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Steve and Hilary Brown
Wollaston, Northamptonshire,
Tel: 44 01933 665383
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| Help with Indoor Bonsai Trees |
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This article covers common problems experienced with two of the most common species of tree kept as Indoor Bonsai. The same philosophy can be applied to most other Indoor Bonsai if problems arise. It may seem a little obvious to say that, at its most basic level, a tree is just a plant like any other. However this does mean that it will not die if its individual horticultural requirements are respected. Chinese ElmChinese Elm sometimes reacts to a change of environment by shedding some or all of its leaves, often very quickly and causing much concern to its owner. Chinese Elm is a very adaptable species that can be kept outdoors all year round, and is unlikely to react badly to permanently cool room temperatures. It is a change, or repeated changes, in environmental conditions that cause this upset to the tree. SerissaThis tree is also known as the Tree of a Thousand Stars, due to the small white flowers it displays from time to time. It grows in the South of China and Korea amongst other places, and is therefore suited to a warm climate, but it will be quite happy with normal domestic temperatures between 12OC and 22OC. For this reason we recommend it is kept indoors but may go outside in very warm weather. Serissas like to be kept well watered, but not water logged, and like plenty of good quality feed to keep them healthy. General careIt does appear that most problems with Indoor Bonsai arise with trees purchased via mail order. It may help to understand the cause of your tree’s problem if you think what has happened to your Bonsai in the past few days during it’s delivery to a new home. Your tree has come from a warm greenhouse where it is quite humid, been placed in a box and possibly been chilled along its route to you, and then presumably it has been placed back in a warm room. It’s quite a change as you can imagine and they do react very quickly. A certain amount of yellow leaves on an indoor Bonsai are completely normal. Leaves on evergreen trees last around 3 months, and then gradually turn yellow and eventually drop off. Sudden leaf shedding is a defence mechanism that prevents the tree from losing too much water at a time when it is undergoing some kind of stress. There is usually nothing physically wrong with the tree, and it will recover if you allow it time to do so. Cut down on the watering a little and allow the soil to dry out just a bit so that you can just feel moisture in the soil. We do let our trees dry out much more than you would think, to the point where they are very light when you pick them up, but then they receive a thorough soaking. Don’t be tempted to move it around to different locations as this will increase the stress that the tree feels. Try to keep it somewhere cooler rather than above a radiator, and avoid a draughty place, the window sill should be fine providing it is not above a radiator, and definitely not on top of the TV! One other thing that may cause leaves to drop rapidly is a parasite called Red Spider Mite. This little pest thrives in dry conditions, so house plants in general can fall prey to it. Tell tale signs of this mite are leaves suspended by invisible threads, and tapping the tree gently whilst holding it above a clean sheet of white paper may reveal them to you. The simplest solution is to increase the humidity around your tree either by the use of a humidity tray, or periodic spraying with water containing a very small amount of washing up detergent (2 drops per litre of water). You may of course use a proprietary pesticide if you wish. To water any indoor Bonsai it is advisable to stand the whole pot in a bowl of water, at room temperature. Leave for around 2 to 3 minutes and drain before returning to normal position. Trees must never dry out completely, nor must they be in constantly soggy soil as either will destroy the roots. Water your tree when it feels light when lifted, but not completely dry. Let your tree tell you when it needs water. All plants need good light and will do best kept near to a window, however if there is enough natural daylight to read by, this should suffice. Do be aware of any radiators in close proximity to the tree as these will dry it out very quickly, probably beyond the point of recovery. Feed your trees with good quality Bonsai fertiliser every two weeks during the growing season, reducing this to every three to four weeks in the autumn and winter. Although trees kept indoors will not see the full effects of winter, and therefore not truly become dormant, they will react to a reduction in daylight hours by becoming less prolific in their growth.
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| This article was published on Wednesday 16 January, 2008. |
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