rjones
Full Member
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 1:28 pm

Minor leaf-loss on my Fukien Tea...normal perhaps?

Hey folks,
I've got my new-ish Fukien Tea tree spending 75% of its time on my desk, and the night/early morning on a window sill (hidden from the cat). The tree seems healthy- I keep it on a humidity tray, water it appropriately, mist it as well.
But over the last few days, a few (as in, 6-8) leaves have yellow'd, and a few went brown and came off. This isn't affecting most of the tree..but I thought I would put this out there for a few ideas.
Perhaps some shock...it came via the mail about two weeks ago....?

linlaoboo
Green Thumb
Posts: 469
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 1:15 pm
Location: NJ

how much light does it get on your desk? It sure doesn't get enough light by the window at night or early morning.

rjones
Full Member
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 1:28 pm

My desk butts up to a window, so it get's decent light during the day. The windowsill at night is dark (obviously) but in the early morning gets ambient sunlight.

In addition to this, I have overhead track lighting positioned to shine down onto the tree...so as the sun goes down and the window at the desk is dark, I have that light on to get some light in the room.

linlaoboo
Green Thumb
Posts: 469
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 1:15 pm
Location: NJ

still not sure if it gets direct sun light through the window or filtered light during the day. Does it face south? The track lighting won't do anything unless it's physically inches away from the plant. Even then it won't have enough lumens in the right wavelength like the cfl lights used specifically for growing plants. One good indication if it is getting enough light would be glossy looking leafs on the fukien tea.

If you are sure it's not lighting, then I would look into the soil mix. When's the last time you re-pot it? Is it root bound? How's the water retaining ability? Make sure it's not constantly wet. Give it a chance to dry a bit more but not completely dry. This plant has a good way of telling you when it needs more water. the leafs will be more droopy.

While it's normal for the larger leafs to turn yellow and drop from time to time but not on a daily basis.

User avatar
manIK
Senior Member
Posts: 119
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 2:01 pm
Location: Rhode Island

I would definitely agree that it's going through some settling-pains at the moment. Having just arrived, it needs time to acclimate, if it can, to its new environment. Hopefully it won't drop all of its leaves.

I have a Fukien Tea that I borrowed from a friend that was going through some trouble and it was about two weeks before the tree settled down. It must have dropped a dozen leaves. Now it blooms beautifully and and theres lots of new growth.
rjones wrote:Hey folks,
I've got my new-ish Fukien Tea tree spending 75% of its time on my desk, and the night/early morning on a window sill (hidden from the cat). The tree seems healthy- I keep it on a humidity tray, water it appropriately, mist it as well.
But over the last few days, a few (as in, 6-8) leaves have yellow'd, and a few went brown and came off. This isn't affecting most of the tree..but I thought I would put this out there for a few ideas.
Perhaps some shock...it came via the mail about two weeks ago....?



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