10yr liquid amber crisis!!

MameMama

It was all going so well, then we moved, the tree suffered severe overwatering at the hands of the little &%$* next door, so I allowed it to go without water for two days to let the roots dry out a little...they were almost mush!
Next thing I know, the tree starts to shrivel and there's three new seedlings bursting out through the bottom!!

Can my tree be saved and can someone please explain why the tree is doing this in the first place and what I can do from here on in??
Thank you all!!

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peterh

Hello MameMama,


This time of the year it should be in full leaf. One way to check for life is to nik the bark with a knife and if it is green then your in luck.

The reason for the new shoot is a survival reaction of the tree. You will find that the new shoot is coming from the roots of the tree. It often happens to my tree when cut back hard.


The root ( pardon the pun ) of your problem may be a poor draining potting mix.( For future referance)


I hope this helps

Peter

MameMama

Ahh a response! Thank you!

Peter: I did that, and the cambrium layer half way down the tree is green however from the middle of the tree upwards, it isn't green at all.
My partner asked if the tree itself needs to be basically cut in half in order to "reprogram" the tree to send its energy upwards instead of downwards.

So what did you do when you had the same thing happen?

peterh

Ive only had this problem once and the tree died. My problem was the soil mix was not open enough and as the soil became wet and stale which promoted root rot.

You may need to repot your tree into a larger container and when you do this you need to check the roots for any signs of rot and if it does cut them out. If you do this you need a good draining potting mix.

Peter

spookybonsai

Peter, I have a similar problem. Established liquidambar tree that got too much sun recently and the leaves have burned. I do recall it sprouted from the base a little while back; but as I've been sending a lot of time on an olive didn't think much of it and simply removed that sprout. I will attempt an emergency repot today, because I've probably overwatered to compensate for the hot weather.

My question is, should the burned leaves be removed? The buds also seem to be dried out and quite possibly many of the branches have also. I think I might be a week or two late.

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spookybonsai

Nevermind. Went out to look at my trees properly for the first time in a couple of weeks. It's dead.

I don't know what made me think that the umbrella for our outdoor table would suffice as summer protection for my bonsai. It didn't cover all of them, and no light gets through it. We bought a new house recently, and I hadn't worked out how to put up the shade cloth here. Too much time spent trying to solve problems with too many leaves falling from the two trees in the courtyard and birds that defecate on everything.

In the past week, it seems, I have killed two of my best bonsai (the large liquidambar in the round Japanese drum pot, recently styled with Grant Bowie; and my juniper literati bonsai styled last year with Marco Invernizzi from Italy).

I only noticed today; and it's devastating.

Combination of too much sun or overwatering leading to rotted or dried roots I believe in most cases. The juniper lost soil last time I hurriedly watered it, exposing the roots and they probably died that very day, killing it. It is now the brittle, dried mass I so often see in junipers when people ask at the club, "Can anything be done with this?"

I have also thrown out two others that had died, a formal upright stone pine and a beech my wife started, but soon tired of.

Erected the shade cloth earlier today, too late. I lack discipline and have too many trees to look after. They are too crowded on the two benches I have to get proper light distribution and air flow. I don't think I have learned to look after my trees properly.

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Asus101

ill look after them.