Serissa Troubles

[mlopez6102]

I live in New Jersey and its still pretty cold here I just got a white serissa and a barbados cherry maybe 3 weeks ago. I am having some problems right now

the serissa is turning its leaves yellow and losing them pretty fast, and the barbados is brittle and also losing leaves fast. I have them on the window sill of my bay window where they receive direct mormning sunlight and indirect sun the rest of the day I bought a moisture meter meaturing 0 to 10 and ive been keeping them at a 5.

I was wondering if I should repot them with better soil than what they came in and if i should maybe get the gro lights and is miracle grow good for them? Help Im new to this and I really don't want to kill these trees

[kdodds]

Can you get some pictures of the trees? How often have you been watering? Have you been fertilizing? Did you allow for a 2 week rest period for the change of location before putting them in full sun?

[mlopez6102]

I will have pictures of them in a few days i just ordered a camera off ebay and it wont be here for another 5 day or so but they both have new growth but they are both losing leaves. I know nothing about bonsai so i just put them on the window sill and water them every 2 days or so and i only used half strenght miracle grow plant food once.

[Kenshin14435]

Just to add to what kdodds said but, the direct sunlight in the morning couldbe causing this(I doubt it but theres always a chance).
Also, your trees are relatively new am I correct. The browning of the leaves could be a result of stress on the plant from the change of sunlight and repotting them out of desparity will only cause more stress on your already stressed out trees. Grow lights could be a good thing or a bad thing. But remember, it will most likely cause stress on your tree if you change their light source once again. I use miracle-gro for my trees and it works great. BUT, DO NOT buy food spikes unless you have to(going on a trip or something of the sort).
I tried food spike on my juniper and they give you NO control over how much your feeding them.
If you get a liquid it gives you way more control over the fertilizer. But make sure you dilute it correctly or you may cause root burn.
My juniper is half-dead and still going downhill.
I still have to go out and buy some soil.
And the trees MIGHT need more moisture than a 5.
Perhaps a 6-8.
Before you take any of my advice clear it with kdodds or Gnome first.
Good Luck!

K5

[Gnome]

mlopez6102,

I don't do a whole lot of 'indoor species' and in fact own neither of the species you are having trouble with so I am not the best one to reply.

I have them on the window sill of my bay window where they receive direct mormning sunlight.

Window sills can, depending on orientation, be a fairly harsh environment. Our homes are very dry and this may also have some bearing on your problems. If they must stay inside a humidity tray may help. This is a shallow tray with an inch or so of gravel to which water is added sufficient to cover the gravel but not high enough to wick up into the pot.

I live in New Jersey and its still pretty cold here

Now that the weather has warmed up (at least here) perhaps you should consider getting them outside for the summer. Everything I have is outside now and has been for some time now despite the cold snap. I just could not bring myself to haul it all back inside. My Ficus seem to be more hardy than most people give them credit for but it is my understanding that Serissa are not as resilient, so take that into consideration.

Norm

[mlopez6102]

I havent moved them fromt he window sill in weeks now and they seem to be adjusting. I am worried that they soil they are in isnt the best for them. I will be giving them 5 drops of miracle gro per week as of now just to see how they do with it. I might have been underwatering them so I am gonna start keeping them at a 7 on the moiture thingy. The window sills orientation is umm its facing north,kinda northeast, I have the humidity tray just need to get the gravel now. Its wamr here now also finally! I am thinking of moving them to the front yard which is directly under the window sill they are in now so it wont be a big change for them I just don't want animals to get to them

What do you guys think about earworms in the pots?

Eventhough my serissa has been losing leaves it also has a good amount of new growth so it might just have been that they needed to adjust to their new home

now the barbados cherry i have a few questions about, once it blooms and produces fruit are those fruits edible? And the trunk is a bit thin for my liking how can i fatten it ?

Thankx guy you've been a great help!!

[alisios]

mlopez6102,

I don't do a whole lot of 'indoor species' and in fact own neither of the species you are having trouble with so I am not the best one to reply.

I'm not sure why, but I have trouble with indoor plants in general... don't know why that is...

[kdodds]

If they've stopped dropping leaves and appear to be recovering, I'd be slow to change anything I was doing as it really may just have been the adjustment. Although, you usually don't see this type of thing (rapid response and recovery) with the species mentioned. North facing windows are not great for light loving plants. But if that's the space you have to work with, then that's what you'll have to work with. The plants should be fine, they'll adjust and grow more slowly, but the species mentioned should not have long-term problems in their location.

Earwigs, do you mean? If they're in the pot, that would probably be a sign of too much moisture. If you meant earthworms, bonsai pots are too small and shallow to support them.

The fruit of the Barbados Cherry is not poisonous, as far as I know, but I would not exactly consider it edible either. To thicken branches or trunks, the principle is the same, allow the plant to grow out before pruning. For the Barbados Cherry, I'd allow it to grow out for an entire year before pruning. Of course, you do want to still remove unwanted branches, back buds, etc.

[mlopez6102]

alright here are some pictures og my trees and yes I was asking about earthworms I don't even know what earwigs are


Serissa is 12 years old

http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g3/Mi ... ure001.jpg

Barbados is 7 yers old

http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g3/Mi ... ure003.jpg

[kdodds]

Each looks a little bare of leaves, but nothing that can not be recovered from with a little care. It seems it may just hve been displacement stress. Good luck with them.

[Kenshin14435]

The first of your trees listed looks fine to me. The second one though, not so much. The second one does look bare of leaves but overall it looks fine.(Better than my juniper)

K5

[brian]

I have a Sarissa as well and it went through a period of adjustment where it lokked very similar to yours. It looks to me like there is quite a bit of new growth and I would not make any drastic changes right now. I fertilize mine once a week and water daily because it is in a room that can become quite sunny and dry. Everything i have read about Sarissa says that they are very tempermental so if you have a spot and a watering regimen that seems to be agreeing with the tree I woudn't change anything. Good luck and God Bless, Brian.