dlew90
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:32 am
Location: Connecticut

New Bonsai Help

Hi everyone - I realize that this forum gets a lot of posts like this so sorry for adding another one. I recently received an indoor bonsai in the mail as a bereavement gift so I've been trying to take good care of it. Unfortunately this morning I noticed some of the leaves are turning yellow and starting to fall off. I was surprised to see this since I thought I was doing an ok job since it has several new flowers about to bloom.

I'm not really sure what species it is, the brochure it came with described it as a Gardenia Bonsai.

https://gardeniabonsai.org/

I'm starting to think about putting it outside during the day so it can get more sunlight. It is also consistently around 70 degrees in my house during the day, and 65 or less at night. (My father loves a cold house) While the brochure it came with said this temperature is fine, reading some of the threads here and elsewhere on the internet made me think this might be too cold for the bonsai. (The flip side is that it is really hot and humid outside) Suggestions? Or am I just not watering it right?

Thanks

kdodds
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1436
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:07 pm
Location: Airmont, NY Zone 6/7

It's likely it's in a very poor soil. What is the soil like?

Are you keeping it in a window that gets a few hours of direct sunlight per day? If not, get it there. The window should face any direction but north.

How and when are you watering? How much each time? Are you letting it dry completely between waterings?

dlew90
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:32 am
Location: Connecticut

The soil is thick, dark, and on the top has a little bit of fertilizer.

I've been watering it every couple of days pretty thoroughly, and then I stick a chopstick or phillips screwdriver in to see if it's wet all the way to the bottom of the pot.

It was in a north-facing window so I moved it to a south facing one. (All the windows in my house face either north or south)

kdodds
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1436
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:07 pm
Location: Airmont, NY Zone 6/7

IME, Gardenias like to dry out almost completely between waterings. Watering them in a moisture retentive soil every other day, again, IME, will rapidly kill them. Let the soil dry almost completely before rewatering. They should not, even through a week of sunny days, in pure inorganic soil, require watering more than once per week indoors unless your house is incredibly dry and they're growing incredibly fast. And, even then, I don't suspect you'd need to water more than once every four days or so.



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