention of potting them or taking them outside, and intend on growing them hydroponically indefinitely (if they don't completely die of course). I simply don't have the time or patience to manually water them.

Anyways, here are some photos of the one redwood that still has some green:

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Is the sprout at the bottom good or bad? I've heard that when a Sequoia/Redwood dies, it will stimulate the growth of buds near the base of the trunk.