Perfect green leaves falling from my Fukien tea. Please help

[bonsaibeauty]

I have a new fukien tea bonsai that I have had since Christmas and it has been doing really well, it even has flowers about to blossom. I am relatively new to Bonsai, but am trying to research the best i can to care for it.

The tree is really thirsty requiring watering every third day or so and I fed it bonsai feed for the first time last weekend. I had read that Fukien tea's can easily burn from overfeeding so I made sure to use even less concentrate than suggested. Until now I've had leaves dropping now and again as usual and they are brown but in the last few days I've had perfectly good green leaves dropping off the tree. What is the reason for this? Some of the flower buds are drying up before blooming.

I read that Fukien teas don't require misting and actually do better without it, is this true?

I would be very grateful to anyone who could answer some of my questions as I love my bonsai and don't want it to go wrong.

Thank you.

[Gnome]

Bonsaibeauty,

Hello and welcome to the site. I am not that familiar with this species and am learning from these type threads. Off the top of my head I wonder if you have experienced a sudden drop in temperatures.

Here is a link to a care sheet.

Norm

[ynot]

BB-Welcome,

Can you post a picture please? Here are a few tips on photos:
http://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/v ... php?t=3557

Additional info about it's environment would be helpful [The lighting it receives, Temps it experiences, Soil composition..etc.]

I have a new fukien tea bonsai that I have had since Christmas and it has been doing really well, it even has flowers about to blossom. I am relatively new to Bonsai, but am trying to research the best I can to care for it.

As your tree is currently stressed {for whatever reason} It would be best to cut off the blooms as they are using a lot of resources [nutrients, etc..] that your tree could be using to redevelop it's foliage.

The tree is really thirsty requiring watering every third day or so and I fed it bonsai feed for the first time last weekend. I had read that Fukien tea's can easily burn from overfeeding so I made sure to use even less concentrate than suggested. Until now I've had leaves dropping now and again as usual and they are brown but in the last few days I've had perfectly good green leaves dropping off the tree. What is the reason for this? Some of the flower buds are drying up before blooming.

Don't worry about ferts until your tree is better, One thing at a time. It won't starve to death..:)

Please describe the method you use to test your tree to decide if it needs water as well as how you water.

I read that Fukien teas don't require misting and actually do better without it, is this true?

Misting is over rated as far as it's actual effectiveness in raising the relative humidity. I still do it though...
A humidity tray would be a more effective measure.

I would be very grateful to anyone who could answer some of my questions as I love my bonsai and don't want it to go wrong.

We will do what we can, Please post some pictures.
Here is a care sheet on your species:
http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Carmona.html

As well as a couple links on bonsai care in general.

There are a lot of links here for you to peruse on these two sites, Enjoy the journey!!8)

http://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics.html

http://evergreengardenworks.com/articles.htm

Good luck
ynot

[bonsaibeauty]

Thank you so much for your help, it really is wonderful to have constant help at hand when looking after a bonsai.

The way I test the bonsai to see whether it needs watering or not is just to touch the top of the soil with my fingertips to see if its moist or dry and if its feeling dry I either soak it in the sink or water it with a watering can, depending on the dryness. Is this correct?

Thank you for the many links, I'll be sure to read them all carefully.

[bonsaibeauty]

Please would you kindly let me have an email address where I can email 2 jpegs and if someone could then kindly post them on the site. I'm not very good at the internet.

I would be very grateful if anyone could help or knows of a simple way to load pictures onto the forum.

Thank you.[/url]

[ynot]

BB,

Thank you so much for your help, it really is wonderful to have constant help at hand when looking after a bonsai.

You may not think so when you get the bill...

The way I test the bonsai to see whether it needs watering or not is just to touch the top of the soil with my fingertips to see if its moist or dry and if its feeling dry I either soak it in the sink or water it with a watering can, depending on the dryness. Is this correct?

Soaking is for emergency type situations, If you read the 'watering' link on bonsai4me [Harry makes his living w/ bonsai= He is a Pro] you will see it is absolutely not recommended as a regular watering process.

The roots of your bonsai do not live at the surface, They live underneath .
Touching the surface tells you nothing about the state of the soil deeper in the pot [where your tree actually lives], See what I mean?

Dig a knuckle or two deep into the soil is it moist [NOT wet- moist] if it is just barely moist then water, not until. Check your tree every day but only water it when it needs it.

When you do water it , Water three times about 10 minutes apart. Each time give it a thorough soaking until the water is flowing out of the drainage holes.
The multiple waterings are to insure that the rootball gets saturated as during the initial watering a large portion of the water will simply flow down the inside of the pot as opposed to soaking into the soil due to surface tension and a few of the other uncooperative properties of water.

This also provides for good aeration of the soil as the water drains [for the required gas exchanges within the soil.].
Air is a required component in your soil as well as water.

