Pink Sarissa - probably dead :(

blue_sarissa · Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:51 am

I have a pink sarissa and it flourished for at least 6 months in my care. I soaked it almost daily but did not prune it very often. After moving to another house (only 20 min away) I had trouble finding a new spot for it, and after a short while it went brown. I cut it back and watered it but there has been no change. I saw a tiny bit of green inside so I still have it, leaving it out in the rain and watering it daily. Should I give up on it? What would be a good bonsai for a beginner, as I would love to have another one that I can't kill too easily. (I have managed to kill a marigold earlier, and they are supposed to be hardy plants...)

Oh yes I am new here so hi

and umm... yeah...

The Helpful Gardener · Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:08 am

Serissa is funny about watering and what I'm hearing seems a lot of watering. I don't water by schedule and even in optimal soil conditions daily is too often. Let it dry a bit in bright indirect light and watch humidity, not soil moisture. I have found Serissa to be happiest with damp, not moist soil, and high humidity...

Ficus is an easy tree and my usual recommendation for beginners...

Glad to have you here; let us know if any of this works, and if we can help...

Scott

opabinia51 · Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:51 pm

Hi blue, give the sticky atop the bonsai page a read. It gives some general guidelines for taking care of bonsai.

blue_sarissa · Fri Jan 20, 2006 12:58 am

thankies, I shall look into all that. I read the instructions with my bonsai and it has said to immerse it in water every day in summer and 2nd day in winter, how odd, as after researching a bit I've found that bonsais should be immersed weekly and watered every couple of days. Talk about overkill! and it seemed to be fine for ages! a tickling time bomb I tell you... I shall have a look at the ficus.

The Helpful Gardener · Fri Jan 20, 2006 3:23 am

Watering is best not done by the calendar, but by watching and learning your trees needs. In apprenticeship, the student gets shears their first day but won't touch a watering can until year three. There's a lesson there...

Scott

opabinia51 · Fri Jan 20, 2006 5:55 pm

Yes, as Scott has pointed out. Plants are not watered on schedules, they only need to be watered once the soil starts to dry out, I'm pretty sure that I mentioned the toothpick method for testing in the sticky.

You can also just stick your finger into the soil and see if it is damp. If it is damp, don't water you plant.

By the sounds of it, you probably overwatered your plant.