Fukien Tree bonsai loosing all leaves

[crystalhand]

Hi all,

So I have had a Fukien tree bonsai for about a year and a half and it has gone great until the 4-5 weeks. During this time the tree has shed almost all of its leaves and those remaining are rather brittle. I am used to it shedding a number of its leaves over time but have not seen anything so severe. I figured that maybe it was the water so I switched over to distilled water from the grocery store. I then thought maybe it was to dry since it had been the winter and have kept the humidity tray filled with water. However, neither of these have had any change. I am a little worried that its days are now numbered. Here are some pictures I took a few hours ago:

 

[Steve C]

Exact same thing mine did https://bonsainut.com/threads/a-moment-of-silence.32729/ 4th time it has happened to me in the past 5/6 yrs. FT's just seem to not do well when they have to come inside to over winter no matter how much you try to do right by them.

 

[bonsaichile]

Same thing happened to me, and mine died. For what is worth, humidity trays do nothing to increase humidity around the tree. The only way to do that is to put a humidifier and make the air circulate in the room. Use a hygrometer to check on humidity levels.

 

[Lazylightningny]

If they dry out, they drop all their leaves. Water it, and if it's not dead, it will re-leaf. then get it into some good bonsai soil this spring. It can take temperatures 50 deg F, so when it's warm out, you can put it outside to get some sun.

 

[rockm]

You may have overwatered it. Easy to do inside in the winter. Tree isn't using all that much as its growth slows inside. Soil looks bad and too soggy.

Overwatering and underwatering have the same effect on top growth, as the roots pushing water to the leaves either rot (overwatering) or dry up (underwatering). I'd pull it out of the soil to see if there are any live roots in there. If there are repot in better draining soil and watch your watering.

 

[just.wing.it]

That's just what they do...???

 

[crystalhand]

Great thanks for the suggestions. I will go ahead and try to repot it this weekend.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[amcoffeegirl]

As much as I would love to be successful with this species, I just can not keep them alive.
They are temperamental in my experience. Ficus are much more forgiving.