Bonsai Leaves Dying and Possible Mold in Soil

[Bonsai Guy]

I think my bonsai is in bad shape at first all the leaves were turning yellow and now even green leaves are drying up and dying. I recently transplanted it to a new pot. How do I save it. Please help.

this is the condition its in

[img]https://i602.photobucket.com/albums/tt102/The_Bonsai_Guy/IMG00088.jpg[/img]




also I noticed this weird white stuff in the soil that kind of looks like mold. here is a picture of that too. look at the far right side in the middle of the photo.


[img]https://i602.photobucket.com/albums/tt102/The_Bonsai_Guy/IMG00089.jpg[/img]

[Gnome]

Bonsai Guy,

It really would help if all of this information was in one location. This is the same tree that you have re-potted [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13358]here.[/url] And the same tree that had the mysterious root [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13376]here.[/url] Not everyone will be aware of all three of these threads making getting a good response more difficult.

I am still at a loss about the root thing but it leads me to think that there was something going on prior to the re-potting. Also, I just checked the 'Joe Bonsai" soil and to me it appears that it is going to hold a fair amount of moisture.

Contains: Composted bark fines, Calcined Clay, Beneficial Micronutrients, Akadama, Horticultural Vermiculite, Sphagnum peat moss...and other minor ingredients.

Three of the ingredients are very water retentive, what's worse is that they appear to make up the bulk of the medium with the Akadama and Clay being the minor constituents. My mix is exactly the opposite, mostly clay, shale or lava with much less bark, with no Vermiculite or Peat.

All of this is to say that you may be keeping it too wet. Try using the 'chopstick method' to judge the moisture in the soil. Get a small dowel or skewer and insert it into the soil. Situate it halfway from the tree to the rim of the pot and make sure it goes to the bottom. Leave the skewer in place and check daily, returning it to its spot. To check the soil remove the skewer and hold it to your wrist or cheek. You will easily be able to tell if the soil is still damp or needs water.

Keep in mind that a newly re-potted tree will likely use less water than before. Also that your tree will not recover in a day or two. Do your best to maintain it in a stable manner and keep your fingers crossed.

Does anyone else have anything to add?

Norm

[Bonsai Guy]

Ill have to figure out how to string related posts together or include or ill just include the information from the previous post in in the new post. I will try the chopstick method. I googled the white mold and found that it too may be a result of over watering. I will let the soil dry out a bit more over the next few days and see if the tree responds. Thankyou so much for the advice. I can't tell you how appreciated it is. Ill keep you posted on the progress. And if I can ever help you out with anything please don't hesitate to ask.

[Gnome]

Bonsai Guy,

You're welcome and I hope it turns around for you. You can't merge threads so my linking to the other threads is the best we can do. For future reference you might want to take a look at the soil/re-potting thread [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3422]here.[/url]

Don't get discouraged if your tree takes a while to respond,

Norm

[killyspike]

My initial thoughts straight away when I saw the picture was that the soil seems too compact and not gritty enough. Another thought for me is that it looks like a fairly large tree and that the roots at the bottom cannot maintain everything at the top now that they have been trimmed up. So possibly it is cutting off the supply to areas to compensate. Once new roots grow it should show on the tree and new growth will replace it.
I'm not hugely experienced but I tend to work alot round common sense to at least give me a reasonable answer (I hope) .