Help! Bonsai leaves whitened... Dying Bonsai?

goide

Hi there,

I am a bonsai novice... My girlfriend bought me a lovely bonsai tree a couple of months ago. When she bought it, it appeared healthy and vibrant -- the leaves were a nice shade of green and whatnot.

Anyway, lately the leaves have all turned to a kind of whitish colour and I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I water it regularly and don't let the soil go dry, I fertilise every 10 days or so with some special Bonsai liquid fertiliser (the bottle says to do it every 10 days), and the bonsai tree gets plenty of direct and indirect sunlight because its on the window sill above my bed which gets sunlight shining through almost all day (although lately it hasn't got much because the weather has been terrible in the last few weeks).

I'm at a loss as to what to do! I called up the shop it was purchased from and the lady I spoke to said to immerse the bonsai in a bucket of water until it stops bubbling to ensure that it gets adequate water, and I did that. However its still in the same state it was in and I'm worried that I've unintentionally killed it!

Could somebody please help me and let me know what I can do to save it and what I've been doing wrong... I've attached some photos to try and illustrate its condition.

Thank you in advance for your assistance

Advertisement