New Member with Fukien Tea and Schefflera.

[thepoet1961]

Hi to everyone, I have 2 Bonsai's in my collection and I think I need some help before I end up killing them both. From what I have found out so far is that I don't have a clue to how to water them. I will just tell you all who are interested in helping me what is going on with them. I have 1 Carmona and the other is a Hawaiian Umbrella. The leaves on my Carmona are turning yellow and dropping off like flies. The only good thing is that there are new sprouts every the leaves fall off. New leaf growth is good but I still think I am killing it. The Umbrella tree has no signs yellowing, but I pruned it so I could balance the foliage. Now when a new set of leaves start growing they only get about 1/4 the size of the others and just fall off. They show no discoloring at all. I just don't get it ! HELP...THEPOET

[The Helpful Gardener]

Hey P61 (a very good year; Ol' HG was born in 61... )

Seems you should throw this out to the bonsai heads on the [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=8447b0cba722a9339b9ef61c5e169077]Bonsai Forum[/url]; I have some experience but find many heads are better than one.

Welcome!

HG

[Marsman]

Welcome Poet61. Pop on over to the Bonsai section and we'll help you out.

[Gnome]

thepoet1961,

I took the liberty of moving your thread from the Introduction forum here, where it will have a wider audience. Can you please provide us with some more information. How long have you had your new bonsai. Where in your home are they located, temperatures and lighting? When and how much are you watering? And any other information that you can think of. Are you able to provide pictures?

I don't grow Fukien Tea but many plants will drop their leaves in response to being moved to a new location. Since you say it has new leaves I am hopeful that it will recover. One of the things that is mentioned often WRT this species is that they do not like to be kept soggy. A free draining soil that is allowed to become nearly dry before watering is usually suggested.

I take it the other is a Schefflera? I do have one of these and have never known it to drop it's leaves. Was it exposed to low temperatures when you brought it home?

Norm

[thepoet1961]

Dear Norm, Thankx for the input. I think I have found the right place to get the help I need. I live in Mich. The plant has been moved around my apt so many times . I had it near A drafty window and under florescent light. The light is away from the window but I figured it was better than getting light from the sun and getting a cold draft. I know for sure that I have been watering way,way too much. I did carry it home about a month ago from the store, but it was well covered and I mean very well. But I think it's the humidity level in my apt. and the over watering and the constant changing of locations and that I put a jobes plant food spike or 2 in the pot. I have the plant in natural sunlight now. I took all the remaining goo from the plant spikes out and flushed the soil. I have raised the humidity level by boiling water. The plant is away from the cold drafty window in a south west facing light source. Every place that has lost a leaf is growing a new one. I have put spacers under the pot and made sure that the drain holes are not obstructed. Since the pot is not sitting in my secondary tray, I keep water in it to act as a humidity tray. The plant is not getting any water from the tray. It is well above the water..( the pot } I have took the time to take several pics of my poor sick tree...It looks really sad but I feel I am doing all I can. I will post the pics when I get them all edited.. Please pass all this on. I am new at this forum stuff and I want all help I can get so this tree lives. Thank you, thepoet

[spookedhippie]

hi Poet, nice to see you here! I am by no means an expert on these as only recently got one myself but maybe we can learn together and help each other out! My tree is only growing leaves very VERY slowly and I think this is due to the fact that here in the uk we're in winter and so the temperatures are very low...

[thepoet1961]

Ah, another HIPPIE??? The 1961 is the year I was born. But don't be spooked...LOL.I got this tree about a month ago. The tree was raised in California. The company that grew it made it sound so simple to take care of and the directions were so vague. All it said was keep the soil moist and bright filtered light. Well I thought even I can do that. I have done some research the last few days and I hope my tree comes back. I nearly killed it but every single leaf that turned yellow and fell off is re-growing. I think I got my self pointed in the right direction. It is winter here in Michigan. You know ,they call us the great lake state. It really is a beautiful state. It usually is very humid but in the winter the humidity is way down and it gets very dry inside my home. Too dry,too much watering,not enough humidity and bad sun this time of year. Not good for this Carmona. If you read the other post on this page you will get a few Ideas that have been suggested to me. I am going to upload a few pics of my tree. Keep in mind that all the leaves are going back before you laugh at how bad my tree looks. But it may make you grateful that the only problem you are having is SLOW Growth. Write back if you hear anything that will help me save the new leaves or just to B.S. Thepoet