名媛直播

Hey everyone,

My name is Jake, I'm new to caring for a 名媛直播 but I'm hooked on the idea, and I've always been fascinated with them.

My partner bought me a 6-year-old Serissa for my birthday back in January and it was beautiful/had full foliage.

I was a newby so initially I kept it in the house because I wanted it close by but I quickly learned that unless it's a particular species of bonsai, keeping it inside was a big no no.

I was also watering it every week by submerging the pot until no more bubbles rose (again a no no, at least that's what I learned from a few forums I read through, something about taking the air out of the soil that the roots require)

Long story not so short, 3 of my Serissa branches started to drop leaves and a few leaves on the other branches began to wilt, so I quickly tried to correct the issue by moving it outside in an eastern facing position where it gets full sun from morning to noon, and after that it is in semi shade, i've also been giving my Serissa a light water each morning and afternoon (only if the soil is semi dry, i.e. soil has a sandy like texture and lightly sticks to fingers, at least that's what semi dry means to me, please correct me if I'm wrong)

I live in Queensland, Australia where we've been having temperatures averaging around 30-35 degrees, I know the Serissa tolerates between 10 - 20 degrees so I'm worried that the climate may be too hot for it.

Sorry for my long-winded story, i just wanted to provide as much info as possible to get the best possible advice.

Problems

* Leaves dropping on some branches, but other branches appear to be thriving
* Black moss-like substance in between branches that are dropping leaves
* Unsure if I'm over or under watering

Any advice is appreciated, what may be completely obvious to some of you could be gold to me.

Thank you!

Serrissa is a tropical species and also one of the most difficult to keep as you are finding out. Water when the soil is almost dry, keep it out in the sun you will be watering at least once a day if not more, depending on the size of the pot etc. As long as it is free draining the soil should be ok. The problems seem to be caused by improper watering and will take some time to correct. Light watering is not good, you need to water thoroughly each time, allowing the water to run through.

Thank you for the response!

I’ll make sure i’m a little more generous with my watering, the soil is always semi dry when I water it and I was just a little worried about root rot, everything that I read online doesn’t seem to help either “too much water” leaves fall off, “too little water” leaves fall off, “too much sun” leaves fall off, “too little sun” leaves fall off lol.

it sounds like a damn fussy thing but I’m determined

Do you happen to know what the black stuff in between the branches is, If so do you think it’s cause for concern?

I gave it a light brush with a soft bristle toothbrush and water and it seems to come off easily in the areas that are easy to get to, but I’m worried about getting into the tighter spots in case I snap something and stress the tree out more

You have not inserted any picture yet. I think it needs to be done before anyone can say something about "the black stuff"

Stress cause leaf drop in all tree species. Stress can be caused by several factors such as overwatering, underwatering, lack of fertilizer, lack of sun, too much sun, temperature, humidity and a lot more. Here the picture will not help, the key is in your care and climate.

To understand if serissa is a species for your climate. Google the scientific name + USDA hardiness zone. Then Google your location + hardiness zone. If the plants hardiness is outside your own zone this is not a species for you.

Oh sorry I thought I uploaded photos in my original post, something must have gone wrong

I just checked and the Serissa’s hardiness is at a Zone 9-11 but can be tolerable to a Zone 6 if in a protected location, Queensland Australia is a zone 6 so this gives me hope, when they say protected location I’m guessing a spot where it will get shade at the hottest point of the day?

Again thank you so much for coming back to me, I appreciate you taking the time for a stranger

I think you got it wrong regarding Quennsland usda zone. 6 is winter temperature awerage low around -20c. That zone does not exist in Australia. Maybe there are another local zone classification in Australia just as there are in Sweden?

I think your tree is scorched by the sun. A more shaded place in the heat of the summer may benefit it. I know we have some members here from strong sun locations that put shade cloth over the benches in summer to protect the tree from this.

That's strange, everything I search comes up with zone 6 for Queensland, I'll keep looking into it

I'll also grab some shade cloth and build a little cover space for my bonsai to prevent it from scorching

Hopefully in a about a month or so i'll be able to come back to this thread with a cheery update

I think Australia has developed its own zones. I don't see any reason for them to be tied to US definitions, but it would help if they used different signs, like A, B, etc.

We have own zones in Sweden as well. But it does not stop people to make usda zone maps over Europe including Sweden. The definition of usda zone is quite simple. The same goes with Australia. There are several usda zone maps for Australia awailable online. I am sure using the local definition of grow zone is always better. However, the amounts of trees with awailable classification may be less.

Anyway. Serissa seems to be a mystery here. In bonsai all information online sais it is a tropic species. But in gardening it sais hardy to usda zone 8 which is far from tropical. That is climate like big parts of denmark, UK and GB. Very confusing.

Reading up on the species makes me really get one and try to find out the truth.

Nowhere in Britain could you keep Serissa outside all year, I go by the weather we get not so called zones which can be confusing and inaccurate at times.