R0se_0f_Fire
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Leaves already falling off an Hawaiian Umbrella?

Hello,

I was just gifted a Hawaiian Umbrella Bonsai. It was pre-potted and I watered it fist of the 26. I went to give it more water today and as I brushed it a bunch of the new leaves fell off of it. Mostly the light green leaves that are sticking up and a few of the darker ones. There is one brown, curled up stem in the center of the plant.
I was hoping to try and grow it a little taller to get a pretty looking stem for it. I was going to give it time to settle in before I tried to trim it. It is by a north window. (only one that it can go at) Found a few places saying to water it till the water comes out the holes at the bottom of the pot. I didn't this time as It started to drop right away.

I would like to not kill it. I have only had good luck with succulents in my life but I really wish to keep this alive.
Yet at this time the only thing I can think of is our house is a little drafty? Its a old house so I can't do much about that.

I have only had it for about a week, Any help please?

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rainbowgardener
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Hi and welcome to the Forum!

it always helps to tell us where you are located. There are hardly any garden questions (even indoor gardening) that can be discussed without regard to location/ climate.

And it would really help to show us a couple pictures of your little schefflera.

From what you have said so far, I am guessing that 1) it isn't getting enough light. Indoors it needs a very bright window or supplemented with artificial light. 2) not watered correctly. You are right that when you do water, you need to water until all the soil is moistened, which means water is running freely out the drain holes. But then you don't water again until it really needs it. "Water this plant as little as possible without letting the soil dry out in order to maintain root health while developing short internodes and small leaves." https://www.bonsaioutlet.com/hawaiian-umbrella-care/

3) probably not in the right soil. For some reason bonsai trees are often sold in regular peat moss heavy potting soil, which is very bad for them, holds too much water and stays too wet for too long. Proper bonsai soil is very mineral and gritty, loose and free draining.

4) not enough humidity. If it is winter where you are, houses indoors in winter with heated air are very dry. Get a hand sprayer that makes a very fine mist and mist your tree daily or at least several times a week.

R0se_0f_Fire
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Hello and thank you!

I live in Wisconsin. It is chilly and winter right now.
I waited a bit over a week to water it the second time. I dug my finger into the soil slightly to make sure that more then just the top felt dry.
I am going to do my best to try and move it to a brighter window. I might need to look into extra lighting for it then.

Is there a way to know if it is bad soil? Where could I get proper bonsai soil? Is it safe to re-pot them if they are losing their leaves?
I'll need to look into a mist bottle then. I thought I saw something about having a wider pot with water in it to add moister. Have you worked with these?

Thank you so much for your reply!

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rainbowgardener
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The wider pot you are talking about is called a humidity tray:

Image
https://www.easternleaf.com/v/vspfiles/p ... 0-01-3.jpg


Note that the bonsai pot sits on the pebbles to keep it up out of the water, which is in the bottom of the tray. You want your bonsai OVER the water, not in it. The idea is just to help humidify the air around the leaves a little. But even so, they still benefit from misting.

Lighting for bonsai (or any houseplant) needs to be a dedicated lamp, directly over it from just a few inches away, on for 16 hours a day:

Image
https://www.bonsaimary.com/growing-bonsa ... doors.html

this example is not as good, because not directly over it:

Image
https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41W276ED2CL.jpg

that tree will need to be rotated, something like a quarter turn daily, to keep light exposure distributed.

Post a picture of your tree, showing the soil, and we may be able to comment about it.

R0se_0f_Fire
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Hello,
I'm sorry I let this go for so long. School started back up and I found my self with a lack of time on my hands.
I moved it to a brighter window and I thought it was doing better. But now more leaves are falling off and its starting to look thin. Since I don't have a tray to put it on I have large cups of water around it and have bough a mist bottle. I have been checking the soil to make sure it needs water and have then been watering it off of that information.
I really thought it was doing better but now the leaves have a strange pattern to it, which I thought I read that meant that they are over watered?

The thin look of the leafs:
Image

The soil:
Image

The leaf patterns:
Image


What else am I doing wrong??
Thank you for your time.

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rainbowgardener
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The "strange pattern" on the leaves is because something has been chewing on them. If you look closely at the bottom photo, I think you even have a picture of the culprit, or at least one of them. The top leaf on the right hand side has a little thin caterpillar-ish creature.

R0se_0f_Fire
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O.o
How would it get caterpillars if it's been inside all this time?
Is there something I can do about this? To get rid of them?
:?

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rainbowgardener
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eggs can be in the soil or in hidden parts of the plant and hatch out later.

What to do depends on how big a problem you have. I would start by just picking your caterpillar off with tweezers and disposing of it, then inspecting your plant very carefully including stem joints and leaf undersides, see if you can find any more. Inspect it some different times of the day or night, because sometimes they only come out at certain times.

If you don't find any more, I'd wash your plant off thoroughly and then just keep monitoring. If you keep finding more then let us know and we will tell you how to up the ante. Also keep monitoring to see if new leaves that appear show damage or not.



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