My Bonsai branches are turning dried and crispy one by one... Help please

[HeroAKKD]

Hello and welcome all !

I have bought a bonsai tree last October. I was told by the seller that this is a 10 year old indoor tree and I suspect it is a privet
although I had not found a single image that shows a tree with leaves that are the same as mine. For the bast 7 months the leaves on my bonsai tree started turning dried out and crispy on a single branch. once an entire branch seems to be "dead" this seems to happen to another branch and so on. I firstly though that this is because of root rot and I have reported my bonsai into new solid and pruned its roots about a month ago. Despite new shoots growing from different places the leaves of individual branches continue to become dried out and turn crispy. They do not fall but seems to stay attached to the tree. I live in London and the weather here was pretty hot recently with approximately 29 degrees. The bonsai is on my computer desk next to a window facing south east. I water my bonsai by standing the entire pot in a bath of water for approximately 5 minutes and than removing it. I do this whenever the soil feels dry. I also regularly spill water on the tray below the bonsai to increase the humidity and spray its leaves with fine drops of water about twice a day. Since reporting I have not been using any feed but I am planning on starting this week.

I would be very grateful if anyone would help me identifying what is wrong with my bonsai and what I can do about it It start to seem as if the bonsai will loose all its leaves soon The top part of the tree "dried out" in just under a week.... Thank you all for helping and wish you all a nice day !

 

[peh3]

What kind of soil are you using? You are probably overwatering it.

 

[Cadillactaste]

You also have leggy new growth. Which tells me it is desperate for more natural sun light.

 

[HeroAKKD]

What kind of soil are you using? You are probably overwatering it.

The soil I have used is bonsai focus repotting mix with sphagnum moss. So I shouldn't water the bonsai the way I am doing it but from above? When I have done that previously it seemed to be under watered but I know very little about bonsai.

 

[HeroAKKD]

You also have leggy new growth. Which tells me it is desperate for more natural sun light.

May I know what you mean by leggy? I will try positioning the bonsai closer to the window, but than it will be in direct sunlight for some part of the day. Is that ok ?

 

[Dav4]

There isn’t a tree on this planet that wants to grow inside your house. There are a few that can, but few will thrive and most will eventually die.

 

[rockm]

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Hello and welcome all !

I have bought a bonsai tree last October. I was told by the seller that this is a 10 year old indoor tree and I suspect it is a privet
although I had not found a single image that shows a tree with leaves that are the same as mine. For the bast 7 months the leaves on my bonsai tree started turning dried out and crispy on a single branch. once an entire branch seems to be "dead" this seems to happen to another branch and so on. I firstly though that this is because of root rot and I have reported my bonsai into new solid and pruned its roots about a month ago. Despite new shoots growing from different places the leaves of individual branches continue to become dried out and turn crispy. They do not fall but seems to stay attached to the tree. I live in London and the weather here was pretty hot recently with approximately 29 degrees. The bonsai is on my computer desk next to a window facing south east. I water my bonsai by standing the entire pot in a bath of water for approximately 5 minutes and than removing it. I do this whenever the soil feels dry. I also regularly spill water on the tray below the bonsai to increase the humidity and spray its leaves with fine drops of water about twice a day. Since reporting I have not been using any feed but I am planning on starting this week.

I would be very grateful if anyone would help me identifying what is wrong with my bonsai and what I can do about it It start to seem as if the bonsai will loose all its leaves soon The top part of the tree "dried out" in just under a week.... Thank you all for helping and wish you all a nice day !

You CANNOT keep temperate zone species indoors for more than a couple of days. This is the result. The leaves are dying because the roots are probably rotting for overwatering. Low humidity levels (humidity trays like the one here are useless) are too low and the light needed by the tree is extremely low, too low to sustain the plant.

There are no "indoor" bonsai. There are only plants that can endure the harsh conditions inside of a house better than others. Privet, when kept outdoors, is pretty tough. The fact that it's trying to throw new growth inside shows that it's a fighter (although this is a battle it won't win). Submersion watering makes the overwatering problem worse, as it keeps the interior of the root mass soggy, resulting in root death. Misting also makes the overwatering problem worse, as does the moss covering on the soil.

IF you want this plant to survive, it needs a new home OUTSIDE for the rest of its life. It's more than capable of handling London weather (which isn't "hot" for the privet which grows wild in the Southern U.S. and subtropical China, where summers are REALLY hot.) It's also capable of weathering winter in your climate with minimal protection.

 

[HeroAKKD]

You CANNOT keep temperate zone species indoors for more than a couple of days. This is the result. The leaves are dying because the roots are probably rotting for overwatering. Low humidity levels (humidity trays like the one here are useless) are too low and the light needed by the tree is extremely low, too low to sustain the plant.

There are no "indoor" bonsai. There are only plants that can endure the harsh conditions inside of a house better than others. Privet, when kept outdoors, is pretty tough. The fact that it's trying to throw new growth inside shows that it's a fighter (although this is a battle it won't win). Submersion watering makes the overwatering problem worse, as it keeps the interior of the root mass soggy, resulting in root death. Misting also makes the overwatering problem worse, as does the moss covering on the soil.

IF you want this plant to survive, it needs a new home OUTSIDE for the rest of its life. It's more than capable of handling London weather (which isn't "hot" for the privet which grows wild in the Southern U.S. and subtropical China, where summers are REALLY hot.) It's also capable of weathering winter in your climate with minimal protection.

