New Potentilla Fruticosa dying.

edro

I got a new Potentilla Fruticosa from the loca bonsai club during a workshop.

It was very vibrant and vigorous. I cut out probably 50% of the crown and removed about 3" of soil from the pot. I then wired it up and repotted it into a same sized decorative pot (has large drainage hole), but left the root ball intact (I just added a little soil to the new pot and dropped in the root ball).

I added a little mulch on top of the soil to retain water in this extreme heat.
It has been kept moist and out of direct sunlight for the last month.

The weather has been 80-90F+ for the last month or so here in Ohio.

As you can see from the photo... it is just dying. The foliage is drying up and is getting brittle. The branches still seem supple, but the leaves are all dried up and crumb off easily. Again, the soil is still very moist.

Do you have any recommendations, or is it too late? Is there something I could have done or not done to prevent this? I am new to the hobby but have read a few books and many websites.

Thank you for the advice.

Potentilla Fruticosa

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bandbchute

Hey Edro,

Welcome to the world of bonsai. Don't panic yet... just keep it in a protected area out of the direct sun, and don't water it to much. Just make sure that it is moist... not soaking wet. You may want to mist it a couple times a day too. This will help it to take in water without using it's roots.
I dug two this spring and put one in a grow box, and the other in a training pot. Both are doing great, but they have turned brown and dropped some leaves within the last month. I think that this is normal though, and chalk it up to the high tempatures that we have had in the past month or so.
When was the picture taken? At the time of your post, or after you did the work on it? It looks like it still has plenty of leaves to sustain it for now. Keep in mind also that Potentilla will have a lot of die back during the winter months... so you pretty much keep your trunk and thicker branches and regrow all of the branchlets in the spring.
Also... if you want flowers next summer (that is if it makes it ), remember not to trim the ends of the new growth... that is where the flower buds form.

Good luck,

Brian

AMKhalid

i would bet that it is a root rot problem... potentillas prefer it on the dry side and are actually quite drought tolerant