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Fukien Tea losing Leaves

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Old 17-Nov-2001   #1
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Fukien Tea losing Leaves

I have a Fukien Tea (or Philippean Tea - I'm not sure of the differance) which I've had since the spring. it was outdoors all summer and did very well. Since it's gotten cold (Tennessee) I've brought it in with my Ficus trees. Sice being inside (In south facing window) it is slowly dropping leaves, with one or two turning yellow and falling off every day. In desparation, I've put it back outside during the day (45-70 degrees) and bringing it inside at night (32-40 degrees). I'm watering it every other day.

The book I have (The complete book of Bonsai - Harry Tomlinson) Says it should live in 60-75 degrees with shaded sunlight and is suitable for indoor bonsai.

Any words of wisdom?

Thanks,
-Duke
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Old 17-Nov-2001   #2
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Re: Fukien Tea losing Leaves

I think before you should have just brought the treee in from
the outside you should have slowly started to wean it from
direct outside sun light and you should have stated to put in
shade. Even though it is in a south window it is not the same as being outdoors in direct light. I don,t think i would keep moving it around. The tree should stop loosing some leaves once it gets use to being indoors. The object is to find that fine line when to bring in your tree,s from outdoors. I have gone to a grow light systems in my house. It has worked out just fine, i almost loose no leaves and can get my tree, sto flower even through the winter here in New England. You also
want to keep and eye on your tree for Insects. Fukien Teas and Insects are like Dogs and fleas they just go together. Just keep and eye on them and you should be fine. If you need to e-mail me feel free to post . Hope this help,s
Good luck
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Old 17-Nov-2001   #3
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Re: Fukien Tea losing Leaves

Please be sure you aren't overwatering, too. * A fingertip pushed into the soil should tell you if there is water beneath. If the soil feels damp, don't water that day. *Once every two days sounds like it might be too frequent, but I am basing that on my climate here and the kind of temperatures you are talking about. *

Indoors, the heating and cooling can be very drying on the air, though. * . *A grow light on a timer could also be helpful. *Ask Soildoc he has a lot of indoor trees, I think.

Good luck!
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Old 18-Nov-2001   #4
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Re: Fukien Tea losing Leaves

Duke,

I saw Treebay's reference so I thought I'd chime in. I have a number of indoor trees but no Teas so I'm not sure about the specifics but here's what I do. I have my trees in a stand with flourescent grow lights (available at most home improvement stores) set on timers. The trees get about 16 hours of light a day from the lights as well as whatever they can get from a nearby window. I water about twice a week and mist each tree once or twice a day. I'll also mention that I use a soil mix designed to hold more moisture than some of the commercial mixes I've seen so my watering may be different than yours. Treebay's finger method is the same one I use to decide when to water. My biggest problem is the low humidity so I have to mist a lot.
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Old 11-Dec-2001   #5
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Re: Fukien Tea losing Leaves

Colin Lewis has an excellent book called The Bonsai Survival Manual. Its section on helping sick trees is the most complete I've seen so far. It has a section on the Fukien Tea, and it says that temperature drops may cause leaf yellowing, and that the Fukien prefers a temperature range of between 55 and 100 Farenheit, can be kept indoors in partial shade year round, so it should be fine where it is, so long as there isn't a chill draft. It likes high humidity, as does the ficus. I would suggest you pick several cheap bonsai trays (these are usually $2-5 depending on size), filling them with pea gravel, placing them under all your trees, and keeping the trays full of water at all times. The improved humidity will keep your trees happy with less root watering, giving you a more foolproof way of providing water to your trees.

If your tree still isn't happy, you can pull out the Gardener's Secret Weapon, SuperThrive, which is mostly rooting hormone and B vitamins (it was recently proven that plants can extract vitamins directly from the soil, though SuperThrive was very good empirical evidence long before that). When the plant is looking better in early spring, you can start with the suggested low-nitrogen fertilizer, which should help fill the tree back out (do NOT feed a sick plant fertilizer, unless it's definitely sick from lack of nutrients).
Good luck!
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