What Do You Feed Your Serissa?

Bonsai-gecko

I was wondering what the rest of you guys growing serissa use for fertilizer.

Most of the bboks and care sheets I've seen recommend a balanced fertilizer. A few years ago, I asked a lady who runs one of the local bonsai stores how to induce flowering, as one of my serissas would hardly ever flower. She recommended feeding them a high nitrogen fertilizer for a few weeks until the leaves turn very dark green, and then switching to a low nitrogen bloom inducing fertilizer. It worked great, Got tons of blooms.

The reason I'm asking this, is that I've continued over the years to generally use a balanced feed fertilizer. But my serissas always seem to slowly start to deteriorate. This year I noticed it again and have been feeding them mir-acid esclusivly. They hadn''t flowered all year, but now since switching to a high nitrogen fertilizer they look as healthy as I've ever seen them. One has even started blooming finally for the first time this year.

I'm going to continue to stick with Mir-acid this time. After all, one has to go with what works for them. It makes sense to me since I believe serrisa is more of a swamp-land plant and therefore is probably adapted to more acid conditions. But the number of sources that recommend balanced fertilizers does make me wonder just what type of results others are getting and what they are using.

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Jay

Gecko, if it works don't fix it!

As for Serrissa, I belong to the IHSFC... thats the 'I hate serissa fan club'. Why? Well, lets say I have had a half dozen of these and at the moment have one. I use to worry about them and try and keep them perfect. Now, I let it be, I keep it outside on a shelf and as the weather gets cold I bring it inside slowly. Doesn't matter, within a week or so it will begin to drop all its leaves and stay in a semi dead state till next spring when it will start to come around.

I find the more I worry about it the worse it gets so this year I'm just going to ignore it and see what happens.....

They are something else when they flower !!!
Jay

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Geodude

Is there a IHSAFC? That is "I hate satsuki azalea fan club" I need to sign up Darn things keep dying on me.

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Paul

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When I paint my materpiece"