Brazilian Raintree leaves turning yellow, dying, & dropping

[Rosamond]

Hi, I'm brand new here, but it seems like a great forum full of knowledgable people. I'm also brand new to bonsai. :/ I got this Brazilian Raintree in May (5 months ago) and it looked pretty good for awhile, dropping leaves and growing them back, etc. But now the leaves are turning yellow, then brown, then dropping off in large numbers. I can't see any clear sign of new buds with leaves ready to grow.

I water once or twice a week, whenever the tree looks a little wilty during the day. I haven't fertilized it or repotted it since we got it. It sits in a fairly sunny spot in the house, but doesn't have any artificial light. It was sold as an indoor bonsai, but based on some reading here, I understand maybe that's not true. I live in Pennsylvania, and the weather is about to get chilly--highs in the 50s this weekend, and downhill from there. I do have an unheated greenhouse if that would be helpful, but it still gets pretty cold in there in winter. I'd rather keep it indoors if possible, but not if that's going to kill it.

Can anyone tell me why it looks like this, and/or how to help it? Thanks!!

 

[Petebak]

I have a few of these that are indoors all year around and all thriving so being indoors is not the issue, when you say "fairly sunny spot" what do you mean? which direction is the windows facing? Also, depending on the soil condition underneath the surface you may be over-watering it. These trees are more drought tolerant that most people believe, so it's better to water less and look for signs than just water it twice a week.

 

[JudyB]

Mine regularly drops it's leaves and restarts around November after I bring it in for the winter. I wonder if you're not getting enough light. Mine live in a sunny south exposure with fluorescent lights above. It is hard to overwater these I would say, unless your soil isn't draining well. Most of the time, they will come back if the conditions are good. Put a skewer in the soil to test for dryness. I water once a day, but my soil drains well.

 

[Rosamond]

Thank you both!

Hmm, maybe it is a light issue. It's in a room with an east facing window and two north facing windows. The room gets good natural light throughout the day, but the plant is never in direct sun. I don't have any super sunny spots in the house, unfortunately. I thought lack of light might stunt it, but I didn't think it would cause leaves to die off like this.

I can also cut back on the water a bit and see if that helps. I did notice that when I let it go too long without water a couple times before, the leaves wilted and some even fell off, but it came back strong after more regular watering. Maybe I've gone too far the other direction now. Since I left it planted in the pot it came in, I don't know exactly what the soil looks like underneath, but it seems to drain like a standard potted plant, not super fast.

 

[JudyB]

Thank you both!

Hmm, maybe it is a light issue. It's in a room with an east facing window and two north facing windows. The room gets good natural light throughout the day, but the plant is never in direct sun. I don't have any super sunny spots in the house, unfortunately. I thought lack of light might stunt it, but I didn't think it would cause leaves to die off like this.

I can also cut back on the water a bit and see if that helps. I did notice that when I let it go too long without water a couple times before, the leaves wilted and some even fell off, but it came back strong after more regular watering. Maybe I've gone too far the other direction now. Since I left it planted in the pot it came in, I don't know exactly what the soil looks like underneath, but it seems to drain like a standard potted plant, not super fast.

All I know is if I underwater mine then it'll loose leaves exactly as you say. Use the skewer method to see how wet it's staying under the top. I didn't know you could overwater these...

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce