Is my serissa bonsai dying? And is there anything i can do to save/ help it

[Hghhhhhhh]

A friend gave me his serissa bonsai because he gave up looking after it so i took it, i noticed there was wire holding it together and asked why and he said he accidentally snapped the tree in half and snapped it in the circled areas, he showed me when he first got it and the tree now and i noticed the leaves are turning yellow and some are falling off.


Im wondering if i can still save this tree l've been misting the snapped areas but i don't really see improvement. Please help the last picture is the tree when he first got it and he said he didn't like how it looked so he moved the branches, pruned it and re wired thats how he snapped the branches. Please let me know if i can do anything to save it. Thank You

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Hello. Some questions for clear advice:

1. Where are you located?
2. Where are you keeping the tree?
3. When was it repotted? In the original picture it was in a green pot. Now it appears to be in something else. Serissa are notorious for not liking root work if I remember correctly.

I think if it were mine, Id remove all wire, water when needed with a small amount of fertilizer each time, and see where it is in about 6 months. It looks very weak.

Serissa are not hardy so make sure to keep the tree above freezing.

 

[Hghhhhhhh]

Im in Australia and its summer right now like constant 30 degrees, I'm keeping the tree outside in half shade half sun because I'm aware that he said that he had repotted prior to giving it to me which was probably around last week or two, I can’t really re wire it because he said when he accidentally snapped the branches in the circled areas he had to wire it together to keep it from getting worse ( the white circle he said it snapped in half and the black circle he said the branch just snapped and holding on so he wired it together) when he told me this i just misted the damaged areas im wondering if that would help fix the broken branches

 

[Hghhhhhhh]

These areas

 

[Shibui]

Half sun should be just about right for serissa in most of Australia.
Don't worry too much about the broken parts. They may heal up so that branch will keep growing but there will always be a weak spot where the break was. Depending how bad the break is the branch could still die above the break but Serissa is very resilient. I don't think misting the broken area will have any positive affect.
If the top of a branch dies it will just grow new shoots below the break and keep going.
They also grow lots of suckers from the base of the trunk and from the roots which can be a pain for developing a good trunk for good bonsai but it means it is hard to actually kill the tree.

Serissa is often temperamental. After a change of conditions they often drop all the leaves and pretend they are dying but soon adjust and grow new leaves.
I hope you are watering the soil as well as misting the leaves. It is the roots that keep the tree alive so it's the roots you really need to look after.

You obviously know that Australia is a bloody big place with a wide range of climate conditions. Narrowing your location a bit further will help with any responses. Adding the location to your personal profile means it automatically pops up each time you post to remind us and saves having to type a location each time.

 

[Hghhhhhhh]

Okay thank you for the help i live in NSW and i water the tree every time the dirt is slightly dry. Do you think i should keep watering like this or am i watering the tree wrong?

Half sun should be just about right for serissa in most of Australia.
Don't worry too much about the broken parts. They may heal up so that branch will keep growing but there will always be a weak spot where the break was. Depending how bad the break is the branch could still die above the break but Serissa is very resilient. I don't think misting the broken area will have any positive affect.
If the top of a branch dies it will just grow new shoots below the break and keep going.
They also grow lots of suckers from the base of the trunk and from the roots which can be a pain for developing a good trunk for good bonsai but it means it is hard to actually kill the tree.

Serissa is often temperamental. After a change of conditions they often drop all the leaves and pretend they are dying but soon adjust and grow new leaves.
I hope you are watering the soil as well as misting the leaves. It is the roots that keep the tree alive so it's the roots you really need to look after.

You obviously know that Australia is a bloody big place with a wide range of climate conditions. Narrowing your location a bit further will help with any responses. Adding the location to your personal profile means it automatically pops up each time you post to remind us and saves having to type a location each time.

 

[Shibui]

Great that you are watering the roots. Some new growers have strange ideas so we need to anticipate every possibility.
Watering frequency depends on a lot of different factors so very hard to advise from just a picture and vague description.
Watering when the soil is almost dry is good but obviously open to interpretation. You need to measure soil moisture below the surface , not just when the surface is getting dry. In most cases I would err on the slightly wetter side rather than too dry. It takes months to kill a tree with too much water but only a couple of hours when it's too dry.

