Dying, and drying, Natal Plum

indytx

I received a natal plum as a gift at the end of May 2007. It was kept inside for about one month in a well lit area and seemed to be doing fine, though it lost a couple of leaves. I have since moved to E.Tx., and the plant has started dying. It has been kept inside in an extremely well lit room, but the leaves have all lost their dark, waxy green look. I put it outside, but that seemed to make it worse. A couple of the twigs of new growth became droopy last week. The soil seems to be moist enough (it's in bonsai soil), so I don't know what's going on.

I know the general advice is to put these trees outside, but it has reached triple digits this week, so I don't know if it could take that kind of heat.

Any help appreciated.

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mike108

Yes of course it can take the heat. If the big tree can do it so can its miniature. The falling leaves are surely due to the fact the tree does not understand the climate in the house. open windows closed air condition and all. Id put it outside and wait for new foloage if the trees not dead already. Scratch the bark see if its green if its not
Well thats a shame if it is take my advice.

Mike

Joanie

Give it dappled shade, or morning sun and afternoon shade, and make sure not to over-water it. Natal plums are tough, tough trees and will take a lot of abuse. They can drop all of their leaves and still come back. Don't let the pot get too hot in the sun... you can wrap the pot in aluminum foil to reflect the sun's rays.

Inisde of houses may look sunny and well lit to us... but we have eyes that adjust to dimness. The trees may not get enough light in a house, even one that looks quite bright to us. Air conditioning also dries the leaves out quickly.

If leaves have formed in one type of lighting condition, then can't cope with a change (for instance, it possibly was raised in a greenhouse and then went into your home) they may drop off and the tree will make new leaves. But if those leaves form inside the house, and are then put outside, they may be too tender to adapt. So the best thing to do is to find the most promising spot for the tree, and then leave it there. Trees don't have legs, for a reason. Move it only if the position of the sun changes so much that you need to move the tree slightly.

Good luck!
Joanie

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Mcspeed

Good advise from Joanie and Mike, big thing a lot of people don't realise is, that our air conditioners suck a ton of moisture out of the air a lot of plants do not like this for living conditions. Bet light levels are part of it too. Do you guys use much A/C down in Texas??

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AndyWilson

Natal plums like sandy soil and high humdity, thats the way they grow naturally around the natal area, and they like that as bonsai too.

One thing everyone else may have overlooked is your watering regime, if after a month it started losing leaves you may be overwatering it, how often do you water it and how do you water it?