my sisters bonsai lost all her leaves..

FireFly · Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:16 pm

my sister and I bought bonsai's at the same time. they are a ficus and mine is doing wonderful (thanks to all who helped) however my sisters lost all of her leaves with in about 3 days... any ideas why? we both take care of ours the same way.. in a lighted place but not drafty.. and water it regularly. we repotted them and took out the glued rocks. her tree seemed to be doing well.. it was growing all new leaves. .then just dropped all of them including the leaves that were already on it. any ideas on why? please help and thanks again Jeanine
ps we did take them out of the office

I forgot to mention its a ficus

constantstaticx3 · Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:17 pm

I'm not sure what your problem is but when you say lighted place, how much light is it getting? Is is in a window or under a grow light?

Ficus can be very finicky about their conditions indoors as I have found out. As long as there are no major problems the tree should be fine. How long ago was the re-pot? Are there any black spots on the tips of the branches where new leave are coming out?

Make a small scratch in the bark on the trunk and on some of the branches. if its green it is probably fine but if not there is some other problem and it may be dead. From your info I don't think it would have died that fast though.

Get back with some answers so we can help you some more.

Tom

FireFly · Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:37 pm

hi tom =) it is next to a window so the light is for few hrs in the morning. the repot was about 2 months ago. I did scratch the bark and its still green and the branches are not stiff or cracking off.. so it feels alive.. just looks dead.. there are no black tips either.. hope this helps =) take care Jeanine

constantstaticx3 · Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:33 pm

With the info you've provided, my best guess is that it is not receiving enough light. You should invest in a grow light to help the situation until spring when you can bring it outside. https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6955&highlight=grow+light
The link above will take you to a thread that explains grow lights better than I can.

You can also post a pic of the tree, that can help with identifying the problem as well.

Tom

FireFly · Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:13 pm

hello tom

some of the tips where the new leaves were coming out are starting to turn black.. is that bad? it sounds like it. thanks for your help..I will try getting the tree more light. do you think it will be ok? take care Jeanine

moulman · Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:06 pm

Usually, you need a rifle to kill a ficus.

If leaves are turning black, then it's probably been overwatered. Ficus will sometimes drop their leaves if they have been moved from place to place.

Ficus are also famous for their ability to withstand low light. I don't think this is the problem - however, the more light the better, obviously.

Matt

constantstaticx3 · Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:14 pm

Well I have a microcarpa and on the end of one of it's branches, the tip is black. I had narrowed it down to an improper grow light because my watering habits were not it. I changed the light and I'll see how things go. I believe the light I had before gave off too much heat and therefore burnt the tips. Is your tree by a vent?

Tom

FireFly · Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:40 pm

Thankfully no its not by a vent and yay I'm so happy its hard to kill. I was so upset when I looked at my bonsai and all the leaves were...well...gone

I will let you know how my bonsai changes in the next week or so. I also took out any excess water...that may have been my issue because there was some left over water in the bottom of the pot.

Thanks guys for all your help

I truly do appreciate it.

FireFly · Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:43 pm

Question though..should I let it dry out now that there was excess water? Oh and by the way I scratched the bark and my god was that vivid green

So my bonsai is still alive just horrible looking I guess. Should I take off the dead branches? I know not all of them but some of them snap off too easy. Thanks again

Gnome · Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:25 pm

FireFly,

I also took out any excess water...that may have been my issue because there was some left over water in the bottom of the pot...should I let it dry out now that there was excess water?

Yes, let the tree dry fairly well before you water again. I allow mine to become nearly dry this time of year before watering thoroughly but they are in a fairly cool location.

Have you read the sticky thread concerning general growing? There are some tips for watering there. Be aware that without foliage your tree will require less water.

I hope your pot has drainage holes and you are referring to a drip tray of some sort. If the water in the tray was high enough to wick back up into the pot that was inappropriate. And if the pot itself somehow lacks drainage that is even worse.

Norm

FireFly · Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:39 pm

Yes it had proper draining, I think I obviously over watered it and did not have it in enough light.

How bad is that? What I don't understand is it looked like it was doing fantastic with all new leaves then suddenly (with no change to its enviroment) just changed dramatically within a few days all the leaves were gone. I guess I learned my lesson. I will keep everyone posted with pics to show you how its doing

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP