help my pyracantha

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Renae

Seedling
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Victoria, Australia
Hello all! Brand new to the forum and new to the bonsai business (or any gardening business for that fact). I've just received a pyracantha firethorn bonsai as a gift and I've been frantically Googling how to care for it.

I've noticed a few blemishes on several leaves and I'm concerned for my baby. There's three kind of blemishes (I'll attach photos), yellowing, browning, and browning spots. Also there appears to be a kind of dust on the leaves that seems to mostly come away, so unsure if it literally is dust or something else.

I'm in Australia so we're approaching mid-winter now.

Any insight would be absolutely wonderful, as I'm coming up short. Thanks in advance!

1466554150936655388466.jpg yellowing and browning
Snapchat-1612847633239531245.jpg browning spots and "dust"
 
Pyracantha is in the rose family so using sulpher is the way to go. Sulpher rose dust fungicide will help with soot, a fungus on your leaves. Do not water the leaves when watering especially as winter approaches for you. They respond well to total defoliation, but I would do that just before bud break in late winter. Wash tools (disinfect)before doing any cutting on Pyra as they are very seceptable to fire blight.
 
Welcome. Don't fuss or stress to much about it. Pyracantha are about as tough as an outback Aboriginal. :p Give it plenty sun and water, keep it fertilised, and it will mostly look after itself.
 
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Wow. Awesome trees.
 
Smoke said:
Pyracantha is in the rose family so using sulpher is the way to go. Sulpher rose dust fungicide will help with soot, a fungus on your leaves. Do not water the leaves when watering especially as winter approaches for you. They respond well to total defoliation, but I would do that just before bud break in late winter. Wash tools (disinfect)before doing any cutting on Pyra as they are very seceptable to fire blight.
Click to expand...

Wow, thanks! I couldn't find anywhere if they responded well with defoliation, and I've read doing such encourages smaller leaf growth, which I'd like as they're quite large. I'll do that in a few months then
 
fredman said:
Welcome. Don't fuss or stress to much about it. Pyracantha are about as tough as an outback Aboriginal. :p Give it plenty sun and water, keep it fertilised, and it will mostly look after itself.
Click to expand...

Heh, thank you for the confidence boost.
 
Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce
 
Renae said:
You wouldn't happen to have tips on thickening a pyra trunk, would you?
Click to expand...
Smoke has some nice fat pyracanthas. You really need to chop down and dig up big trunks if you want a big trunk. They don't thicken much at all in pots. I chopped this one down to just a trunk in 2005, and it's taken 10+ years to grow all new branches on this one. In a bonsai pot the whole time, they've only grown to 3/4" in diameter, at best.
 

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Brian Van Fleet said:
Smoke has some nice fat pyracanthas. You really need to chop down and dig up big trunks if you want a big trunk. They don't thicken much at all in pots. I chopped this one down to just a trunk in 2005, and it's taken 10+ years to grow all new branches on this one. In a bonsai pot the whole time, they've only grown to 3/4" in diameter, at best.
Click to expand...

That looks great.

Cypress187 said:
Me2, my airlayer is almost done, I can go pot it. Does anyone know a good mix?
Click to expand...

I'd also like to know this.. I was going to go with cat litter, the much talked about one recommended by some here and Harry Harrington, from bonsai4me. Same mix I was going to use for an air layered Chinese elm. Seems an all round good mix, very draining.
 
Renae said:
Wow, thanks! I couldn't find anywhere if they responded well with defoliation, and I've read doing such encourages smaller leaf growth, which I'd like as they're quite large. I'll do that in a few months then
Click to expand...
It won't do anything to reduce the size of the leaf. Leaf reduction comes with ramification. More leaves smaller size. Less leaves, larger size. Pyracantha do not ramify per se, the branches are not set up that way.
 
Smoke said:
It won't do anything to reduce the size of the leaf. Leaf reduction comes with ramification. More leaves smaller size. Less leaves, larger size. Pyracantha do not ramify per se, the branches are not set up that way.
Click to expand...

Ohh, I see.
Boy, I have a lot to learn! Thank you for your knowledge!
 
Brian Van Fleet said:
Smoke has some nice fat pyracanthas. You really need to chop down and dig up big trunks if you want a big trunk. They don't thicken much at all in pots. I chopped this one down to just a trunk in 2005, and it's taken 10+ years to grow all new branches on this one. In a bonsai pot the whole time, they've only grown to 3/4" in diameter, at best.
Click to expand...

You have a very lovely pyra!

Oh man, mines going to be a twiggy pyra forever. Maybe I'll abstain from trying to train it and let it do its thing for a while..
 
Please be aware these are covered with very nasty thorns. Many less painful trees to grow as bonsai rather then give up in pain;).
 
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