Bonsai is brown
I think my bonsai is dead. This is the first plant I've killed and I'm not sure if she's dead dead or I am able to save her?
Thank you in advance!
#JapaneseGardenJuniper #bonsai
Thank you in advance!
#JapaneseGardenJuniper #bonsai
4” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 year ago
8
Best Answer
Hi Ella 👋 could you possibly add a few more pictures? Just so I can see what's going on?
I have a different kind of bonsai (a Fukien Tea) who was REALLY not well when she arrived! And now I'm very glad to say she's fully recovered! Lol but they are tricky... Totally different to my other plants though they do have a few things in common thankfully! Lol 🤣
The most likely cause is either over or UNDERwatering. Bonsai like to have constantly and evenly moist soil, which means you can't let it dry out all the way, Buuuut you also can't drown her! Lol
They like REALLY bright indirect light, lots and lots of it! I have mine directly in front of a Sansi grow light (like, about 6 inches away) and she's doing great!
Is also recommend getting a good, natural fertiliser (not a chemical one preferably) because bonsai soil is largely, well, not soil! Haha 😂
And that is my other big tip... You can't really use standard potting soil I'm afraid! It's too dense and holds too much water, so I mixed a tiny bit of coir (& I do mean only a tiny bit!) with akadama (a specialist bonsai substrate, a bit like clay bits) and coarse grit when I repotted mine and she seems to love it! I also mist her, I have quite a humid house so missing works for me but if you live somewhere with little air moisture you might want to think about getting a hygrometer and a humidifier.
All of that is by the by though... I would DEFINITELY recommend taking her out of the pot and having a look at her roots to be sure there's no rot. Bonsai HATE having their roots messed with so she's not gonna like it, but if any are brown/ squishy/ smelly cut them off with sterelised snips and give the rest a rinse with 3:1 water to peroxide solution. It's also not a bad idea to sprinkle a little activated charcoal in her pot with you replant her in fresh soil mix. It helps stop rot.
They like board shallow pots which should be only JUST bigger than the root ball (they like to be snug!).
I don't honestly know right now if you can save her... She does look very sad! 😭 But it's always with a go! I just got new growth on a Dracaena stump I was SO sure was dead! 🎉 So bear with her... She may just surprise you!
Very best of luck xx
I have a different kind of bonsai (a Fukien Tea) who was REALLY not well when she arrived! And now I'm very glad to say she's fully recovered! Lol but they are tricky... Totally different to my other plants though they do have a few things in common thankfully! Lol 🤣
The most likely cause is either over or UNDERwatering. Bonsai like to have constantly and evenly moist soil, which means you can't let it dry out all the way, Buuuut you also can't drown her! Lol
They like REALLY bright indirect light, lots and lots of it! I have mine directly in front of a Sansi grow light (like, about 6 inches away) and she's doing great!
Is also recommend getting a good, natural fertiliser (not a chemical one preferably) because bonsai soil is largely, well, not soil! Haha 😂
And that is my other big tip... You can't really use standard potting soil I'm afraid! It's too dense and holds too much water, so I mixed a tiny bit of coir (& I do mean only a tiny bit!) with akadama (a specialist bonsai substrate, a bit like clay bits) and coarse grit when I repotted mine and she seems to love it! I also mist her, I have quite a humid house so missing works for me but if you live somewhere with little air moisture you might want to think about getting a hygrometer and a humidifier.
All of that is by the by though... I would DEFINITELY recommend taking her out of the pot and having a look at her roots to be sure there's no rot. Bonsai HATE having their roots messed with so she's not gonna like it, but if any are brown/ squishy/ smelly cut them off with sterelised snips and give the rest a rinse with 3:1 water to peroxide solution. It's also not a bad idea to sprinkle a little activated charcoal in her pot with you replant her in fresh soil mix. It helps stop rot.
They like board shallow pots which should be only JUST bigger than the root ball (they like to be snug!).
