HELP

[reidy]

morning all, i bought a bonsai from my local supermarket over here in the uk and all was well, i put it on a windowsill so that it had pleanty of sunlight and watered it as soon as i got home, when i got back from work the next day all of the leaves that were nice and stiff, were all welted. i don't think i over watered it, and as soon as i saw this, i took it away from the window and didnt water it anymore, and now the leaves that were welted have started going dry and crispy! when i have been watering it, i have put enough water in so that the water runs from the bottom of the pot and i don't know what to do i may just take it back to the shop and start again, but even then i don't know where i have gone wrong!







sorry for the poor quality i took them on my iphone

any help would be great!

thanks
Reidy

[TomM]

Knowing what kind of tree you have would be of great help. If the leaves are 3-pointed I might guess that it is trident maple, in which case it should be outdoors, in a semi shaded location. A bright sunny window (indoors) could have been too hot and dry for it.

BUT, if it is some type of tropical, the story is different.

I hope an identification can be made so that we know what direction to go with. Can you show a close-up of individual leaves? Hope someone can recognize it for you.

Meanwhile - if you can, and if the weather is good, keep it outside in a well protected spot with little wind and not a lot of direct sun. Water well when the soil is beginning to show dryness, but not constantly wet. Hope it will begin recovery, but it will take some time.

[reidy]

hey thanks for that, i took him back to tesco and they swapped him over, they were fine about doing it as i think they have had a few back. maybe bad stock as after reading up on my new tree, i found that it had mould on the trunk! i now have a Ligustrum, which is now standing in a bowl of water to soak.
now that i have read what you have said im now reading up on how to properly care for my new tree! im going to let him soak for a couple of hours to get some moisture in the soil, as the air conditioning from the store will have dried it out to hell! He looks very healthy and green, will trim himwhen i get home, although he needs to be put in some sun light! the only rooms in my house have east or west facing windows, which will mean that he either gets bright sunlight between 4 and 12 or direct sunlight between around half 1 and 8 so any suggestions as to what i could do would be great! i have thought about putting him away from the window so there is some light but not direct!

will stick a picture up

[kdodds]

Trees don't get like that overnight. It takes a good deal of abuse or long term inappropriate care to produce what you've posted up. A very good clue as to what went wrong is the condition of the soil. Notice that it is pulling away from the pot. This happens when it has been kept too dry for too long. It also looks like there is an overabundance of finer roots at the surface. This would indicate to me a tree grown in a larger pot that has overgrown that pot, and whose root ball is summarily chopped to size to fit into the "bonsai pot". On your new tree... given it's come from the same place, a good half to one hour soaking is probably in order the next few times you water, but permanently stand the pot submerged in water will kill your new tree. Both Ligustrum and Acer belong outside, at the very least those that are common and would be available at a non-bonsai specialty store.

[TomM]

I agree that a tree like this should not be kept in the house.