Help me i am a novice

zack · White Belt Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 6

hi there wise men and women of the bonsai world i have bought a Sageretia "Sageretia theezans from a shop and Chinese Elm on e bay.

ok the Sageretia theezans is dieing it was green and lovely i put it on my window east facing so it gets sun in the morning there is also a humidty tray with stones, i watered it ever 3 days and misted it ever morning and night, i also used crysital bonsai food every 2 weeks with the water. after 4 months the tree started to turn a ugly yellow so i put it on the roof where it got a lot of sun and it got soooo much light i mean a lot of light (those 3 days were very bright and hot !) it is now yellow there is no green on the leaves help me how do i save it

the chinese elm is droping leaves fast i mean like 10 a day and its small it looks bald, aslo the leaves are convaving like folding in half how do i save it ?

also should i put them in a greenhouse in my garden ? under a tree which has some sunlight then no sunlight

Stymie · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 11:05 pm Post subject: Re: Help me i am a novice

Hiyah Zack and welcome.
Unfortunately, you haven't told us what part of the world you are in and your profile is bare. Some detail would, of course, enable us to be more specific. The Sagaretia would probably benefit from the greenhouse but the Elm ought to be outside for the best of health.
Don't feed either of them until they are recovered enough to use the food. Your other problem may be a lack of moisture. The planting medium should be moist at all times and three days between watering may be allowing it to dry out. Try dunking the whole pot into water until bubbles stop rising just for once to make sure that the whole rootball has moisture in it. If it has been dried at some stage, watering from the top may just be running down the outside edges and not getting into the middle. Once you've done the dunking resume watering from the top just enough to keep it moist throughout. My suspicions could be wrong but I don't have much to go on yet. Has the bark gone a bit crinkley? That would be a definate give away. If you are still at a loss, try scratching a tiny bit of bark away on the trunk. If its green and white underneath, there is still life there. Brown and crisp however is not so good. Come back , tell us where you are and keep in touch, we'll do all that we can to help.

zack · White Belt Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 6

yeh sorry i live in london east london the window is east facing and the greenhouse is a plastic one from e bay

zack · White Belt Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 6

ok i took a knife to it it is green thank god ! lol yeh this may work i dont know :
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thats my leaves
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oh my god there is some kinf og fungai in the soil what should i do ? i just dug it out and thew away the affected soil ? should i completly re soil it ?

zack · White Belt Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 6

err this might work ?
<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/dante786/22072005.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/dante786/22072005001.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

or click here
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/dante786/22072005001.jpg

and
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/dante786/22072005.jpg

Stymie · Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 12:08 am Post subject: Re: Help me i am a novice

Glad to hear of the green Zack.. The pictures come up but they're not clear enough to be helpful.
The fungi is a bit worrying. You don't say which or if both were affected. If you think that you've disposed of it, don't do more than you have to. Any new soil should be free draining i.e. around 20% coarse grit. Keep them out of direct sun for now.

zack · White Belt Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 6

hi yeah there is green on the leaves now the soil had the fungi it looked like cotton wool it was near the edges but its fine now the soil has been kept damped even when i have already watered the plant the leaves are now turning green yey thanks for the advice

Stymie · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 5:55 pm Post subject: Re: Help me i am a novice

Good news Zack. Just excuse one while one adjusts the halo. It happened without lifting a finger. Rolling Eyes

zack · White Belt Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 6

ahhh the fungai is back what the heck happened ot was fine and everything its come back with a vengance its everywhere err can i use normal soil to change the bonsai with oh thanks for the help it did work for the start

Stymie · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 8:14 pm Post subject: Re: Help me i am a novice

Zack. You don't say if the elm is outside now or which is affected by the 'fungus'. Does the latter appear on the pot rim and lower trunk? It might only be a build up of calcium salts. Did you replace all the original planting medium? It should be a free draining mixture. Ordinary potting mixture could be used but should have about a third by volume of coarse grit added.