Privet Disaster - Advice Please

[MelaQuin]

An advanced privet bonsai, owner came home from holiday to find half the tree dead. We presumed the watering system had not worked on that tree but when I repotted the tree ALL the roots were in excellent condition, no rot, no infestation, no dead areas, probably needing a repot in a month so the well established roots weren't crowded.

The tree was worked on in early December, the major deadwood made a feature and the tree left to recover and develop.

6 January at 10 am I saw the tree and was thrilled at how much the foliage had grown, it looked robust and vibrantly healthy. At 2 pm when I saw the tree again all the branchlets were seriously wilted although the soil was sufficiently moist.
A week later and all the foliage is dead. There is still green on the branch cambium - at this stage.

What happened??? What makes a healthy well cared for tree lose the plot in 4 hours??? The tree had not been fertilised or sprayed or treated with anything. No tree around this plant was affected. No outsider could have accessed the tree. What happened???

Can anyone explain this?? In light of the second lot of dieback there is no way the owner was responsible for that or the first dieback. The owner is a good bonsai enthusiast and looks after his trees well. This is not a care issue. It what is it??

[Elmar]

Pictures might be an advantage...


Cheers
EZ
Sent using Tapatalk

[Isitangus]

Were any other plants in the area sprayed? I recently lost a maple that sounds similar after spraying a magnolia with "maverick"

[Guy]

fertilizer burn?

[Ray M]

An advanced privet bonsai, owner came home from holiday to find half the tree dead. We presumed the watering system had not worked on that tree but when I repotted the tree ALL the roots were in excellent condition, no rot, no infestation, no dead areas, probably needing a repot in a month so the well established roots weren't crowded.

The tree was worked on in early December, the major deadwood made a feature and the tree left to recover and develop.

6 January at 10 am I saw the tree and was thrilled at how much the foliage had grown, it looked robust and vibrantly healthy. At 2 pm when I saw the tree again all the branchlets were seriously wilted although the soil was sufficiently moist. Hi MelaQuin, Mate could I ask what you mean by "sufficiently moist". I have seen my Privets get quite limp leaves in a few hours on a hot day. As soon as they were watered very well the leaves revived very quickly.
A week later and all the foliage is dead. There is still green on the branch cambium - at this stage. If the tree still has some life I would soak it in Seasol for at least 4 hours. Move it to a shaded area. Make sure it is watered fully each day. Every second day after watering give a drink of Seasol. If the roots haven't dried out, hopefully it will recover. What sort of pot is it in?

What happened??? What makes a healthy well cared for tree lose the plot in 4 hours??? The tree had not been fertilised or sprayed or treated with anything. No tree around this plant was affected. No outsider could have accessed the tree. What happened???

Can anyone explain this?? In light of the second lot of dieback there is no way the owner was responsible for that or the first dieback. The owner is a good bonsai enthusiast and looks after his trees well. This is not a care issue. It what is it??

Regards Ray

[MelaQuin]

Water is not an issue. This tree had thrived for months in its bench situation under the water regime. I have had privets for over a decade where the soil surface dried fairly quickly, the bonsai is watered twice a day and the tree doesn't turn a leaf. The soil in this tree's pot was sufficiently moist on the surface to indicate that the pot was not in need of watering. The tree had not been fed or fertilised and the day was not cripplingly hot. The conditions were such wherein a privet should thrive. This disaster was of sudden onset.

The pot is a handmade pot and my Japanese privet has happily spent many months in this particular pot and got turfed out and into another pot when I had nothing else to suit this privet. It is not some chemical in the pot and the Japanese privet is very healthy then and now. It is also not the pot because the original dieback happened when the tree was in another handmade pot that had been used previously on another healthy tree.

I tried to download a photo but I took it with my Panasonic and for some reason I cannot download photos from this camera to ausbonsai. The tree is with its owner. It has been suggested from another source that the tree has a wilt disease.

Seasol is being used but again, when I repotted after the first episode there was absolutely NO indication of root problems. The entire root ball was healthy and alive, not one damaged area. The tree had been in a larger pot so I had to reduce the rootball to fit the smaller size but it was not over root pruned. Besides, it was gloriously healthy for over a month, had the repotting been the problem trouble would have been evident within days.

[Biofusion]

I would suggest it has been left too long before repotting.

Privet dont like wet feet. Because of their aggressive root growth it soon starts to hold too much moisture and the leaves start to drop. On hot days, too much moisture in the root zone can heat up and cook the roots.

Regular repotting with privet is an absolute must. I repot my privet every 4-6 months

[bodhidharma]

An animal that has urinated on it maybe?

[Josh]

An animal that has urinated on it maybe?

Could be. I had an old cedar that died over night from the neighbours dog watering it. Was very quick in its death.

Josh.

[Webos]

I had a very similar privet experience. Very interested in finding out as I have another that I don't want to lose.

Adam

[purelydaniel]

2 of mine went bad, as long as it has enough soil to recover and if you scratch back the branches closer to the foliage and there green then it should be okay. I've found they don't like heat at all so keep them out of direct sunlight half shade and more water they will thrive. put some pictures up please