New to Serissa and Bonsai

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Jen in Brisbane
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New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Jen in Brisbane »

Hi,

My husband bought this Serissa last Father's Day and I adopted it. It has flowered a handful of times and I am really getting into wanting to keep it alive. I have noticed recently that a few leaves are going brown and dropping. I am fertilising about every 2 weeks. I wondered if I was using wrong fertiliser, had let it dry out a little bit too much or if it was just naturally dropping leaves due to the temperature change.

Any ideas?

I live in Sunnybank and it gets a good 2-3 hours sun each day but is under shelter.

Thank you,
Jen
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Bougy Fan »

Hi Jen and welcome. My best advice is to join a club - either BSQ or you come over to Bimer. Either way much better to get someone to have a look in person and have a chat. You don't say how often you water. It most likely needs more sun that that too. Remember it is still a tree so it needs all the things a bigger tree needs to survive.
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Jen in Brisbane
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Jen in Brisbane »

Hi,

Thank you for the information about the clubs. I will try to get to one of those. Sadly life is booked out for the next 2 months on Saturdays.

I was watering every morning after the sun had been up for an hour or so but then with winter coming I was going outside about 6, just after sunrise, to check on the guinea pigs and the bonsai. I thought it was possibly too cold to water so backed off until later in the morning, but then I think I skipped a few mornings entirely. I water about 100-150mls at a time.

Can the bonsai be watered if it is cold? Also due to backing off on the water the dish under was dropping in water level. I used to keep it just touching the bottom of the pot. I wondered if the drop in humidity hadn't helped. My husband lightly sprays his plants. I water sometimes from the top through the leaves and more often just around the base. Should I be spraying?

So many questions, thank you for your patience.

Best wishes
Jen
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by shibui »

Assuming your Sunnybank is in Brisbane it will never get cold enough to worry most trees there. Serissa here cope with temps down to freezing and occasionally a bit below freezing.
You will still need to water in cooler months but frequency will slow depending on many factors. Rather than watering to a calendar schedule we need to water according to the plant's needs. That means checking the potting mix each day to find out if there is still moisture. If the soil is still damp you can usually skip watering until the next day.
I have some serissas down here and most of the leaves of one recently turned brown. Pretty sure that is a result of being too dry for a few days as I am adjusting watering for the change of seasons and that one missed out a bit too much.
Serissa can be temperamental. They lose leaves if they get too wet, too dry, too hot, too cold or even just moving the plant to a new location can cause leaves to drop. Fortunately they are pretty tough and nearly always shoot again when they adjust to the new conditions.

Having the base of the pot sitting in water can be a problem for many bonsai. If the roots are constantly wet fungal rot can start and kill roots. Better to water more often and not have the saucer of water.
Watering the leaves is usually good practice. It helps clean the leaves so they gather sunlight better.

Fertilizer will rarely cause leaves to drop unless you use too strong. Bonsai are just trees despite being small so any plant fertilizer is OK for bonsai. You still need to apply enough water to soak right through the pot to flush out old air and salt buildup so a light spray over the leaves is not enough.

Good luck with the little tree.
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Jen in Brisbane
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Jen in Brisbane »

Update:

My poor little Serissa is dropping more and more leaves. I added a timber chopstick to the pot and have noticed that it takes a long time, like 3 days, to dry out enough to water again. I am hoping it survives the next few weeks and when it warms up again I am going to try repotting it into better draining soil. From what I have read I am doing everything else right. It gets morning sun, I have a dish under it for humidity (but don't allow water to touch bottom of pot in case it keeps soil too wet) and I am fertilising it as per all the instructions I have read. It even flowered a couple of weeks ago.

I really think the soil is the culprit.

Hopefully it hangs in there enough to survive another month of winter and then I can repot it, and pray!

Best wishes
Jennifer
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by KIRKY »

If it’s taking 3 days for the soil to dry back off watering it to once a fortnight at this time of year. Also what are you feeding it? And how often? They are finicky plants even when all the leaves drop off it just keep it, as they tend to come back. Just remember no leaves mean ps very little watering required.
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Daluke »

It doesn’t look too bad.

