Hi and welcome to the world of small-scale horticulture!
Think of your sagaretia not as a bonsai, but as a bit of a branch cut off a tree that has been rooted and squeezed into a tiny pot. Trees, in nature, grow outdoors. They don't have tiny square pots limiting their roots. They grow in environments and climates that are "just right" for their needs, for water, temperature, soil and sunlight.
Everything you do with your Sageretia or any tree should start from that foundation.
It is probable that everyone here and in the world of bonsai has lost several trees to a number of different causes in the past, so if you do lose your sagaretia you're in good company.
If we had the freedom of movement at the moment, your best bet would be to take it to a nearest bonsai nursery and ask them to take a look. Failing that, here are some possible clues:
I don't think it's from under-watering/drought because in that case the sagaretia leaves stay green but droop.
Could it be from lack of drainage, stagnant soil causing root-rot? When you water it, does it take a while for the water to percolate down?
Try easing it out of the pot. Does the soil smell a bit bad? If so, that's rotting the roots, and is harming your tree. Is it rootbound, do you see more coiled roots than soil? If either of these is the case you need to transplant it into a bigger pot, with free-draining soil for at least a year to give it time to recover and grow strong again. The dry leaves will all drop, and some of the twigs will die back, but when the roots are healthy again it will give you new buds and leaves.
Don't give it any fertilizer, at all, for several months even after you think it has recovered. Sageretia are more sensitive to fert than some other trees and so I never feed mine much. Less than half the amount it says on the fertilizer instructions, and none at all when the tee is in stress. Those drying leaves look like it could be from over fertilizing. A tree can survive no problem for a whole year or two without any fertilizer.
Is it indoors? Make sure it gets plenty of light in your brightest window. Remember that trees evolved outdoors. Where are you located? Is it getting freezing temperatures at night? Sagaretia are tropical trees and cannot survive the frost.
Can you get some good draining bonsai soil at this time of pandemic lockdown? That, in a bigger pot, will help your tree recover.
And after all this, the tree might still die, there are some pathogens that will finish off a small tree. But I doubt that's the case. And while you're waiting for this to pull this through... I recommend buy yourself a couple of cheap Chinese Elms because they are easier to keep alive, grow, and have fun with.
Good luck!
Think of your sagaretia not as a bonsai, but as a bit of a branch cut off a tree that has been rooted and squeezed into a tiny pot. Trees, in nature, grow outdoors. They don't have tiny square pots limiting their roots. They grow in environments and climates that are "just right" for their needs, for water, temperature, soil and sunlight.
Everything you do with your Sageretia or any tree should start from that foundation.
It is probable that everyone here and in the world of bonsai has lost several trees to a number of different causes in the past, so if you do lose your sagaretia you're in good company.
If we had the freedom of movement at the moment, your best bet would be to take it to a nearest bonsai nursery and ask them to take a look. Failing that, here are some possible clues:
I don't think it's from under-watering/drought because in that case the sagaretia leaves stay green but droop.
Could it be from lack of drainage, stagnant soil causing root-rot? When you water it, does it take a while for the water to percolate down?
Try easing it out of the pot. Does the soil smell a bit bad? If so, that's rotting the roots, and is harming your tree. Is it rootbound, do you see more coiled roots than soil? If either of these is the case you need to transplant it into a bigger pot, with free-draining soil for at least a year to give it time to recover and grow strong again. The dry leaves will all drop, and some of the twigs will die back, but when the roots are healthy again it will give you new buds and leaves.
Don't give it any fertilizer, at all, for several months even after you think it has recovered. Sageretia are more sensitive to fert than some other trees and so I never feed mine much. Less than half the amount it says on the fertilizer instructions, and none at all when the tee is in stress. Those drying leaves look like it could be from over fertilizing. A tree can survive no problem for a whole year or two without any fertilizer.
Is it indoors? Make sure it gets plenty of light in your brightest window. Remember that trees evolved outdoors. Where are you located? Is it getting freezing temperatures at night? Sagaretia are tropical trees and cannot survive the frost.
Can you get some good draining bonsai soil at this time of pandemic lockdown? That, in a bigger pot, will help your tree recover.
And after all this, the tree might still die, there are some pathogens that will finish off a small tree. But I doubt that's the case. And while you're waiting for this to pull this through... I recommend buy yourself a couple of cheap Chinese Elms because they are easier to keep alive, grow, and have fun with.
Good luck!
