Noticed today that some of my tree's have droopy leaves today.
In particular my tridents seem to be looking a bit "down" and my crepe myrtle in particular looks like it might do after a really hot day when it is in desperate need of a drink but I'm confident it is moist and should be happy
Is it the cold night / morning I wonder?
We got down to around 3 degree's early this morning I note...
One of the fabulous things about growing bonsai is as you get old and decrepit your trees get old and beautiful
I would firstly check something perhaps obvious, but not obvious if you don't realize it, but when you say the soil is moist, how are you determining this? Is it a fairly thick based soil, pot bound, or deep pot that you haven't repotted for a while. Basically, you may have a common problem with older soil, in that it forms a thick ball for a lot of the roots and water doesn't penetrate into this, and simply flows through already formed areas and out the bottom, thus not providing water to the roots. Thus, you end up with the entire tree dying from lack of water and the first tell tale sign is usually drooping leaves. Other than that, yeah, if you have super cold mornings, it may have killed the new growth, as such can happen with some types of callistemon and a few other susceptible native species that shoot too early and can't handle the cold with similiar problematic occurances.
Rory I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus
Its a combination of cold soil (from cold nights) and warm days that follow. My maples are the same, I'm getting 3 degrees over night and 23 degree days.
Watch the wind - it's been very blustery in Canberra in the last few days, and I've lost freshly shooting maples before when they've dehydrated in September winds. I've put all my maples in a very sheltered spot until the leaves are out and strong.
I'm pleased to say that the Crepe Myrtle has perked back up and looks normal now.
Amazing really it was looking like a sorry thing this morning!
I've seen these symptoms so often with dehydration but never noted from the cold like this.
I will further note that I backed myself and DID NOT water anymore so it was definitely not a lack of water that brought this on.
I actually think that some of the tridents leaves will be frost burnt as some of the leaves don't look like they are going to fully recover.
Nothing major but I like to be alert not alarmed!
I put it down to the cold night for sure......
Last edited by Boics on September 13th, 2013, 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
One of the fabulous things about growing bonsai is as you get old and decrepit your trees get old and beautiful
I think you will find this is quite normal on some varieties, and I have specifically noticed this on Trident Maples. Ensure they have sufficent water, but try not to overwater as they wont be using a hugh amount of moisture just yet - soon, but not just yet.
I bought a soil moisture meter from the big green shed today for $10.... got home and did some pot probing and got more than a few surprises. Pots I thought were moist were wet down the bottom and dry on top, and some were moist on the outer and dry in the centre. I tested all my trees....both in bonsai pots and nursery pots which obviously were a lot deeper, but you would be surprised at the amount of variation. I will keep this on hand and use it a lot more regularly during the coming seasons, but wished I'd have purchased it a long time ago....now I know for sure I certainly overwatered during winter, and over the past couple of weeks have done some water withholding tests to see the limits of some trees. 10 days before my Japanese Maples showed signs of stress, and we had some hot days lately. For ten bucks.... a handy little tool to have around.
I've been told that Trident Maples grow their new leaves slightly redish and they drop a little. I asked the same question about mine, since then the leaves have perked up and are less red. I don't know much about crepe myrtle, so I wont comment on it...however I do know that heavy rain drops on leaves can make then drop for a couple of days after the rain has gone, I've noticed it mostly on newer leaves and younger trees.
~I am the person who speaks for the exception to the rule, not for the rule it's self~
