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Hi Everyone,
I bought these two bonsai ( a Serrissa and a Podocarpus) at the mall with the intention of "saving them" since they were not in good shape. I repotted them, and I have been taking care of them but I am obviously doing something wrong since they are doing worse than before.
The Podocarpus is making new leaves but they are soggy, although I don't think I am overwatering it.
Same for the Serissa. It started to have black tips on the leaves and I read that it is because of overwatering, so I started to water it less and now they are getting yellow.
I am a little lost here.
Any advice?

Hello, It's nice to see your good intentions, but I wouldn't buy and go straight for repot, it stresses the plant twice, sometimes when you repot a tree it's normal for some dehydration to occur, but if the podocarpus is budding, it should be ok... Serissas are a bit tricky in my opinion, I had a bad experience with it, but I had almost none experience by the time, and they are exotic here, so it wasan't easy for me... Sometimes too hot, sometime too cold, and I couldn't get the care right, so it yellowed, leaves dropped and it died...
I think that now all you have to do for the Serissa it's keep careing it, and hope for the best.

Ciao Sara

Serissa is actually a very difficult tree... it's quite hard to make it thrive in our standard home environment (too little light and humidity).
A friend of mine bought a Serissa and it started dying as soon as it arrived to her house...

The Podocarpus seems in a better condition (though, as Albas wrote, repotting soon after the purchase might have stressed it a bit too much)... as long as you place it outside!

It is a very good intention to buy tree in bad shape and try to rescue them. But there is a chance that you loose them and your money. On top of it you add incentive to treat trees that bad again. You are really supporting the business so they can send more trees to the same destiny.

I have seen the same good hearted inicitives in the pet trade. And that is possibly even worse. But your action, no matter how good intention is not good for the hobby.

Sorry for saying and I hope you dont mind.

It makes perfect sense. I never thought about it in this way. Thank you for giving me a different perspective on it.
I usually buy bonsais from the nursery, but this time I felt bad for these two little trees and made a mistake.
I appreciate you telling me how that has a "butterfly effect" on everything else.
Thank you again.

Thank you Albas.
Yeah, I heard Serissas are difficult trees. After buying it I started reading a lot about it and everyone was mentioning how hard it is to take care of them properly.
I will keep doing my best while knowing that it might still not be enough because of how sensitive it is.
And thank you for the repotting advice, I didn't know I was giving double stress to the trees.
I am still learning...

Grazie mille Ricky!
I definitely will not adventure myself in buying another Serissa after this one. Maybe in years from now, but I can tell it is very sensitive to every minimal change.
And yes I am keeping the Podocarpus outside..except when it is too cold or too windy (for example I know we have a week of rain and cold temperatures ahead so I am afraid it will have to spend a lot of time inside the house. I bought LED lights and I hope it helps in tricking the tree to think it is outside)

Tropfrog wrote: It is a very good intention to buy tree in bad shape and try to rescue them. But there is a chance that you loose them and your money. On top of it you add incentive to treat trees that bad again. You are really supporting the business so they can send more trees to the same destiny.

I have seen the same good hearted inicitives in the pet trade. And that is possibly even worse. But your action, no matter how good intention is not good for the hobby.

Sorry for saying and I hope you dont mind.

It really is hard to save one. If you can put a lot of effort and time, then you could try.

Do not bring plants inside because you think it’s cold outside. Plants have evolved to stay in one spot their entire life, and have their own mechanisms to cope with seasons and temperatures. What they really do not likens being brought inside, then out again. And you can forget about that grow light, it’s another thing to get money out of your pockets

Thank you so much! I heard that when temperatures go below zero is better to take them inside, especially if they are trees that come from tropical regions. Is that wrong then?