Serissa Foetida suspected dead months ago, new growth every

[AmberBonsaiSA]

Hey everyone,

This is my first post so I apologise if I have missed something
A few months ago, my Serissa basically looked dead as all the leaves were withered, but not fallen off.
Upon scratching some bark off, some green could still be seen so I continued caring for it with no change whatsoever.
I decided to sit it in my kitchen (as I assumed it was gone at this point) and basically stopped caring about it, but was a little hesitant to throw it out.
It has been in the kitchen for about a month and a half and I have noticed many new leaves coming out over the past few days, but the old ones are still not falling off.
Do I do anything with them?
Do I trim my tree back at all or will it stress it too much?
I plan to start putting it outside again tomorrow.
Thanks all

[Ryceman3]

Hi Amber,
First bit of advice from me would be to get some more mix in that pot and cover up those exposed roots!
As for the rest, I don't know much about Serissa so Ill leave that to others, but it sounds like you managed to bring it back to the land of the living... I'd reckon sticking it back outside can only help.
Welcome to Ausbonsai

[tgward]

I would remove any crunchy leaves--top up the soil-water as needed--part shade outside --some seasol only for a while-- then back to normal fert-----water

[Daluke]

i agree with the previous comments. cover the roots.

ill add that these things love lots of water. in addition, mist the leaves with a sprayer everytime you walk past.

[AmberBonsaiSA]

Hi Amber,
First bit of advice from me would be to get some more mix in that pot and cover up those exposed roots!
As for the rest, I don't know much about Serissa so Ill leave that to others, but it sounds like you managed to bring it back to the land of the living... I'd reckon sticking it back outside can only help.
Welcome to Ausbonsai

That's just a weird chunk of sphagnum moss my bonsai came with. Is it actually helping my tree at all? I'd love to get rid of it.

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[AmberBonsaiSA]

I'll remove the withered leaves in a bit and see how she goes. Thanks for the good advice.
I was expecting a bit of hate as I came here with a dead-ish serissa.

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[Daluke]

Sphagnum helps give the tree water and stops it drying out. If it ain't exposed roots, I'd leave it.

Put your cuttings in soil, Serissa root easily!

[AmberBonsaiSA]

Sphagnum helps give the tree water and stops it drying out. If it ain't exposed roots, I'd leave it.

Put your cuttings in soil, Serissa root easily!

I wasn't expecting a tree so sensitive to be able to root easily
I'll keep the moss and follow everyone's advice and hopefully it'll be okay.
Looks much nicer now without being covered in dead leaves.

[shibui]

I don't grow serrissa here. I think it gets too cold for them in winter. Was your bonsai outside when the leaves shrivelled Amber?
It is not unusual for trees to shoot back months after 'dying'. I usually leave 'dead' ones for at least 6 months before disposing of them, just in case

I do think it could do with a bit of pruning. There's plenty of new shoots so it would not hurt the tree to be cut back now. The photo shows a mass of shoots going in all directions. I think it would be better to simplify the lines by selectively cutting out some of those inner shoots. Thinning it out will also allow the tree to concentrate energy into the remaining growth.
Now will also be a good time to feed the tree so it can use the nutrients to grow more new leaves.

The level of the potting mix does seem to be well below the edge of the pot and I suspect that under the moss the roots will be well above the mix so I suspect you could add some more to top it up a bit.

[AmberBonsaiSA]

I don't grow serrissa here. I think it gets too cold for them in winter. Was your bonsai outside when the leaves shrivelled Amber?
It is not unusual for trees to shoot back months after 'dying'. I usually leave 'dead' ones for at least 6 months before disposing of them, just in case

I do think it could do with a bit of pruning. There's plenty of new shoots so it would not hurt the tree to be cut back now. The photo shows a mass of shoots going in all directions. I think it would be better to simplify the lines by selectively cutting out some of those inner shoots. Thinning it out will also allow the tree to concentrate energy into the remaining growth.
Now will also be a good time to feed the tree so it can use the nutrients to grow more new leaves.

The level of the potting mix does seem to be well below the edge of the pot and I suspect that under the moss the roots will be well above the mix so I suspect you could add some more to top it up a bit.

I'll admit I accidentally left it in a bad spot while I was away for a day, not expecting it to be 35 degrees and it just shrivelled. The weather here in Adelaide has been pretty on and off for a while now. Not the best place to grow serissa but I think it's pretty
Now I've removed all the bad leaves, I can see how much the branches cross over and are just all over the place so I'll have a look at it tomorrow and see what I can do.
I'm surprised too, but under the moss, the soil is still completely over the roots. I'll put some more soil on top tomorrow and maybe some new moss?
Thanks for the help

[Tambrand]

Amber,

find someone who grows them and ask all the questions.

Serissas are rated to zone 7 in the ground - see Carl Rosner - google - he grew them in New Jersey.

They need freely draining soil, or they will die.

BUT you really need to visit with someone who can grow them on your side, as they have a reputation of
being finicky.

They can get to be at least 244 cm tall and trunks around 10 to 13 cm. Love sun and a breeze.
Wishing you the best of growing.
Laters.
Tambrand

[Jarad]

You may find that the ends of a lot of the branches are actually dead. So scratch the bark starting at the tip and work you way back until you find green.

[AmberBonsaiSA]

Amber,

find someone who grows them and ask all the questions.

Serissas are rated to zone 7 in the ground - see Carl Rosner - google - he grew them in New Jersey.

They need freely draining soil, or they will die.

BUT you really need to visit with someone who can grow them on your side, as they have a reputation of
being finicky.

They can get to be at least 244 cm tall and trunks around 10 to 13 cm. Love sun and a breeze.
Wishing you the best of growing.
Laters.
Tambrand

Thanks for the help I'll ask around my bonsai club at the next meeting.

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[AmberBonsaiSA]

You may find that the ends of a lot of the branches are actually dead. So scratch the bark starting at the tip and work you way back until you find green.

I was actually going to ask about this because the ends look like they've seen better days.
I'll follow your advice in a bit. Thanks