Lepto, is it salvageable

Max · Post by **Max** » January 8th, 2019, 10:24 am

Hi. Temps got very high, mid 40's with very dry and hot winds for good measure. I was at work, in a 3 day period, missus said,"yes i watered". Me being buggered thought nothing of it.

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I love this one for it's bark

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In greener days having a lay down

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will it bounce back? should i trim/remove all the dried up leaves, it has been moved to a much less sunnier position, soil has been kept damp for the last 4 days with a little seasol added once, would a pot up be helpful? would complete shade help?

bonsaeen · Post by **bonsaeen** » January 8th, 2019, 10:27 am

I think leptos are suppose to be drought hardy and from what I have been reading on forums lately, our natives can bounce back given time so hope they do. Good luck

Matthew · Post by **Matthew** » January 8th, 2019, 11:23 am

Yes last Friday was a S$%T day! im supprised most of my Japanese maples , larches, hornbeans and garden beeches have come off relatively well. Alittle burn on a few of the tops of more sensitive Japanese maples but otherwise all good. It may drop all its leaves and eventually reshoot or it maybe gone . My native knowledge is little at best .

MJL · Post by **MJL** » January 8th, 2019, 2:03 pm

Max - I really like the look of that tree; it has great potential - I hope it bounces back for you.

As an aside - I am off to the Yarra Valley Bonsai Society this evening. If I can get any pointers for what to do in your situation I will.

Cheers, Mark

PS - I was looking up my lepto photo's and somehow one appeared at the base of this post and I cannot seem to delete it.

Spooky - perhaps these lepto seedlings are reaching out to your tree and saying 'Hang in there, I hope Mark water's us when it's hot!'

KIRKY · Post by **KIRKY** » January 8th, 2019, 2:05 pm

If your wife watered it the roots should still be fine. It will come back it will take awhile. I missed repotting one of my Leptospermum scoparium and it dried out one hot summers day a couple of years ago. After a few months it just started to reshoot. You can trim it back to a shape that pleases you, but it’s not necessary. It may bud back to the shape or just rebud new shoots. I got both some budding back and new shoots so a restyle was in order. Water as you normally would your other plants. I kept mine one the same shelf and watered with my other trees even though it looked dead. I have learnt Natives can come back if the roots are not dead, tops will regrow. Just don’t mess with it repotting etc....
Let us know how it goes.
Cheers
Kirky

shibui · Post by **shibui** » January 8th, 2019, 6:26 pm

There are many reasons why plants dry out.
Not getting watered is obvious but inadequate watering causes the same problem, just takes a few extra days to reach the same crisis point. More effective watering is usually the solution to inadequate watering.
Pot bound trees suffer more than those with plenty of root space. Eventually the roots fill all the spaces in the mix. When there are no spaces water cannot penetrate, no matter how often/much/well you water the plant. Water may run down the sides of the rootball and it looks like you are watering well but none reaches the inside of the matted roots so these trees exist on just a few teaspoons of water each day. I have found that hot days soon show me which trees have not been repotted soon enough. I have verified this from a number of autopsies on my deceased plants. Outside of rootball may be damp but inside is bone dry and clogged with roots.
Small post may just not physically be able to hold enough water to last from one watering to the next no matter how well you water.
First aid for any dry tree is IMMEDIATE soaking in a tub of water to properly rewet the roots right through to the centre. Then take steps to prevent the problem recurring. Increase water or water more effectively. A tray of water under the pot helps a lot during warm weather - dry plants die far quicker than any that have been overwatered.

The good news, and others have offered this, is that many trees are not actually dead straight away. Many have the ability to shut off the leaves and save the core in emergency.

that this is one of those. In many cases, after a few weeks, sometimes an few months, new shoots will sprout. It does not seem to matter whether you trim the growth or just leave it. The live bits will grow and dead parts won't.
in this case I think the branches look a bit long with most foliage toward the ends. Could be a good chance to do an overall reduction. maybe even thin out a few redundant branches while you are at it now that you can see through a little better. Then keep watering and

Max · Post by **Max** » January 8th, 2019, 10:01 pm

Thank you all for your care and responses

HOWEVER

Oops, maybe

I took a look at the roots, even tho i could still squish the grow pot, i needed a look. I found 2 slugs, many slaters, 1 spider of some description (tiny thing like a jumping spider)

The main thing

I saw many decayed roots, fibrous roots that had collapsed, some completely to
brown string> some to part white, but not fully (filled). Over the whole pot (outer ring) i saw maybe about 6 typical healthy roots.

This, made my decision
something needs to be down
it needs to be done

Now

SO

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root mass deleted 2 1/2

Raked out to expose, to find white (full) fibrous roots. Major root found (non tap) during sawing

I have not added extra sand ( 3-5 mm particles would for me be my bet chose), (sharp sand) to exasperate root separation ( as a feeder root grows, it hits an edge, so then the root splits)

I added, god help, some new potting mix, that apparently, the town nursery work lady said she uses for her pots, as my better chose is the seasol made mix ( she works there, doesn't mean she cares) they had none in stock, do the sale is what retail teaches

Will up date

Max · Post by **Max** » January 8th, 2019, 10:05 pm

i reduced the root ball, even more, to get to the live roots. Might return my name to "no idea" it seems

KIRKY · Post by **KIRKY** » January 8th, 2019, 10:46 pm

Good luck!

Cheers
Kirky

Max · Post by **Max** » January 8th, 2019, 10:53 pm

Was it too much Kirky? The roots made my call

KIRKY · Post by **KIRKY** » January 9th, 2019, 6:57 am

Lepto's can be fickle. I usually don't touch mine this time of year as they are hit n miss. As an example I recently to make room potted two cuttings into a pot planing a future twin trunk both cuttings same age, same root system. A week after one is going strong one is dead. Lepto's gotta love'm. But they are fickle. Only time will tell on your tree.

Cheers
Kirky

GavinG · Post by **GavinG** » January 9th, 2019, 1:34 pm

Consider putting your Lepto in a water bath after such surgery - I have bare-rooted a young Lepto into pure pumice and had it survive in a water bath. That said, my experience with them is that once the leaves show desiccation, they're gone.

Good luck,

Gavin

Ryceman3 · Post by **Ryceman3** » January 9th, 2019, 2:30 pm

GavinG wrote:Consider putting your Lepto in a water bath after such surgery...

Agree with that! I did this on Gavin's advice after a big root prune and I'm sure the water bath was the thing that got it through, or at very least helped a lot. It's a solid idea to ponder. Good luck, it looks pretty crook...

boom64 · Post by **boom64** » January 9th, 2019, 10:03 pm

Hi Max ,
Pretty sad tale but don't despair. I collected several Leptos 3 months ago ,dropped all there leaves as well all of there branches and eventually half of there trunks. I kept the stumps in normal spot and watered with my other trees. Two weeks ago, just after some heavy storms they have started to push out buds. Hopefully yours will come back to , it just might take time. Good Luck John.

Max · Post by **Max** » January 10th, 2019, 6:00 pm

Thank you everyone, it's quite overwhelming

....

.....

Will chuck it into a bird bath (water tray)

Full sun? Part shade?

AusBonsai