Just some care tips-

These things have fine roots. I suggest taking it out of the pot and seeing what kind of soil it’s in. It likes being on the “wetter” side and with its roots suggest it should be in fine particles (like pumice, grit, horticultural sand and some bits of bark). Anything sludgy or muddy will be choking up the roots.

They throw lots of suckers. Cut me out.

I suggest misting the leaves of these guys as often as you can AS well as watering.

There are few established nice larger pieces in Australia - I don’t think they like our climate at all.

Good luck.

They propagate really easily.
Jen in Brisbane
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Jen in Brisbane »

Thank you for the tips.

I have been barely tipping on a couple of teaspoons of water every couple of days. Once we get through our usually chilly windy August I will have a look at that soil. And I have been using Charlie Carp at 4ml in 500ml. Every 4-5 weeks. I think though that when I fertilised it last I would have over-watered it. :(

It is okay. Live and learn, right?!

Best wishes
Jennifer
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Jen in Brisbane »

Hubby and I repotted my dying serissa with new soil after checking out the drainage of his soil vs mine. The roots looked good on my plant, white and lots of them. I decided that it was alive even if it didn't look it and have been still watering and fertilizing as usual. This last week I have had 6 new leaves sprout from the bottom of the "dead" section. It might take a long time before I have what looks like a bonsai again but it didn't die.

Watch this space! :D

Best wishes
Jennifer in Brisbane
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by shibui »

Great to hear Jen.
Serissa all look pretty forlorn down here at this time of year after a cold winter but my larger plant, in the plastic house, is flowering and they will soon all pick up and grow again as our weather warms up.
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Jen in Brisbane
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Jen in Brisbane »

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We have life. But now I get a choice. I didn't particularly like how my serissa had two trunks to start with. I was just working with it. But it seems to have just one main shoot so far. I am thinking that I stop any more starting up and work with this main growth to create a trunk.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Jennifer
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Bougy Fan »

Hi Jen I would just let it shoot and grow for a few months. It is way too early to worry about selecting a trunk or branches.
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Jen in Brisbane
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Jen in Brisbane »

Hi,

Update from the Brisbane Serissa grower. Well, it is still isn't dead. :D And in fact it is growing well. We have moved house and I have managed to find it a home with the same direction and amount of light so that is good. I am just wondering what to do about its growth.

Bougy Fan recommended not doing any pruning just yet, but how big do I let this plant get before it is going to slow down or I need to prune?
serissa mid Nov 2.jpg
serissa-mid-Nov-1.jpg
That is a standard chopstick in the pot.

Thanks
Jennifer
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by Ryceman3 »

Bougy Fan is right ... let it grow.
It needs to grow long and unruly in order to generate strength and most importantly a bit of girth in the trunk. Without a thicker trunk (than currently at any rate) it lacks scale and a chance to create taper and proportion. The trunk will thicken if you trim it to shape eventually, but it will take a very long time. So while you need to be patient and wait for growth to thicken things before you work on it, that amount of patience is a lot less than if you keep trimming it before it has a chance to thicken and develop in the long run ... if that makes sense ... :shock:
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Re: New to Serissa and Bonsai

Post by shibui »

When to prune depends almost entirely on what you expect to produce and when.
Pruning little trees definitely slows their growth. Leaves = energy = growth so trimming will slow development.
Many of us let developing trees grow as tall as they can for a whole year, sometimes for several years as that's the quickest way to grow a thicker trunk. After the trunk is thick the tree can be chopped down low and a new trunk grown from the buds that grow on the thicker part. Development like that will give an impressive old looking trunk but will take 3-10 years depending on the size and quality you work towards.

If you don't care about a thick trunk and will be happy to have a neat bush in a pot you can prune any time you want. Usually plants grow several new shoots after they are cut so pruning will gradually encourage a bushy top. 2-4 years should give you a bushy little tree in a pot.
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