bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Really big leaves on my Fukien Tea

I have a fukien tea bonsai that is 22 years old. It's a recent purchase, and it has only been in my care for a month now. When I first got it, the leaves were very small and dark green. But then it got spider mites, and after many vigorous soap baths the mites all died, but the poor tree had lost most of its leaves, and the remainding ones had all turned yellow. After that I fertilized it, and set up a plant light. I had been keeping it near a window, but I thought it might need some more light.

The tree absolutely loved the new light, and the fertilizer, and now it is covered in green, healthy foliage. The problem is that the leaves are HUGE! And I do mean huge!!! I noticed that someone on here said large leaves might be the result of too little light, but I've got it next to a window where it receives plenty of sunlight in the first half of the day, and the rest of the day I have the plant light turned on, shining directly on it. I'm wondering if perhaps I had over-fertilized it? Or maybe the large leaves are a result of it trying to recover from its bout of illness and leaf loss? I really have no idea. The plant light I'm using is 65 watts. Could it be that it's getting too much light? Have I un-bonsaied my tree?

24-Jul-2005	#5
BonzaiSquirrel bonsaiTALK Neophyte Join Date: Jul-2005 Posts: 4	light? I have a fukien tea bonsai that is 22 years old. It's a recent purchase, and it has only been in my care for a month now. When I first got it, the leaves were very small and dark green. But then it got spider mites, and after many vigorous soap baths the mites all died, but the poor tree had lost most of its leaves, and the remainding ones had all turned yellow. After that I fertilized it, and set up a plant light. I had been keeping it near a window, but I thought it might need some more light. The tree absolutely loved the new light, and the fertilizer, and now it is covered in green, healthy foliage. The problem is that the leaves are HUGE! And I do mean huge!!! I noticed that someone on here said large leaves might be the result of too little light, but I've got it next to a window where it receives plenty of sunlight in the first half of the day, and the rest of the day I have the plant light turned on, shining directly on it. I'm wondering if perhaps I had over-fertilized it? Or maybe the large leaves are a result of it trying to recover from its bout of illness and leaf loss? I really have no idea. The plant light I'm using is 65 watts. Could it be that it's getting too much light? Have I un-bonsaied my tree?