Golden Gate Ficus Half Dead! Need help :-(

[Luke14789]

Hello Friends,

Approximately 4 months ago, I ordered a 5 year old Golden Gate Ficus from Brussel's Bonsai.

I live in Atlanta, GA. Climate mostly humid and hot, however it does get cold during winter time, especially over night. The bonsai was doing well outside during summer, however last month I had to bring him back in because temperature outside dropped below 40. I also had to turn on the heat so the apartment got really dry. I setup a humidifier about 5 feet away from the tree to help the humidity.

He did not like the change. Rapidly dropped 95% of leaves. In the photo below, you can see where I have him, it's the best possible spot for him in my apartment, he does not get A LOT of light because window is facing east.

I water him non regularly, only whenever I notice the soil looks dry.

I scraped a little bit off the main trunk and it is green, so he seems to be alive still, however as I went up the trunk and scraped few of his branches, the right side seems to be completely withered, dry and dead (no green under - only brown), however on his other half, the branches are alive and I could even see some new leaves trying to come in.

Now, I have some sort of nutrition fertilizer called Bonsai Pro 7-9-5, I've given it to him twice in the past 3 months, should I keep it up or stop completely ?

I can also see some small leaves trying to come in, however after a day or so, the little buds just turn black and die :-/
Is this a sign of something ?

I'm wondering if it's possibly for the tree to recover ? And what my next steps should be ?

Thanks a lot for any kind of advice!
Lukas

 

[edprocoat]

Luke the new growth looks good. They, Ficus in general, seems to react this way when you change their environment. The branches that are brown may be dead or partially so, its hard to say. As far as the fertilizer goes, most people here will say never give ferts to a weak or sick tree. I always fertilize my plants, sick or healthy and at least twice a month. I firmly believe what they don't want or cant use just washes out the soil anyway, but when they need it its there in quantity. I use 20-20-20 but any good BALANCED fertilizer is best. Balanced means the numbers are even, 5-5-5, 10-10-10 etc. . It will come back, just don't let it get dried out from being inside! Actual water is much more important than humidity, both are even better.

ed

 

[JudyB]

Be extra cautious of overwatering this tree while it is leafless. It will need less water than it normally does. They tend to drop their leaves with a move like Ed says. I would stop the fertilizer for a bit until you see the leaves starting up again.
Hope SHE pulls thru for you. (why do people always call their trees him???)

 

[Luke14789]

Ed and Judy,
Thanks much for your replies.

As far as the new growth goes, the picture I posted up there was few days ago, however today, that little green bud turned black, dry and dead.

Is this a sign of something more serious or could it just be that I might have overwatered the tree ?
Should I give the ends of the branches a little trim ?

Thanks again

EDIT//

I took some more close up shots for you guys to see what is happening.

@Judy, I named the tree Freddy, so it's definitely a HE

 

[Paradox]

I hate to say this, but in the second pics you posted, the tree does not look good at all. It looks like it is dried out and looks pretty far gone.

I agree with ed, the first pics didnt look too bad, there was new growth there.

How long between the pics in the first post and the second set?

My ficus often freak out when I move them from outside to inside in the fall. The have bounced back in the two years I have had them just fine.

Is there any green when you scrape the trunk with your fingernail? If so then it might just be the branches that are dried. I hope it is ok, but it really doesnt look great in those second pics.

In the future you might want to keep a piece of small dowel or wood chopstick stuck in the soil and water just when that starts to get dry. My ficus seem to like to be moist, but not drowning most of the time. When they get too dry their leaves start to turn yellow and they fall off.

 

[sorce]

. (why do people always call their trees him???)

They are not boats!

Although. This one may be soon.!

I think it should be based on fem\Masc.

Sorce

 

[Luke14789]

I hate to say this, but in the second pics you posted, the tree does not look good at all. It looks like it is dried out and looks pretty far gone.

I agree with ed, the first pics didnt look too bad, there was new growth there.

How long between the pics in the first post and the second set?

My ficus often freak out when I move them from outside to inside in the fall. The have bounced back in the two years I have had them just fine.

Is there any green when you scrape the trunk with your fingernail? If so then it might just be the branches that are dried. I hope it is ok, but it really doesnt look great in those second pics.

In the future you might want to keep a piece of small dowel or wood chopstick stuck in the soil and water just when that starts to get dry. My ficus seem to like to be moist, but not drowning most of the time. When they get too dry their leaves start to turn yellow and they fall off.

The two sets of pictures are about a week or so apart. There is green on the bottom part of the trunk but as I go scraping higher, the branch is just dark brown.

This does not look good indeed. I have been getting conflicting answers, some say that the tree is heavily underwatered, some say it is over watered

 

[Skinnygoomba]

Stupid question, but does this tree get any sunlight? East facing window should get hours of morning sunlight.

IMO For my tropicals I water as soon as the top of the soil gets dry....how often does soil 'dry out' in the tropics? In my current situation, which will be different from yours, this takes 3 days. I also run a humidifier right next to the trees (for my own benefit but it helps them too).

I don't water them in a metered fashion; bring to the sink drench them in water with a can as I do outside, let drip then back to the drip tray in the same position it was.