Speaking of soil read the soil stickey and see if your soil seems appropriate. http://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/v ... php?t=3422

I suspect that your tree is in a very loamy/peat moss compost that consists of particles that are far to fine and stay wet far too long.
We will see in the pictures.

Thank you for the many links, I'll be sure to read them all carefully.

Glad to hear it . You will learn much.

I look forward to the pictures.
ynot
Enjoy,
ynot

[bonsaibeauty]

I can't believe i've been watering it so wrong! woops... will do it properly from now on.

Could you let me know how I can load pictures easily? I've taken a picture of the whole tree which also shows where it is situated in relation to a window, radiator. etc. I've also taken a picture of three leaves that are the different kinds of leaves that keep dropping.

Thanks :D again

[ynot]

I can't believe I've been watering it so wrong! woops... will do it properly from now on.

Could you let me know how I can load pictures easily? I've taken a picture of the whole tree which also shows where it is situated in relation to a window, radiator. etc. I've also taken a picture of three leaves that are the different kinds of leaves that keep dropping.

Thanks again

Watering mistakes are by far the most common cause of ex-bonsai.

It is not sitting on the radiator- or directly in a draft is it- Neither is good.

If the picture shows that much of the room, I doubt We will be able to see much about the tree.

Do see the link for a bit about how to take helpful pictures, Unhelpful pictures are exactly that. Unhelpful.
http://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/v ... php?t=3557

The picture will also not tell us which direction the window faces if it gets morn or afternoon sun ect....
While a pic is worth a 1000 words... we need lots of words also please.

Take lots of pics please, Post the most usefull.

How to post the pictures is here: http://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/v ... php?t=3724

ynot

[Sharp]

Your 4 biggest concerns for leaf loss are going to be:

1) Sunlight
2) Temp
3) Watering
4) Humidity

Also they are notorious for getting bugs, so be on the look out for that. Aphids love em.

Here are a few pics of mine:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ ... infest.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ ... nfest2.jpg

[Gnome]

Bonsaibeauty,

Sorry I was so brief earlier, I had to go see about dinner. It looks like Ynot and Sharp have offered you some good information. Thanks to you both.

Norm

[bonsaibeauty]

Hi here is the first picture of my bonsai:


Second one to follow in a minute

[bonsaibeauty]

Here is the second picture:

[bonsaibeauty]

It is difficult to see alot of the surroundings of the tree as I wanted to take a picture of just the tree.

The tree is about 7 feet from the radiator and about 8-9 feet from the window which is south-facing. I would be grateful if you could tell me if this is good or bad positioning. It gets alot of light, without being in direct sunlight which i hear is bad for it?

The second picture shows the kinds of leaves that are falling... some are completely brown, some just brown tips and some partially brown but most recently leaves are dropping that are green as you can see from the left leaf in the picture. I found that when I was feeling the soil the last couple of days to check if it needed watering, the leaves dropped off when I slightly moved the tree.

Overall, right now, I think the tree looks pretty healthy but its only been the last few days that the leaves have increasingly dropped so I'd rather do something now than when I've lost alot of foliage.

[ynot]

Bonsaibeauty,

As Gnome notes in the post below, I also feel that your tree is suffering from wet feet and I think a new potting medium is required.

One thing:
Do be cautious when 'digging in' whilst checking to see if you need to water. No need to injure the root system.

I suspect it will not be an easy procedure considering the current soil...
We will help you to improve that though.

From the pictures I cannot identify any other single reason for the leaf drop.
Provided it does not accelerate [And the health of the tree remains stable], I don't see your tree as being in any immediate danger.

Do make it a point to check out the links about repotting at the websites you have been linked to, There is a bit about that in the stickey at the top of the forum also.

Positioning: It could be much closer to the window if you wish although Fukiens do not require a lot of light [ Though bright to a person is actually very dark to a plant.]

The radiator is not blowing a draft directly on the tree is it?

One thing to keep in mind is that if it should be the case that it is stressed from being too wet. It didn't get that way overnight and the recovery will take as least as long.
It may lose all of its foliage in the meantime which will mean dedicated care during its recovery and limited watering while leafless [ With no foliage it will have less transpiration - water loss through the foliage]

Limited refers to how frequently you water, not the amount that you water.
Your goal is a complete soaking of the potting media every time you water, But only water when it needs it.
You will find it won't use as much water if it loses its leaves so you simply water less often. Continue to check every day though, It is part of the deal with bonsai.

You might consider getting a large humidity tray as the tray the pot sits on now is primarily for catching small drips from the drainage holes and is not contributing to the relative humidity around the tree.

Good luck and keep us updated

ynot

[Gnome]

Bonsaibeauty,

Good job on getting the pictures posted. In looking at your soil it looks to be primarily peat and probably holds too much water too long. As has been noted a very free draining mix is needed for trees in such shallow pots. I suspect that watering is at the heart of your problems. Be careful not to keep it constantly wet, but when you do water do so thoroughly.

Norm