mrbaily
Newly Registered
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:06 pm

Golden Gate Ficus Bonsai problems

Hi everyone,
Firstly I am new here, sorry to just jump in without hitting the intro forum but I'm worried about my bonsai.
I received it as a present a few months back, when I first received it the poor guy had been lost in the mail for about 10 days but thankfully the nursery packed it up pretty good and all the leaves were a deep emerald green. The literature estimated the trees age to be around 5 years.

I took it home and it has kind of been a slow decline since then.
First, I live in L.A. and I had it indoors, but my apartment is in the Southeast corner of a building on the inside portion so the only windows I have over look a courtyard, and these are facing a Northwest-ish direction. So I don't get a lot of indirect or direct sun to begin with ( in fact think of my apartment as a shallow cave) but my patio gets some sun during mid day. So when the leaves really started dropping I moved it out to the patio, its a covered patio so the tree isn't in direct sun for long during the course of the day. I just thought it would be brighter out there and the tree might be happier.
The tree did not get happier. The leaves just kept browning and falling until now there are none at all. There is noticeable new grown but I am see that some of them are shriveling up before they can unfold.
As far as watering goes I was watering it every 3-ish days, keeping an eye to make sure the soil had dried out. When the leaves really started falling I thought maybe I was over-watering and cut back to every 5-ish days
I also fertilized, at 1/2 strength, ever 2-ish weeks.
The soil seems fine, as far a drainage goes, the water goes right through. I was advised to not re-pot for at least a year after getting my tree, but I'm afraid it wont make it to its 6th birthday. Should I consider trimming the roots and repotting in new soil?
Please help, I really want to get this tree back to the state that I received it in. I am attaching pictures, any of your advice is greatly appreciated.
Baily
[img]https://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x393/mrbaily57/IMG_2454.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x393/mrbaily57/IMG_2453.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x393/mrbaily57/IMG_2452.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x393/mrbaily57/IMG_2451.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x393/mrbaily57/IMG_2450.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x393/mrbaily57/IMG_2449.jpg[/img]

JTred
Green Thumb
Posts: 380
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 2:05 am
Location: Elizabeth, PA

Just leave it alone, give it enough light and make sure not to over-water it. Trees with no leaves require a lot less water. You have green buds, so just keep an eye out and in a week or two you will probably see them start to open up. This happens to a lot of ficus when they are moved, especially when conditions are not ideal.

-Jack

mrbaily
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Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:06 pm

Thanks for the reply Jack. How often would you suggest to water it?
Thanks
Baily

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BewilderedGreenyO.o
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Posts: 471
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:02 am
Location: San Bernardino Mountains, California

just wanted to say that I like your bonsai. It looks pretty kewl even without its leaves. Just in time for the halloween spooky look :wink:

mrbaily
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Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:06 pm

Thanks :)

linlaoboo
Green Thumb
Posts: 469
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 1:15 pm
Location: NJ

There's still some green, I wouldn't give up on it yet. The soil looks to be bonsai mix, hard to see on your picture. Try watering it not on a consistent schedule but upon the need of the tree when the soil dries up the pot feels light. Give it stable condition, protect it from wind/drafts. Also you don't want to move it too much. This happened to me before when I moved the tree into the house and it eventually bounced back in weeks.



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