mrdogcat
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:01 am

Chinese Pepper tree lost all it's leaves

I first got my 30 year old bonsai tree and instead of testing the soil for dryness myself, I followed the advice from the place I bought it from which was "water it on Sunday."

The tree lost all but a couple of small stems of leaves. After care I managed to get the tree to grow back the leaves it lost (albeit not as bushy as it used to be). All was fine up until a few weeks ago when all the leaves were unexpectedly lost again!

I'm unsure why this happened again since I didn't let it dry out again, and the leaves still haven't grown back.

It's been about three weeks now and no sign of growth...Is there anything I should be doing I don't know about?

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Gnome
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5122
Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:17 am
Location: Western PA USDA Zone 6A

mrdogcat,

Despite being intrigued by this species I have yet to even see one in person so I'm afraid I can't offer much. You don't say how much time elapsed between the first problem and this latest downturn. You also don't give any indication of your cultural practices.

Although I can't help much perhaps someone else can and they will want to know as much information as you can offer. Where is it located, how much light does it receive? More information about your watering practices, have you fertilized, with what and how often? What does the soil look like, is it dense and stay wet for a long time or does it drain well? Did something change before the second incident? Any other information you can provide can only help.

Norm

mrdogcat
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:01 am

Hi and thanks for your reply.

The tree lost it's leaves in December the first time and lost them about 4-5 weeks ago now (still no signs of growth).

The tree is not on a window sill but gets light through a large window and sunlight through another through the day.

I generally water it when it needs it (when the soil feels dry or drying out) and usually submerge the pot for 15 mins. I also have fertilised three times this year.

The soil drains pretty well I think, as I have to leave it for a few minutes after watering for it to stop dripping from the underside of the pot. The soil is not drying out as quick now (as there's no growth) and I'm just watering when needed using a can.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me :-(



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