Honestly I have no place to keep the bonsai outside in which makes the problem worst. So the bonsai will not survive inside at all? How would you recommend me to water my plant and what should I look out for? If it is top watering how much water would be enough not to over water? and should I give up on the misting? I thought it would help with the low humidity problem. I can also remove the moss from the top if that would help the bonsai. Thank you for your reply

 

[M. Frary]

So the bonsai will not survive inside at all? How would you recommend me to water my plant

It will if you break out metal halides,a fan and a humidifier.
Short of that it doesnt matter how you water it. It will slowly die.

 

[rockm]

Honestly I have no place to keep the bonsai outside in which makes the problem worst. So the bonsai will not survive inside at all? How would you recommend me to water my plant and what should I look out for? If it is top watering how much water would be enough not to over water? and should I give up on the misting? I thought it would help with the low humidity problem. I can also remove the moss from the top if that would help the bonsai. Thank you for your reply

To be honest, the tree is most likely going to expire if you have no place to put it outside and it continues in its current location without strong supplemental lighting and a little less "care" from you. Not trying to be insulting, but overcare is THE primary reason that first-time (and even third or fifth-time) bonsai owners' trees die.

If you want to keep "indoor" bonsai, use lower light species, ficus works relatively well, schefflera too. "Well" is a sliding scale. Any tree will do better (and is vastly easier to care for)outside--even ficus and schefflera appreciate being outside in the summer under intense sunlight.

Without dedicated strong supplemental lighting systems and a whole room humidifier, keeping ANY kind of bonsai indoors is difficult. Indoor conditions are extremely harsh for plants. Light levels only a foot away from a window are a tiny fraction of what the sun provides outdoors. Windowsills are not great locations either, as they can fry the plant in the summer and drafts will freeze it in the winter. Humidity levels in the winter are akin to those in Death Valley. Only a full-room humidifier can even try to address that moisture deficit.

Watering (the most difficult skill in bonsai to learn) is doubly difficult indoors, as water remains in soil longer than soil outside exposed to air circulation and evaporating sunlight. Misting provides no meaningful humidity and only for a few minutes. Misting can drip onto soil, making already soggy soil even soggier for longer.

For the most part, moss won't grow inside (without substantial supplemental lighting). On the whole, on any bonsai, it makes monitoring water needs very difficult. Also, FWIW, moss is also used by most long-time bonsaiists for show--its applied just before exhibiting a tree and removed afterwards. It's not a permanent thing.

 

[Cadillactaste]

May I know what you mean by leggy? I will try positioning the bonsai closer to the window, but than it will be in direct sunlight for some part of the day. Is that ok ?

Trees need sunlight. I am not familiar with this species. But the internodes (distance between the leaves) seems far spaced. Sure sign of not enough sun. I can almost imagine when you got the tree...the leaves were tighter/closer together. You say you have no outdoor space. You should search our search engine here. There have been ones with out of the box thinking for apartment dwellers who do the hobby. To see if you can't get this outside at some point. Wish you like. If you go with grow lights. I can tell you they do work for tightening internodes. I have a tropical bougainvillea which survived winters indoors with long leggy growth. Until I upped my game with a grow cart. Nice tight internodes. But...seems your tree isn't a tropical? From what I am reading above in comments. It needs outdoors all the time. If looking for something indoors...I encourage you to look into ficus as mentioned. With proper lighting requirements you would have far higher success rate keeping them indoors. Though I recently purchased one...mine is outside for now until temps drop. They truly are happier outside...but I believe @amcoffeegirl keeps hers inside. Possibly? Ficus that is. You could pull up her older threads and do some reading and see if ficus suits your living arrangements better.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I was paged???
Hello- yes ficus can thrive indoors for several years. There are some nice ones out there.
T-5 is best for me. LEDs are coming along but not quite there yet.
Even ficus wish to go outside after 2-3 years for the summertime.

 

[Bananaman]

Looks like China doll

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Looks like China doll

I was thinking that too. Dang now I wish I would've said it. Those should grow inside but they still like high light.

 

[cmeg1]

It will if you break out metal halides,a fan and a humidifier.
Short of that it doesnt matter how you water it. It will slowly die.

I am going to start JBP 5 months early here in a couple months.Though I am using full spectrum white light led’s.Just an experiment with a batch of seeds.
I read that forestry service is experimenting with led’s to start trees indoors
https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_journals/2015/rmrs_2015_apostol_k001.pdf

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I am going to start JBP 5 months early here in a couple months.Though I am using full spectrum white light led’s.Just an experiment with a batch of seeds.
I read that forestry service is experimenting with led’s to start trees indoors
https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_journals/2015/rmrs_2015_apostol_k001.pdf

Best wishes. Use a heating mat- if they like heat???

 

[Cadillactaste]

I was thinking that too. Dang now I wish I would've said it. Those should grow inside but they still like high light.

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That leaf doesn't have smooth edges like posters tree. Or, are you suggesting another indoor happy tree?

 

[Cadillactaste]

Poster's leaf shape...


China Doll


I think I misunderstood what you were saying @amcoffeegirl .

 

[amcoffeegirl]

No it just looked like that tree to me.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

It’s a privet, Ligustrum. As others have said, it won’t live long inside, but outside they’re hardy in zones 4-9 ish. Find a spot outside, or enjoy it until it’s fully dead, and then maybe try again with a ficus or schefflera, which will tolerate indoor conditions.