I got my girlfriend a Azalea Bonsai and it's dying... HELP :(

yes we are having a heat wave it has been 100 all week... i keep it outdoors in the full shade but it still looks very sad... any ideas on how to keep it alive...
Plant deterioration is like a train...it has momentum. After you moved it out, the damage will continue to manifest. Let it be and do as suggested. It is the best you can do for it now.

Expecting it to recover right away is like cutting your finger, letting it get infected, and hoping that putting a bandaid will heal it right away. Doesn't work that way.
 
ok thanks for all the help guys... i will just leave it outside and somewhat forget about it lol and only water once in a while.
 
"only water once in a while"

There's letting it alone and there's neglect. Water it when it needs water. That means you will have to check it more than once in a while, especially when it's hot. Watering bonsai is one of the hardest parts of the sport:D Watering a sickly bonsai is even trickier. A tree that is struggling isn't going to use alot of water since its roots are compromised and incapable of drawing much up. A really sick plant may only need watering every three or four days. A recovering plant with a more active root system may require watering every day, though.

You will have to keep an eye on soil moisture. Search the "Chop stick method" of watering here...
 
hi Lil-Bonsai, welcome to the forum. :)

i don’t post to this forum often, but i’ll contribute my two cents: similar to what rockm has stated, don’t confuse ‘watering’ with ‘checking on a daily basis.’ they are not the same thing. i’m in southern californa also and yes, it can be a challenge to grow azaleas out here, but it can be done with some extra attention. (look up nuccio’s in altadena).

i have container azaleas on the east side of my house or planted in eastern-facing garden beds (pre-bonsai material). they receive only morning/mid-morning sun. … especially in the summertime, i check the container ones every day without fail, sometimes both morning & afternoon just to keep an eye on their moisture content. ryan’s chopstick idea will be valuable until you become more comfortable gauging moisture content.

keep the soil on the ‘light damp’ side - - that’s your target moisture level - - like a well-wrung out sponge. water only when the soil is on the drier side, and when you do water, give the pot a good flush of water all the way through. you’ll see your azalea respond back to your TLC with healthy foliage and good growth. good luck!


kite
 
ok thanks. But my poor tree looks like it needs water everyday but everyone says no its getting too much water... so i'm not sure when and how to water it because everyday the soil gets super dry and looks bad, so that's why i would water it once a day. Sorry but this is my first bonsai plant and i'm worried lol
 
ok thanks. But my poor tree looks like it needs water everyday but everyone says no its getting too much water... so i'm not sure when and how to water it because everyday the soil gets super dry and looks bad, so that's why i would water it once a day. Sorry but this is my first bonsai plant and i'm worried lol

You will have to keep an eye on soil moisture. Search the "Chop stick method" of watering here...

As mentioned before, watering correctly is part of the learning curve. You don't necessarily water on a schedule...you water when needed. Only you can tell when...the chopstick can help:)
 
"But my poor tree looks like it needs water everyday but everyone says no its getting too much water... so i'm not sure when and how to water it because everyday the soil gets super dry and looks bad, so that's why i would water it once a day."

This is one of the big issues for beginners. Symptoms of overwatering are alot like those for underwatering--limp yellow leaves that look like they're not getting water. That's because in BOTH instances they aren't.

OVERwatering rots roots, which means the roots can't function properly in their role in tranferring water up to the leaves, which means DRY leaves. Same for UNDERwatering. In both cases, the roots can't do their job.

As for the soil LOOKING dried out from the top, that may not be the case all the way through the root mass where the roots live. That is why inserting a chopstick INTO the soil like a car's oil dipstick can tell you whether the soil is moist all the way through.
 
ok. I will do the chopstick thing hopefully that will help me... thank you everyone for helping... :-)
 
ok bad news :-( my poor plant looks dead... all of it is just sad... the soil drys up instantly
 
Lil-Bonsai - my advise to you is: Don't give up on bonsai!

