Gardenia Bonsai help!!

[artofnoise03]

My bonsai tree is 3 years old...and all I have left of it is the stump and it's shaved around the sides:(
it's name is rudy, and I got it as an anniversary present 4 months ago...about 3 weeks after I got it I began to see these litle whit bugs and the cotton stuff..I've done everything that I can imagine for this plan.
1.used the dishsoap thingy
2.Used a systemic repeller
3. Let it sit outside
4. Put it near a sunny window
5. Cut back all the dead parts (the entire tree pretty much)
I don't know what else to do, and my bf comez home from iraq in 3 weeks!!!
can anybody help me?

[rainbowgardener]

I'm really sorry to hear about your bonsai and I'm sorry no one replied who has expertise about them. I'm not a bonsai grower and don't have expertise. However, I'm guessing no one responded, because they didn't really have any answer for you. I don't know why it happened, but it sounds like your plant may be a goner. Have you considered the Lucille Ball solution? Go buy another one and pretend it is the one you were given? ('Course we know what always happened to Lucy when she tried stuff like that!) Sorry not to have better tidings...

[bonsaiboy]

Sounds like it suffered from a fungus problem. Was it by any chance sitting in a drainage saucer that was left unemptied after it was watered?

[artofnoise03]

once I left the water in the dish cuz I thought it would keep it watered til I got home from my trip(2 weeks ago)
been going downhill ever since.I've recent;y resoiled it to get rid of the bugs a little bit more effectively snd that hasnt helpoed..I just came home from another trip and there was some white webbing around the stump that's left.and now the stump is all brown..I'm guesing the bugs got to it or it just rotted or both...Idk...I'm in big touble tho...that plant was expensive...like 70 bucks!

[bonsaiboy]

The water in that dish probably kept the soil to wet causing root rot.

[artofnoise03]

yep I think it was that and this white bugs too...I trie everything to get rid of em too:(
are they what cause the white webs on the soil and on the trunk?

[bonsaiboy]

I am not sure as to this. Spider mites can build webs, but are very tiny and are not white. I think this webbing is a fungus.

[artofnoise03]

thanks...well now I think it's completely dead:(
but I'm purchasing a dwarf gardenia (same plant I had before) in hopes of growing it as a bonsai...its only 3 inches.I hope this one will work out better than the last one.

[jonnyappleseed]

The white bugs may be aphids. I am no expert, but if it is still alive at all, I might try repotting in a 50/50 mix of pearlite and pine bark. Before repotting, spray the plant with a weak solution of dish soap, and then use comercial anti fungus preparation.

[artofnoise03]

on repotting it...I repottted it twice:-(
still didnt do anything...and I still saw the bugs after the second repotting