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Hello,

I recently purchased a 40 year old Tsukumo cypress Bonsai 3 days ago (repotted) and for some reason a section of the leaves are turning brown. The soil seems to be watered enough and possibly it is due to over watering? OR
I found some spiders when I first purchased the tree and I sprayed some diluted natural dishsoap and a little bit of steam.

Now I do not know what to do. Should the brown leaves be trimmed? If so, how long would it take to grow back?
I am also aware that it is an outdoor tree so it is left outside the balcony.

Thank you for all your help.

vlush,

I can't say that I've ever heard of anyone steaming a plant before. This could very well be the source of much of your problems. Whether or not it can recover is unclear to me. Your (new?) soil is very dense and will exclude Oxygen from the roots. Bonsai soils are very open to allow for good drainage and to allow Oxygen to permeate the root-ball. I hesitate to suggest an emergency re-potting since the tree is obviously in distress. Be very careful not to water too often or it will soon be an ex-bonsai. Get a chopstick or kitchen skewer and use it to judge the moisture level of the root-ball. The top will dry out a bit and be misleading so wait until the skewer comes out nearly dry before watering thoroughly.

Welcome to the forum and good luck.

Norm