名媛直播

Sorry for the long message! I've tried to be thorough with care information.



Hello everyone!

I've noticed my Sageretia is getting duller over the past month and I was wondering if someone may be able to help diagnose the issues. Some leaves have some reddish colouring. A good few are looking very yellow/light brown. Some with crispy tips. What would you say is wrong with it and how could I help it?

Also I wondered if the white stuff around the base of my tree is mildew. If so what can I do to help get rid of it?

I would also like to know, what would be a good way to achieve a "Good light but not full Sun" environment?

(The tree's looking a bit sparse in the middle, this is because, when I received the tree in August it had dropped it's leaves. Presumably due to shock because of a change in the environment. Since then I have just let it grow out in order to recover. Was hoping to back-bud it this spring but would like to get to the root of it's health issues first.)

Here's some info about how I care for my bonsai:

? I water it with rainwater when the soil has mostly dried out. The water takes about a day to fully soak through. And a good few days before it completely dries out inside. The top soil dries out within a day. I think the soil doesnt drain very well, but I'm scared to repot without knowing more info. I spray the leaves about once or twice a day. With the intention of doing this more often.

? Since April I fertilize my tree twice a month with Lorbex fertilizer (1ml fertilizer/1000ml water). Before then during the winter months I fertilized once a month.

? I keep the plant in a small SE facing window from Sunrise to about 1pm. This window is made up of 6 square panes with wood in between. So there are blocks of shade on some parts of the tree as the Sun moves across the sky. (See pictures) Since February I have been covering the window with a net curtain from about 11am-2pm so as to provide some shade from the harsh midday Sun. (See pictures) Once the Sun has passed the window I then move it to a SW facing window where it gets sunlight from about 3pm onwards.

? Indoor temperature usually matches the outdoor temperature as we do not tend to put on our central heating. It has just started to get warm here. April averaged from 10-17 during the day, 1-10 at night. Currently temperature is about 18 - 24 C in the day and 9-13 C at night, looking to get a couple degrees cooler next week, but on average getting warmer. Last week we had a cold week (12-17C day and 2-6C night) but my tree has been having problems before then.

? In 2 bottom corners of the soil mass the roots stick out i.e. There is no soil holding the corners. These roots are dry and brown.

? I often lift the plant out of the pot to check the moisture inside the soil mass. But trying to get out of this habit.

? I used to put the plant outside a few times a week during the hours of about 10-2pm because I thought it wasn't getting enough sunlight, but I thought that it might be scorching the leaves (you can see some of the leaves have a copper colour) So no longer do this.

Looks like a cheap mallsai, not a bonsai. look it up using the search function.
I wouldn't worry too much about it dying as it was most likely going to happen anyway.
Try buying proper material from an actual bonsai nursery if you are actually interested in the hobby and look up proper care guidelines for a tree species before buying it.

I hope you stick around, no one seems to do that anymore
Ed

FennecFox wrote: Sorry for the long message!

Sorry? Why? You have really done your best to give complete information and lots of photos. Very good and helpful!

The most important info:

Also I wondered if the white stuff around the base of my tree is mildew. If so what can I do to help get rid of it?

May be a fungus due to the soil staying too wet.

I water it with rainwater when the soil has mostly dried out. The water takes about a day to fully soak through.

Not sure what that means. Do you mean you bathe the pot and it takes a day to soak up water, or are you giving it water from the top, and does that stay on top the whole day?

a good few days before it completely dries out inside. The top soil dries out within a day.

Is the top soil different from the soil inside?

Once the Sun has passed the window I then move it to a SW facing window where it gets sunlight from about 3pm onwards.
? I often lift the plant out of the pot to check the moisture inside the soil mass. But trying to get out of this habit.

And you used to move it outside. I think you really shouldn't be doing that - fiddling too much with it.

In 2 bottom corners of the soil mass the roots stick out i.e. There is no soil holding the corners. These roots are dry and brown.

I think the plants needs to be repotted in proper soil.

Thank you so much for your reply.

Auk wrote: Sorry? Why? You have really done your best to give complete information and lots of photos. Very good and helpful!

