PERHAPS dying: ilex vomitoria.

Min_Rizor

Help! Basically the SAME thing that happened to my boxwood is happening to my ilex!

It's getting crispy new growth that wasn't so crispy before, but looked rather healthy for a long time after the growth popped up. The leaves that fall stay fully green in their crispy state. I can easily blame this on my parents, who I had water it once in the four days I was gone last week. And that's perhaps the only thing in common with the boxwood, which they gave me for Christmas. Thing is, my dad does the watering and he ALWAYS uses a jug of tap water that he leaves standing and open for at least a week before he uses it, supposedly to let the chlorine evaporate out of it. Sometimes he adds a bit of Miracle Gro to it for the house plants. Even I've used this jug of water for the longest time, but I use bottled water when he adds Miracle Gro to the jug.

Not like he'd know anything... he can just keep plants ALIVE... but anyways, is it possible that overfeeding can do such a thing to tree like this? I say overfeeding because I already have a few Osmocote pellets sitting in the pot, ready to do their job (about half of the SMALL end of the scoop's worth... that came with the container... meh).

It also sat in the window the WHOLE time I was away. I normally move it from the window at night for privacy reasons. It's done absolutely well having been treated like that for months on end (and once it stays consistently warm, I shall move it outside as the temps still drop pretty low this day in age, oddly enough). Anyways, could this have had a hand in the new growth going crispy? I heard of unusual cold making true tropical plants (I know my ilex isn't tropical, but it needs plenty of shelter in my neck of the woods come wintertime) wilt and go yellow, but not this.

I know now with more experience that this tree has very little potential as it is, but it's been the tree with the least dead growth/plain death out of 3 trees I've had in my latest foray into bonsai. It would be sad for me to have it even partially croak. :O

__________________
<JPolito[stuff]>yor bonzai is always dying
<JPolito[stuff]>take it to the vet or something
<MinRizor>There are no bonsai vets. D:

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Ralph

If you suspect it is fertilizer/salt burn, you can do one of two things, you can flush the pot and soil repeatedly to wash out the fertilizer. Or you can emergency repot into soil that has not been treated with fertilizer. Don't wait long, if you have leaves going crispy time is of the essence here. Given that it is early in the season, and hasn't heated up to much I would lean to getting some fresh soil in there. Don't disturb your root ball, just lift it from the pot, pour out the current soil left behind, and pack into the pot with fresh soil. Afterwards, you can water heavily the new soil, and this should help flush the salt build up away some.

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Emerging from winter slumber
Bonsai trees burst buds anew
Spring is upon us!


-Paul S.

TreeBay

Unfortunately, just flushing with water won't help with slow release fertilizer granules in the soil - in fact it will probably make things worse. You'd have to replace the soil, or if they're on the surface, you could try to pick them out.

Sorry,

Matt

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Min_Rizor

I have an idea of what's sucking the life out of my ilex... upon attempting to do a full repot, I found what (to my newbie eyes) appears to be the culprit! Seemingly a fungus of sorts that grows on the trunk below-ground. It grows in spots, typically in a long band, and is tan-colored.

Too bad I don't have a proper fungicide. Also too bad because the grower who brought up this little tree before me buried a good deal of decent-looking trunk below ground. D:

Will have pictures up in a few minutes. In the meantime, tell me of anything that I might find around my house that could serve as a makeshift fungicide!

EDIT: Guh... camera does NOT want to agree with me, today. It refuses to focus for closeups... wish I had a more expensive camera...

__________________
<JPolito[stuff]>yor bonzai is always dying
<JPolito[stuff]>take it to the vet or something
<MinRizor>There are no bonsai vets. D:

grampz

3 tablespoons 'garlic oil'
1 teaspoon dish soap
1 quart water

mix oil and soap well...add water...use in a spray bottle...

fungicide...insecticide...miteicide...effective against most nematodes...and will even eliminate most virus that affect woody plants...

Regards
Behr

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As the Master departed the workshop,
he could have sworn he heard some
one saying rather loudly...
"I thought he would never leave"
San Antonio Bonsai Society, Inc.

Min_Rizor

Much thanks!

__________________
<JPolito[stuff]>yor bonzai is always dying
<JPolito[stuff]>take it to the vet or something
<MinRizor>There are no bonsai vets. D:

ALDEVAUX

I would be very surprised that the fungus you describe is the culprit for your tree's illness.
There very many different species of fungi that grow in soils and most are beneficial and can be seen only when growing on dead organic material. We call them saprophytes or non-pathogenic.
On the other hand,the mycelium of a pathogenic fungus (a fungus that can cause disease) is not visible on plant tissue until the cells of that tissue are dead. So if you do not observe rotted trunc or root tissue on the places where the fungus is growing, it is most likely non-pathogenic.
I would look for another type of problem like too little watering or other environmental factors that could have affected your tree.
Best of luck.

Min_Rizor

The fungus was on and around a submerged wound in the tree's bark (looked like a very acutely-angled branch was cut off, then somebody repotted it and hid the wound they left underneath the soil, which looked partially healed). Judging simply by this, I'd say that it was a malicious fungus.

__________________
<JPolito[stuff]>yor bonzai is always dying
<JPolito[stuff]>take it to the vet or something
<MinRizor>There are no bonsai vets. D:

ALDEVAUX

Just because you see a fungus growing around or on a wound does not mean that it has infected the trunc or branch because most non-pathogenic fungi can do that as long as they have enough moiture and organic matter to feed on.
As I said, you don't usually see the mycelium of pathogenic fungi when they infect a plant but only after the tissue has completely rotted away. The usual symptom of infection is the discoloration of the tissue which is generally from brown to black, or in some cases, the discoloration of the xylem vessels as is the case for Fusarium or Verticilium wilts.
The only way to be sure you have fungal or nematode problem in your soil is to send a sample for laboratory examination. For this, you should collect at least a cup of soil, plus some small fibrous roots, from several spots around the affected tree parts and place in a plastic bag. The soil plus roots and some of the affected trunc tissue, stems or leaves should be taken to your agricultural county extension office.
I would not advise you to put any fungicide in your soil unless you are sure you have a pathogen affecting your tree because you are also going to kill all the other beneficial fungi, including mycorrhizae, which are necessary for the health of the tree.