I’ve had this tree about 8 months and haven’t had too many issues up until now. It typically lives outside but I brought it in and out it under lights for the winter period.
I noticed some foliage yellowing followed by dropping. I had some yellowing on a willow leaf ficus but that resolved after more judicial watering.
I thought I had seen scale insects and have applied two applications of neem oil to seemingly noavail. My next thought is potentially a potassium deficiency but I wanted to see if any of you fine folks happen to have suggestions
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any update on your tree's health?
I have 4 bucidas, used to have 5, lost a small one because I used akadama that was too fine and it stayed wet for too long during a rainy autumn.(at least that's what the 'autopsy' suggested, black/dark brown base of trunk, rot). They tolerate being on the moist side, but not indefinitely. I had sudden browning of leaves during two abnormally cold days this winter (~35F-40F for a few nights) but they bounced right back when the temps went up. Be careful with soil that is too moist for too long, I can definitely see this being a problem in colder environments with akadama. Webbing is definitely spider mites, so even after you stop neem oil application, try to mist it if the humidity is low in your area.
Even on my strongest bucidas, they do yellow and drop a percentage of their leaves every 4-6 months, but when that happens the entire leaf turns yellow and drops easily. I brush them off with my fingers and new buds return.
For fertilizer, I sprinkle the topsoil with cheap Vigoro All purpose 12-5-7 pellets, and since last year I started using tea bags with Dr Earth Pure Gold to help with the micronutrients and probiotics/bacteria.
I also noticed that you don't have dense growth, could be due to shorter season length up north?
As a side note among side notes, here in Miami, basically all of my trees are occasionally fighting against aphids, mites, southern blight fungus in waves, they usually pull through without intervention. At least from my limited experience, tropicals can handle pests and fungus in stride, but they need vigor to stay alive (long days/seasons/frequent watering in the right soil/fertilizer)
This is my most dense, and smallest leaf bucida in development right now. It's a shame that I havent had any luck with cuttings.