Thank you! I thought the more info the better, but I didn't want to put people off helping me out, so thank you for your help and taking the time to read it all.

May be a fungus due to the soil staying too wet.

Ok. I thought at first it may be a mineral (calcium?) build up because I originally used hard water to water it with. But the problem persisted after I switched to rainwater. Do you have any tips on how to resolve the fungus issue?

Not sure what that means. Do you mean you bathe the pot and it takes a day to soak up water, or are you giving it water from the top, and does that stay on top the whole day?

I'm giving it water from the top. It doesn't stay stagnated on top the whole day but the top stays relatively moist as it slowly saturates the main body of soil, then by the end of the next day the top has dried out but the main body of soil is still moist inside.

So it takes a day for the water to soak through from the top to saturate the main body of the soil. If that makes sense?

Is the top soil different from the soil inside?

I think the soil on top is the same, but I think the soil deeper down is more compact hence why it takes a while to saturate.

And you used to move it outside. I think you really shouldn't be doing that - fiddling too much with it.

Aaah I was concerned I was giving it too much attention. Just to clarify, do you mean I should not move the plant to the SW window (so just leave it in the SE window all day) or I should not put the plant outside or I should not lift the plant out of the pot, or all three?

I think the plants needs to be repotted in proper soil.

Ok! When do you think would be the best time to do this? Do you think I should repot it as soon as possible or hold out until a later season when it will put the plant under the least amount of stress?

One more question, would you say that the discolouration on the leaves is as a result of a lack of certain nutrients in the soil, i.e. would you say I am fertilizing it correctly?

Thank you so much again for your response! I really appreciate it!

名媛直播Learner wrote: Looks like a cheap mallsai, not a bonsai. look it up using the search function.
I wouldn't worry too much about it dying as it was most likely going to happen anyway.
Try buying proper material from an actual bonsai nursery if you are actually interested in the hobby and look up proper care guidelines for a tree species before buying it.

I hope you stick around, no one seems to do that anymore
Ed

Hi Ed,

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I think you are right that it was cheap (although I don't know for sure as it was a gift) and now that I've looked it up, it does seem more like a mallsai than a bonsai. However, I would like to try and invest some time into saving it. Do you have any tips with saving trees that are in a similar position to mine?

I am definitely interested in the hobby though. I hope to stick around and will look into purchasing from a bonsai nursery in the future.

Andrew

Ok, fair enough. I was a bit tired when I wrote the original post so it may come across as a bit dreary.
I would repot into a regular plant pot so that the tree could grow unrestrained and not move it around (sunny but not full sun means not directly next to a window).
Sometimes Google can be an invaluable resoure for finding answers to general questions like leaf discoloration, I'm certainly no expert on the subject although, at a guess, I would say its a combination of over/underwatering/poor soil and scorching from being too close to a window.

Ed

FennecFox wrote:

May be a fungus due to the soil staying too wet.

Ok. I thought at first it may be a mineral (calcium?) build up because I originally used hard water to water it with. But the problem persisted after I switched to rainwater. Do you have any tips on how to resolve the fungus issue?

Repot it in a soil that drains properly.

Aaah I was concerned I was giving it too much attention. Just to clarify, do you mean I should not move the plant to the SW window (so just leave it in the SE window all day) or I should not put the plant outside or I should not lift the plant out of the pot, or all three?

Don't move it around all the time. Don't take it out of the pot all the time.

Do you think I should repot it as soon as possible

The plant is dying. Why wait?

Ok. I think I'll repot my plant as soon as possible in some more adequate soil and decide upon one spot to keep it. Hopefully that should improve it.

Thank you for all your time and advice it's greatly appreciated.

Ed,

That's ok, no worries. Will try do some more googling, repot and settle on an ideal position for it. Fingers crossed that fixes it!

Best wishes,
Andrew

The white stuff looks like normal calciumcarbonates buildup from your water.
Coloration might be due to intense sunlight

Do not fiddle wirh it. Do not take it out of the tree. Do not move it between windows. If you have a hard time keeping it alive, consider putting it in abigger pot, which would be a bit more stable, moisturewise.