no scales now what?

i have a fukien tea that i just rid of scales it now has hardly any leaves but its still alive. should i water it or mist it? how long till some new growth or till i should water it? i heard it might be in "shock" any advice much appreciated thanks

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Jay

Jason.......PATIENCE...... There are some things, and some times, that nothing takes the place of patience. Do not feed this guy. As for water, only when required. It probably has lost a high percentage of its leaves and therefore requires less watering. Do not over react......time and your patience will [i:3e6e669067]Hopefully[/i:3e6e669067] bring this guy back.

__________________
A Bonsai student living with his trees at N 44.37 W 77.49...
Think before you act... then think again... no good comes from rushing

thanks alot, ill stick to watering it only when it needs it,
take care

Moni

Jason, I agree with Jay on the patience. But, wow. How much scale was on this Fukien for it to lose all of its leaves? Keep your eye out to make sure that you got them all. The young version of scale is virtually transparent and easy to miss but they are also the form that is the most susceptible to insecticides.
After about 2 weeks I would apply fertilizer at half strength. Personally, I would use a liquid fertilizer. Something along the lines of 3-5-5. Make sure that you do not overwater at this time. That is easy to do when there are no leaves. But if scale was indeed the only problem, the leaves should come back.
Moni

Well when i first noticed the scale(they were brown) did not know what it was so i left it alone figuring if was just a watering problem.so when the plant first started to droop it was around the same time i needed to fertilized it,so i fertilized it than found out it was scale and took it all off.even if i fertilized it last week should i still fertilize it in two weeks? and should i still submerge it? thanks

Moni

OK Jason, are you the same guy I just answered in the Dying Bonsai section? I just listed a bunch of chemicals that can be used on scale, although I honestly don't think they work any better than what I already told you to do.
As for the fertilizing...........it all depends on your usual regimen. If you use a liquid fertilizer every week, I would give the plant a rest for a couple of weeks and then start with 1/2 strenghth again. If you are using a fertilizer that is an organic or timed release, don't fertilize it again until it is due for more. Don't want to kill the little guy with kindness, do we?

As for submerging the plant, that also depends on how things look. If the soil is taking in water quite easily, it really should not need to be submerged constantly. And.........submerging will not do anything when it comes to getting rid of scale. But keep your eye out for the scale. They can be really stubborn little critters. Don't be surprised if they come back a couple of times before you have it licked. Jay was right when he counseled patience.
Moni

yes i am the same person you responded to about the scale chemicals. Im pretty sure the scale problem is over, i cleaned the tree off by hand and then went over it with the soap and that was 3 days ago, no scales since then,also another plant i keep my bonsai next to had it first,so it was obvisously infected by the other plant which is now no where near my fukien tea, but ill keep my eye out
I usually fert my fukien tea once a month so i guess in a couple of weeks ill do it again.also i have not watered it in a while but to my suprise the soil is still quite damp. so it looks like all i can really do is just sit back, watch, wait and prey for some new growth.
thanks