HELP!!!! Quickly dying Ming Parsley Balfouriana!!!

[JasonAlgiere]

My dad got me several bonsai for christmas and this one is rapidly dying. I have done everything the instructions tell me to but nothing is helping... I'm hoping someone on here can tell me what I'm doing wrong. These are my first Bonsai and I DO NOT have a green thumb. Ive uploaded some pictures of the instructions and two of my pitiful looking plant. Any help you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated!!! I'm hoping this will turn into a hobby, but at this rate I'm thinking I should stick to a pet rock...

 

[jkd2572]

Well at least it's the Ming that's dying. You can't do much with them. Now I think I saw a juniper to the right of it and either an elm or fulkain tea to the left. The tea can be grown indoors with good light,but the juniper needs to be out side at all times. It will eventually weaken and die indoors. I would even put the tea outside when the weather gets above 60 degrees f. Keep the Ming a few weeks after it drops all of its leaves. They sometime defoliate themselves when stressed. They may come back. Do not over water it during this time.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Hey Jason, welcome to the site!

First, can you give us a little more info where you live? It will help with advice.

Second, windows in Winter with tropical bonsai can be a tricky business. Often the window can be too cold, too warm (especially if you set your bonsai on a radiator shelf), or any combination of bad things. Tropicals need warm humid air. They can take cool dry weather for a bit, and will go into a limited dormancy, but frost or dry heat can be really bad.

Would it be possible to give us a wider view of the area where you currently have your trees? Don't panic your tree isn't dead yet

 

[daytona1911]

They don't like it below 60. At 45 they defoliate and die back if kept that temp more than 4 hours or so. They also don't like to dry out. Check the soil, is it dry? If it is , you may need to water deeply till the dry pockets are moistened and surface tension is released. They don't like to stay wet. Do the pots have drain holes? If so, is the soil clogging drain holes and soil staying too wet? If so, stop watering so often and let it get dryer between watering. Don't fertilize till you get watering down. You really can't do much as far as wiring, but are neat for what they are. But they are the most sensitive tropical plant I've seen save a few exotic tropical orchids. Hope this helps.

 

[flor1]

If the gravel on top is glued on which it looks to be get rid of it as soon as you can.
Plants will never dry out or be able to breath.

 

[JasonAlgiere]

thanks for the responses!!

Hey guys, thanks for all the quick responses!!! let me answer some of the questions posted an maybe we can figure this out.
-I live in McKinney, Texas. its a suburb just north of Dallas.
-The gravel is definitely not glued down.
-The plants were purchased from an actual dealer, not a van in front of a gas station.
-The plants are next to a window but I read that they should be 18 inches away so I have them at 20 inches from the sill.
-It has actually been cold in Texas lately (in the 20's at night) so I have kept all three inside.
-The pots do have drain holes and they are clear and drain well. I have been watering from the bottom in the sink as instructed by the instructions when the soil no longer feels damp from pushing a finger into the corner of the pot. I have also been misting every couple of days as instructed.
-The temperature in the house usually hovers just under 70 all day.

jkd2572 - good eye! you are correct on both the Juniper and the Fukien Tea. Even with how cold its been out, are you sure the Juniper should be outside? If so, should it be covered? taken in when it rains etc??

Thanks again to everyone helping me out with this!!!!

 

[jkd2572]

Since I live 10 miles from you this is what I do with my junipers. I leave them outside at all times unless the temp drops below 20 degrees f. I then only move them to the garage until the temp gets back above 20. Then back outside.

 

[Bill S]

I think Daytona hit it on the head, cold and overwatered.

20" away from the window when it's cold out is probably too cold for a ming, and I damn near killed one overwatering it, before I knew bonsai.

 

[jkd2572]

One more thing. I see you got them from sunshine. Their soil mix is 100% organic. You need to look into finding a better draining soil next time you repot. This one I have used in this area for a few years before I started making my own and works great. If you have just a few trees it much easier to just buy it. The only reason i stopped buying it was, because i was buying a few hundred $$$ a year of it. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bonsai-Soil...701?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1939013d