Acacia Erubescens is not doing so well - PLEASE HELP!

MattyR

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Hi there!

New member to the site and I need some guidance/ advise on my ailing Bluethorn Blouhaak bonzai..

It is roughly 3 years old when bought and have had it for 6 or so months. It was doing really well and healthy in diffused indirect light, watering daily, morning and evening.

I then went on holiday for +- 3 weeks, with bonzai getting no water (I was told acacias are fairly hardy and would be okay without water for a while.

I've been back a week now, the leaves are all a dull green color (as opposed to a healthy vibrant green color before) and they are also unresponsive to light (they do not follow the light if that makes sense)

Is it dead? Do I need to prune the leaves and give it a fresh start?

Please help!

Thanks.
 

penumbra

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It would help to know where you are.
I will say that three weeks without water is too long for almost anything in a bonsai pot with bonsai mix.
 

MattyR

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In South Africa, Johannesburg.
 

sorce

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Welcome to Crazy!

On a righteous note....
I moved in here on November 15th and have watered my one ginseng ficus once around the beginning of December, ain't watered it since and it's alright.

And this is mostly soilless roots in a 4in basket.

Sorce
 

Forsoothe!

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Welcome to Crazy!

On a righteous note....
I moved in here on November 15th and have watered my one ginseng ficus once around the beginning of December, ain't watered it since and it's alright.

And this is mostly soilless roots in a 4in basket.

Sorce
Is your house in the Southern Hemisphere where it is approximately July? How windy is it in your house? Let's see a picture of this self-watering monster...
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Many acacia can tolerate droughts well. I would simply begin watering it again. It will likely drop all the dull green , dead foliage. It will take about 3 to 6 weeks, but you should get a fresh batch of leaves. Make sure it gets good sun, now that you can keep it watered.

There's a pretty active bonsai community in SA. You should join a local group.
 

Shibui

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Even normally drought tolerant trees in the landscape need far more water when confined to small pot. 3 weeks without water is a big ask for any plant in a pot. Your tree may still recover. I hope you have soaked the pot as soon as possible. It usually takes a good soaking to make sure the dry soil gets wet right through. It will probably take a few weeks for the tree to respond so you will not be certain if it will survive for up to a month after trauma like this. Keep watering as normal an see what happens. It sound like it does still have leaves on which is promising, even if they are unhealthy.
 

Orion_metalhead

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If you touch the leaves, do they explode into dust? If they have flex you might be ok.
 
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