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Hi,

Any suggestions on the below would be much appreciated.

My wife and I received an 8 year old fukien tea tree as a wedding present in September last year. For the first few months it was doing ok, but in January we noticed small white things which, after some investigation, we found to be wolly aphids.
To get rid of these, we sprayed it with this stuff (aphid / louse spray):


After two or three treatments of that spray (over the course of about 3 weeks) the wooly aphids are gone.

Since then however the tree has been losing a lot of leaves - they start to yellow, then turn brown / dry and fall off.
We live in Berlin Germany and while the trea is in a south facing window, I guess the tree is not getting enough light, although as we are getting into spring I hope this will not be a problem much longer. At the moment the leaves are really drooping down.

I had been watering the trea about once a week by immersing it in water (over the soil level) and leaving it like that for a few minutes until bubbles stopped coming up. I read that this is not a good idea, so for the past two weeks I stopped doing this and instead use a plastic bottle with some holes poked in the top to spray water onto the trea. I wait until the soil is dry between watering and am watering about once a week, pouring around a half litre of water on.
About once a month I have also been using some liquid plant food that I mix with the water and spray on with the bottle.

What is worrying me is the white substance on some of the leaves as shown in the attached photos - not sure what that is.

Sorry to write so much, but if anyone has any advice on what that white stuff is and what to do please let me know!

spacelysprockets wrote: What is worrying me is the white substance on some of the leaves as shown in the attached photos - not sure what that is.

Litterally typing the topic of your post in the search field of this forum will give you the answers.



Looking up the properties of your plant and specifically the shape/form/color of its leaves, which apparently you did not, would also have helped...

Looks like white fly to me,if it is mealy bug then methelated spirits on a cotton bud and rubbed will get rid of them. a very weak solution of washing up liquid sprayed over the leaves and under will help but you need to do it every two weeks. Your watering must not be to a schedule, check every day and water when needed. that might be every day or every two days, but it is far better to use a jug and pour the water in and allow to drain. Spraying the fertiliser is not a good way to do it, put it in the water.

m5eaygeoff wrote: Looks like white fly to me

Looks like a fukien tea to me...

Looks like Fukien Tea with white fly

m5eaygeoff wrote: Looks like Fukien Tea with white fly

No, it doesn't. It looks like a Fukien tea. The white dots are normal.

(if there are white bugs between the white dots: the photo isn't good enough, we'd need a better close-up)

Looks like an ailing FT which is in the wrong place - ie right near a radiator if that is its usual place. This species needs a fairly constant temperature and high humidity to do well, as well as as much natural light as possible. The soil looks bone dry, it may be pot bound with not enough soil to retain much moisture and the original soil it was sold in is probably unsuitable which, sadly, is the norm.
I would get it repotted soon into a free draining mix, say 50/50 organic/inorganic, keep it right near a window, away from heat sources and draughts and consider using a humidity tray, or keep in a kitchen or bathroom where humidity is highest.

Dave

Thank you all for your advice, it's much appreciated.

I looked at the white stuff on the the leaves with a jewelers loupe (found this one: ).
I can't see any insects there or anything moving in the white stuff.
Maybe I need a proper microscope, but it just seems like some white substance being excreted by the leaves.
Anyway I think I will try m5eaygeoff's suggestion of spraying with a very weak solution of washing up liquid.

Ironhorse you are correct, the bonsai is next to a window and above a radiator. However we usually keep that window closed and don't have the radiator on very often. Maybe I will move it to the bathroom though. Do you think it's a problem if there is a draft for only say 15 every day?

I am also attaching some new photos of the soil. Probably I do need to repot it? There is a gap between the edge of the soil and the pot, like the soil is a solid block, which I guess is not a good sign.
Have ordered a humidity meter online to try to get a better idea of how often to water.

Additionally I noticed in one of the photos a leaf was lying on the soil. I picked it up and saw there were four or five really small dark, slighly reddish insect crawling around on the leaf. Hopefully this is not another problem?!
I guess it is normal to have some insects rights?
Our clothes airer is quite near the tree though... not a nice thought if those things are crawling everywhere.

spacelysprockets wrote: I can't see any insects there or anything moving in the white stuff.
Maybe I need a proper microscope, but it just seems like some white substance being excreted by the leaves

Again:
Just look up pictures of your plant.
Here's one I Googled for you. It realy isn't so hard:

Anyway I think I will try m5eaygeoff's suggestion of spraying with a very weak solution of washing up liquid.

Why ?

Maybe I will move it to the bathroom though

... where it won't get enough light.

Probably I do need to repot it? There is a gap between the edge of the soil and the pot, like the soil is a solid block, which I guess is not a good sign.

You definately need to repot. That soil looks quite bad and probably has become hydrophobic.

Have ordered a humidity meter online to try to get a better idea of how often to water.

That's pointless.

Additionally I noticed in one of the photos a leaf was lying on the soil. I picked it up and saw there were four or five really small dark, slighly reddish insect crawling around on the leaf. Hopefully this is not another problem?!

Depends. Got a clear picture of one of the insects?

Hi Auk, apologies for not replying.
Yesterday I repotted after giving the tree a bit of a shower to wash any insects off.
I don't see any more of the white dots at the moment, also didn't see any more of the small reddish insects when repotting.
Am hoping it will now start to recover!
Thanks for your help.