I just saw this on my BRT - fungus, mildew? What I need to do?

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Ah, nursery soil. I thought you got this tree from Weigerts? They use a decent bonsai soil, not nursery potting soil. Anyway if it is potting soil, most commercial potting soil hold water, lots of water, it you are watering every day, you are likely drowning the tree. Potting soil might need water once every 5 days or once a week.

Commercial packaged potting soil usually has added fertilizer. You would not need to add any sumo cakes for at least 3 months. Legume trees can dump excess fertilizer from their stems and trunks and leaves by depositing it on the surface of leaves and trunk. My newest diagnosis is too much water and too much fertilizer. Take the sumo cakes off. Save them for 3 months from now. Sumo cakes are a good fertilizer, you can start with them once we get the tree stable and growing. You have had the tree less than a month.

Stop watering. Figure out how to get your finger or a bamboo skewer into the root ball to check for moisture. Don't water again until it is really pretty dry. You want to see the bamboo skewer come out dry, or your finger should feel no moisture. Then water. Then hold off until it is dry again before watering. You might not need water as often as you thought.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Sumo cakes are good, that list of fungi and bacteria are all good, an excellent assortment of beneficials. They will not hurt your BRT. But too many cakes too soon can make or aggravate a situation. So hold off on the cakes until April.

 

[janaiya]

I'm not sure.
Powdery mildew, a fungi of genus Podosphaera or Erysiphe or Spherotheca. I've seen it on cucumbers, marijuana, & hops but have not heard that it would attack legume family trees.

It is more likely that fungus is not your main problem. The yellow and white in the leaflets also says to me you might be keeping it too wet. So I am seconding the concerns that it is a water issue.

Question, I live thousands of miles away from an ocean, so I never see salt water damage. Could your tree be getting salt spray from sea breezes?

Over watering can cause the yellow and white in the new growth. I would start with water, in terms of problem solving.

This BRT is showing quite some indicators. The back part of his leaves are all green. But the front part (exposed to daily sunlight, wind, rain) is more on the bright green getting yellow side. Now he has a side wall on his right and further away a back wall and half of him is covered by the ceiling of the house. Its a mix of 50/50.
But he gets watered the same parts of water surrounding the whole pot. Now the water is not salty but when it rains it might get some salt in the rain but who knows what is in the rainwater.
The leaves have no powdery substance on them. They just look like the got white paint injected. And now watery white, really white white like wall paint.

 

[janaiya]

I'm only speculating, but it looks like a virus similar to Hosta Virus X which is not terminal, but degrades the health of Hosta and spreads by surface watering, and has intermediary hosts that do not show signs of it. It is also not curable, just like all other virus'. I would be worried.

How would he be exposed to that kind of virus? I mean there are some sago palms close to him and another flower plants I don't know the name of. Can other plants spread a virus out to them?
It is said that BRT'S are very resilient trees.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I doubt the issue is virus. I believe the tree is getting too much water.

 

[janaiya]

Ah, nursery soil. I thought you got this tree from Weigerts? They use a decent bonsai soil, not nursery potting soil. Anyway if it is potting soil, most commercial potting soil hold water, lots of water, it you are watering every day, you are likely drowning the tree. Potting soil might need water once every 5 days or once a week.

Commercial packaged potting soil usually has added fertilizer. You would not need to add any sumo cakes for at least 3 months. Legume trees can dump excess fertilizer from their stems and trunks and leaves by depositing it on the surface of leaves and trunk. My newest diagnosis is too much water and too much fertilizer. Take the sumo cakes off. Save them for 3 months from now. Sumo cakes are a good fertilizer, you can start with them once we get the tree stable and growing. You have had the tree less than a month.

Stop watering. Figure out how to get your finger or a bamboo skewer into the root ball to check for moisture. Don't water again until it is really pretty dry. You want to see the bamboo skewer come out dry, or your finger should feel no moisture. Then water. Then hold off until it is dry again before watering. You might not need water as often as you thought.