I don't honestly know right now if you can save her... She does look very sad! 😭 But it's always with a go! I just got new growth on a Dracaena stump I was SO sure was dead! 🎉 So bear with her... She may just surprise you!
Very best of luck xx
Ah... It sounds like you had a bad case of root rot and that white stuff?... Probably mould! 🫣 I think she's gone in that case honey! Sorry!!! 😭 With root rot I always recommend chopping of the bar this, rinsing the rest with 3:1 water: hydrogen peroxide and sitting with ground cinnamon (a natural fungicide), washing the pot with peroxide and replanting in fresh soil (just for future reference lol) but your totally right, I'm relatively experienced with plants but my bonsai was a HUGE learning curve! Lol 😱🤣 also, because they like consistently moist substrate, they're REALLY prone to rot! It's SO easy to overwater them so don't be too hard one yourself!! 🥹
Oh she was in a right state when I got her!! She'd been really overwatered and not given enough light, all her leaves were yellowing and she dropped like 50% of them in the first week!! I was in a panic! Lol 😂 but I got her under my Sansi light, repotted her in a proper substrate (she was in straight coir, which is insane for a bonsai) and slowly but surely she's perked up! She even gave me her first bloom the other day 🥰💚 and has lots more buds coming! 😎 Xxx
Oh she was in a right state when I got her!! She'd been really overwatered and not given enough light, all her leaves were yellowing and she dropped like 50% of them in the first week!! I was in a panic! Lol 😂 but I got her under my Sansi light, repotted her in a proper substrate (she was in straight coir, which is insane for a bonsai) and slowly but surely she's perked up! She even gave me her first bloom the other day 🥰💚 and has lots more buds coming! 😎 Xxx
Aww 🥰 she's a Carmona Fukien Tea tree so you know 💚 and I love her to bits (now she's not dying any more! Lol 🤣). I'd definitely recommend buying from a recommended seller tbh... I got mine off eBay and the seller obviously didn't have a clue shit how to make her happy (so I had to educate myself FAST!!! lol 🤣) but they can be really rewarding!!
My next step in the learning process with mine is to wire and shape the branches!! I've never done anything like that with any of my other plants, but as bonsai grow it's kinda essential (as is pruning perfectly healthy leaves and branches, which feels very alien to me! Lol 😂).
You'll get there honey! One day soon you'll be confident enough to get another and I'm sure she'll thrive for you! 💚💚 The first plant I killed was an avocado, a couple of years ago now! Lol , and I just got another after all this time! Lol I really hope I can keep this one alive!
There's no such thing as a bad plant parent, just inexperienced (or sometimes uninterested, which amounts to the same thing imo lol 🤣). It's all a learning curve for all of us, EVERY time we get a new species! So don't stress about it honey!! 🥰 Honestly, it'll be easier next time (& now you have Greg!!! And all of us to help you 🤩😎) xxx
My next step in the learning process with mine is to wire and shape the branches!! I've never done anything like that with any of my other plants, but as bonsai grow it's kinda essential (as is pruning perfectly healthy leaves and branches, which feels very alien to me! Lol 😂).
You'll get there honey! One day soon you'll be confident enough to get another and I'm sure she'll thrive for you! 💚💚 The first plant I killed was an avocado, a couple of years ago now! Lol , and I just got another after all this time! Lol I really hope I can keep this one alive!
There's no such thing as a bad plant parent, just inexperienced (or sometimes uninterested, which amounts to the same thing imo lol 🤣). It's all a learning curve for all of us, EVERY time we get a new species! So don't stress about it honey!! 🥰 Honestly, it'll be easier next time (& now you have Greg!!! And all of us to help you 🤩😎) xxx
Your bonsai being a juniper, I've read that they are outside 😳 bonsai. I know I (not meaning to) killed 3 before trying to grow them inside. That's why I'm just starting form the beginning with seeds. If they grow AWESOME 👌 👏 if not I won't feel so bad about killing them.