名媛直播

I have a Ligustrum Sinense bonsai, which I bought in 2017 and was started in 1999. Over the Christmas holidays (which was about 2 and a half weeks) I left my bonsai in the care of my housemate. I gave them instructions on how to water it and how often to water it, but they didn't follow through (watered it maybe every 4 days and watered it wrong by pouring water on top like you would for a normal houseplant). So I came home to a very dried out bonsai.

This is what it looks like after I removed most of the dead leaves and branches (the one on there was being stubborn so I left it in hopes it will revive a bit)


Scratched bark of the main trunk


These parts look a little bit green if you look closely



I've been watering it regularly, and also have been adding some feed to the water twice a week (brand is 名媛直播 Focus), but the soil has this white mold on top and I try to clean it out from the surface, but it eventually grows back, are my roots dead? I tried to smell them from underneath the pot, as I read somewhere that that's a good way to check if they're rotting, but it didn't smell funky.



I'm also scared to repot it off-season. What do I do?

Yep, very dead (and no, it's dead, it won't recover).

Your mates didn't do it wrong. Watering over the top is how you water bonsai.

If you could not water the plant that way, and had to submerge it, the problem was the soil.

I always watered it by filling the tray under the pot, but the way my friend did it probably didn't provide much. Yeah, I guess I should give upn on it then :'(

Sino_Potter wrote: I always watered it by filling the tray under the pot

Which is not the right way to water a plant.

You can water it from the bottom up though, by soaking it for a couple of minutes. Or at least I've seen that in many sources (youtube videos and such). It worked for 3 years, either way. I'm no expert. Thank you for letting me know!

Sino_Potter wrote: You can water it from the bottom up though, by soaking it for a couple of minutes

You can and it's not the right way.