No, the big BRT is not from Wigert's, I wish it was. It is from Tropical Miami Bonsai and the leaves were already kind of green yellowish when it arrived here. The Sumo cakes don't have anything to do with the leaves changing color into white. It already happened before I used them. The Sumo cakes are there only since maybe 8 days and I have used water over them twice. I put them because I believe this tree is anemic, has not enough minerals and nitrogen and needs some mycorrhizal fungi to get his power back. Even we are in January, this is a tropical tree and is continuing growing leaves. He already replaced like 80% of his foliage since he arrived and he started flowering too. He is definitely not sleeping. However if you think the Sumo cakes need to go I take them off.
I put 3 Sumo cakes to the Wigert's BRT and he is not showing any signs of having trouble. But again. I believe those 2 BRT's are totally different from each other, might be another sub-specie.
BUT, I am here to learn and I am willing to do whatever is best to not lose this tree to virus, fungi, and whatever is out there. Thank you guys for all your help. Keep coming with your expertise. I absorb like a sponge.

 

[janaiya]

you guys think those greyish stains on the trunk are normal and no issue? Check out the previous pics pls

 

[leatherback]

WHere is our resident Brazilian in this thread. @Clicio do you recognize the problems with this BRT?

But again. I believe those 2 BRT's are totally different from each other, might be another sub-specie.

Appearently there are 2 varieties out there. One with thorns that flowers easily, and is reproduced by seed. And one without thorns. Basically a mutation of the other one and as such is reproduced by cuttings. At least, this is what I think I remember.

 

[LanceMac10]

Maybe take it out of the ground now...….and treat for mildew...….

 

[MHBonsai]

Take it out of the ground. Water only when soil is dry.

 

[janaiya]

WHere is our resident Brazilian in this thread. @Clicio do you recognize the problems with this BRT?


Appearently there are 2 varieties out there. One with thorns that flowers easily, and is reproduced by seed. And one without thorns. Basically a mutation of the other one and as such is reproduced by cuttings. At least, this is what I think I remember.

I read some info on Adam Levigne's blog, he has BRT'S. He said that the differences are little, they both have thorns, only one has much more than the other one and I think the one with more thorns flowers while the other does not and yes, one comes from seeds the other from cuttings. Little is actually known about this tree. In Brazil are only very few left.
Maybe I should check in the BRT's family plants to find some info about what is happening to my leaves. Its quite an enigma. I have sent some inquires to a lab who actually do researches on pest, virus and others on plants and trees. I hope I get an answer from them and maybe I can send them some leaves to check what is going on. Its for free, so I hope they can tell me.

I will pm @Clicio , maybe he knows. Thx

 

[janaiya]

Take it out of the ground. Water only when soil is dry.

I have already done that before and it did not resolve anything.
We had now 2 days and night with lots of rain and now I want to see how my BRT will look in the next few days. And my smaller BRT has been getting all that rain water as well. I will update

 

[penumbra]

I am not sure what might be going on with the trunk but the leaves are showing variegation. Variegation in leaves is usually caused by a virus and does the plant no harm other than loss of a slight amount of vigor due to reduced chlorophyll. If I had this plant I would be rooting the cuttings to be certain it is not lost. In my 60 years of working with plants, I have seen this sort of random mutation on many plants both in the wild and in cultivation. Many times it is lost. Most times in nature.
I do not believe that what is going on with the trunk relates to this. Do yourself and the plant world a favor and root this or graft it so it won't be lost.

 

[Clicio]

WHere is our resident Brazilian in this thread. @Clicio do you recognize the problems with this BRT?.

Thanks, LB, I am talking inbox with the OP. But... I have never seen a variegated BRT in Brazil. Thornless yes.