FWIW the leaves in the photos look OK. I can only see a few yellow ones but most look good. The bend and break will obviously affect some of the leaves by limiting the amount of nutrient and water that can flow along the trunks. Change of location will also have some affect on the leaves. I would probably take the foliage changes as par for this species, cross fingers and continue with current care. If you can find someone with local experience they may be able to tell more from a personal look and feel so, if you feel inclined, a visit to a bonsai nursery or a club in your area for advice will get much better ideas than we can possibly give with limited info online.

 

[Hghhhhhhh]

Okay thank you for the help i live in NSW and i water the tree every time the dirt is slightly dry. Do you think i should keep watering like this or am i watering the tree wrong?

Great that you are watering the roots. Some new growers have strange ideas so we need to anticipate every possibility.
Watering frequency depends on a lot of different factors so very hard to advise from just a picture and vague description.
Watering when the soil is almost dry is good but obviously open to interpretation. You need to measure soil moisture below the surface , not just when the surface is getting dry. In most cases I would err on the slightly wetter side rather than too dry. It takes months to kill a tree with too much water but only a couple of hours when it's too dry.

FWIW the leaves in the photos look OK. I can only see a few yellow ones but most look good. The bend and break will obviously affect some of the leaves by limiting the amount of nutrient and water that can flow along the trunks. Change of location will also have some affect on the leaves. I would probably take the foliage changes as par for this species, cross fingers and continue with current care. If you can find someone with local experience they may be able to tell more from a personal look and feel so, if you feel inclined, a visit to a bonsai nursery or a club in your area for advice will get much better ideas than we can possibly give with limited info online.

okay then thank you so much but do you have any options on fertilizing this tree? I dont know when or if i should i bought fertilizer from a bonsai shop online but i dont know if i should since the tree is weak, or i dont know when i should fertilize in general

 

[Shibui]

Your tree does not need fertiliser right after repotting because the new potting mix should have enough for a couple of months at least. However, you can start fertilising after a couple of weeks if you are ready and able.
There's no need to buy bonsai specific fertiliser which is usually just ordinary fertiliser but priced high. Trees are still trees, whether in a bonsai pot or not so we can use any fertiliser for our bonsai.
Everyone has their own favorites and their own fertiliser regimes and almost all ways seem to work which, to me, means the trees don't care much.
Our bonsai do need regular fertiliser because we water more than most plants and other potted plants because of the smaller pots which leads to nutrients leaching out of the soil and out of the pots much faster than other potted plants.
Controlled release fert (Osmocote or similar) is great because it sits in the soil and releases small amounts of nutrient every time you water which saves me as I often get busy and forget to add fertiliser every 2 weeks. Others seem to think organic fert is better but, as already mentioned, the plants do not seem to care.

I use a controlled release fert in the potting mix (Osmocote) as well as liquid fert every 2-4 weeks while the trees have leaves and are growing. I also give a few pellets of chook poo (Dynamic lifter or equivalent) every 4-6 weeks through growing season but just use whatever fertiliser you have available. Always use as per instructions on the packet.

 

[Hghhhhhhh]

Your tree does not need fertiliser right after repotting because the new potting mix should have enough for a couple of months at least. However, you can start fertilising after a couple of weeks if you are ready and able.
There's no need to buy bonsai specific fertiliser which is usually just ordinary fertiliser but priced high. Trees are still trees, whether in a bonsai pot or not so we can use any fertiliser for our bonsai.
Everyone has their own favorites and their own fertiliser regimes and almost all ways seem to work which, to me, means the trees don't care much.
Our bonsai do need regular fertiliser because we water more than most plants and other potted plants because of the smaller pots which leads to nutrients leaching out of the soil and out of the pots much faster than other potted plants.
Controlled release fert (Osmocote or similar) is great because it sits in the soil and releases small amounts of nutrient every time you water which saves me as I often get busy and forget to add fertiliser every 2 weeks. Others seem to think organic fert is better but, as already mentioned, the plants do not seem to care.

I use a controlled release fert in the potting mix (Osmocote) as well as liquid fert every 2-4 weeks while the trees have leaves and are growing. I also give a few pellets of chook poo (Dynamic lifter or equivalent) every 4-6 weeks through growing season but just use whatever fertiliser you have available. Always use as per instructions on the packet.

Okay thank you for everything ill try snd update you if anything happens