I don't grow Azaleas but I can tell you that they are not good beginner material. If you're in SoCal get a juniper or if you want a flowering plant try something you see landscapers using around your neighborhood (jasmine comes to mind but I don't know how it handles root work). Water quality, scorching sun and lack of humidity in the air all make it more challenging to grow bonsai in SoCal than in many other places. Lack of freezing weather across much of the area makes it easier in some ways too. You need to know how to grow a plant before you can grow a bonsai. Try starting some vegetables for practice to see if you can fine-tune your watering and fertilizing techniques. They'll tell you if you're doing it right by the color of the leaves and quality of the fruit etc.
 
ok bad news :-( my poor plant looks dead... all of it is just sad... the soil drys up instantly
I think it likely that your azalea is dead beyond recovery, but I am puzzled by your statement that the soil dries up "instantly". A dead plant does not absorb water from the soil. It seems likely that the soil has completely dried out and the water you are adding is just being shed and running off, never getting wet through. This is typical of peat-based soils often used with azaleas. Although this tree is probably gone, in the future do not let the soil dry completely--it should be barely moist--and if it does get too dry, make sure to soak it thoroughly (perhaps immerse the pot in water), and then let it drain out completely.
 
IMG-20120715-WA0010.jpg

omg ok what now... its dead... thanks guys... it was doing better indoors. Once i put it outside like you guys said... it got worse and now its dead :-(
 
Lil-Bonsai - my advise to you is: Don't give up on bonsai!

I don't grow Azaleas but I can tell you that they are not good beginner material. If you're in SoCal get a juniper or if you want a flowering plant try something you see landscapers using around your neighborhood (jasmine comes to mind but I don't know how it handles root work). Water quality, scorching sun and lack of humidity in the air all make it more challenging to grow bonsai in SoCal than in many other places. Lack of freezing weather across much of the area makes it easier in some ways too. You need to know how to grow a plant before you can grow a bonsai. Try starting some vegetables for practice to see if you can fine-tune your watering and fertilizing techniques. They'll tell you if you're doing it right by the color of the leaves and quality of the fruit etc.

fyi i already grow a ton of vegetables and i have never had any problems with my plants... i love to be in my garden i love plants but i have never had a bonsai before so my bf got it for me for my birthday...
 
In your last photo the soil looks very dry. As I mentioned above, a peaty soil like that when it is completely dry will shed water rather than absorb it. If so, you may think you are watering it, when in fact the water is just running down between the side of the pot and the soil, and the soil remains dry. Have you tried giving it a really good soak in a basin of water up to the rim of the pot, and then letting it drain completely, and not watering again until it is just barely moist (but not completely dry)?
The tree looks more wilted from the stress of drying out than it does dead.
Oliver
 
Oh you shameless bad advice givers, look what you caused !! Who would ever think an outdoor plant should be grown outdoors, really!

ed
 
Giving a bonsai as a gift is like giving a puppy as a gift. Bad idea. I had a friend who new I had bonsai and she had recently been given one as a gift. She does not do or have bonsai. It was a fulkian tea brought to me in a brown paper bag. She asks if I could bring it back to life. It had no leaves and the soil had no amount of moisture. I just grinned and took it from her. I later told her husband that it is like a goldfish to a 5 year old. Better to just keep replacing it with a replicate. :). I still have it in my grow out area. Pretty pot with a stick in it. It was dead when I got it. Have not updated her yet.............
 
Just because it was looking better indoors a week ago doesn't mean that it wasn't already dieing. Sometimes, once a plant starts showing signs of decline, it's too late. This happens a lot with pre-packaged "bonsai", especially Junipers. Moving it outside, which is good advice in general, isn't necessarily going to save a dieing plant.

Have you dunked the whole base yet, as Oliver suggested? The peat/soil looks totally dried out to me. It probably needs to soak if it is to absorb water.

If it does die, I would suggest that you use this as a learning opportunity. Maybe bonsai isn't for you. Or maybe, like all of us, you're going to kill a few plants as you work towards figuring out the most important part of the hobby/art - keeping trees in pots alive.
 
And honestly, the thing doesn't even look dead yet. Take a deep breath and relax. Over-babying the tree trying to save it could end up killing it.
 
Ryan, true it does not look dead yet, but well on its way. I have not known azaleas to be the comeback kid type though....

ed
 
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