 

[LanceMac10]

not variegating, it's drowning! Got a decade worth of growing experience with these.
ground it's in most likely the cause of mildew. Get it off the damn ground.
Fert cakes are ok, but realize it could take up to a month before it's bio-available to the roots.
Put it in full sun, always.
BRT's are native to coastal areas, as far as I know, so should be/is quite salt tolerant.
They favor being dryer as opposed to soaking wet. Pretty drought tolerant, in fact.
Ignore my advise if you don't like it, but your killing this tree.
Trying to help......

 

[LanceMac10]

@Clicio , Why keep the info you'll share a mystery, post it up here for everyone to utilize!

 

[penumbra]

not variegating, it's drowning! Got a decade worth of growing experience with these.
ground it's in most likely the cause of mildew. Get it off the damn ground.
Fert cakes are ok, but realize it could take up to a month before it's bio-available to the roots.
Put it in full sun, always.
BRT's are native to coastal areas, as far as I know, so should be/is quite salt tolerant.
They favor being dryer as opposed to soaking wet. Pretty drought tolerant, in fact.
Ignore my advise if you don't like it, but your killing this tree.
Trying to help......

I defer to your expertise. I have not seen a condition like this that looks so very much like variegation.

 

[Clicio]

@Clicio , Why keep the info you'll share a mystery, post it up here for everyone to utilize!

Certainly!
BRTs can be thorny or thornless, they like humidity, they don't like midday sun in high summer, they are drought tolerant, they usually grow like mad during the growing season.
Had some issues with foliar fertiliser, now I use only organics (BioGold and/or TaeGold)
I have never seen a variegated one in Brazil, and yes, there are plenty of BRTs in pots around.
The white spots on the trunk look like mildew, or some kind of fungus; the leaves look very weird indeed.
It could be overwatering. It could be viral.
Point is, they are so easy to grow here we just water them and let them be, so unfortunately I can't help more than this very basic info.


As they get older, they can become quite nice as bonsai, look (not one of my trees! I wish...):

 

[janaiya]

Certainly!
BRTs can be thorny or thornless, they like humidity, they don't like midday sun in high summer, they are drought tolerant, they usually grow like mad during the growing season.
Had some issues with foliar fertiliser, now I use only organics (BioGold and/or TaeGold)
I have never seen a variegated one in Brazil, and yes, there are plenty of BRTs in pots around.
The white spots on the trunk look like mildew, or some kind of fungus; the leaves look very weird indeed.
It could be overwatering. It could be viral.
Point is, they are so easy to grow here we just water them and let them be, so unfortunately I can't help more than this very basic info.
As they get older, they can become quite nice as bonsai, look (not one of my trees! I wish...):

Very nice tree
Thanks so much for your reply as well. You in Brazil see certainly lots of them and of course here the climate is still not the same as there, I guess. If nobody has seen those white spots on the leaves like this than I really think I just let it be right now and hope the warmer season comes fast so I can start take a look at the roots as this is the only part I am not able to see . And maybe he gets too much water, but honestly we are not watering him like crazy either. We use either the finger or a meter to measure the moisture at all the outer parts and in the middle of the pot to feel if dry or not. Since he is not in real bonsai soil but more a Nursery bonsai soil what has too many tiny particles it stays longer wet and takes time to dry out since the pot is under soil and the sun can't dry it out. That part makes also much more sense. Lets say its a watering issue so again we let him dry out for a week since it rained pretty heavy last night. I hope its just that and not viral and neither mildew. Can mildew rubbed off the trunk?

 

[janaiya]

not variegating, it's drowning! Got a decade worth of growing experience with these.
ground it's in most likely the cause of mildew. Get it off the damn ground.
Fert cakes are ok, but realize it could take up to a month before it's bio-available to the roots.
Put it in full sun, always.
BRT's are native to coastal areas, as far as I know, so should be/is quite salt tolerant.
They favor being dryer as opposed to soaking wet. Pretty drought tolerant, in fact.
Ignore my advise if you don't like it, but your killing this tree.
Trying to help......

I do appreciate your opinion and respect everyone's tips. I will tell my son to stop watering and let him dry out. Promise. I don't want to kill him. And you have certainly knowledge about BRT's !!