Is there any hope for this fukien?

greenman63

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Excellent. Looks fairly typical for a Fukien in the cold, but I feel as if the enlarged leaves and sparse growth are due to etiolation: elongation, fewer and smaller leaves or sometimes enlargement thereof due to insufficient light - the plant is seeking stronger light by focusing on stretching out, and conserving that energy normally used for other functions such as increased leaf production or fruiting.

Placing it in a spot with more direct sun is definitely going to help. The lighter green color of the leaves is a bit of a concern, and could be attributed to low nutrients and/or etiolation. Light is food!
 

three4rd

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So you think I'm good for now? Wait till end of month (when the plant comes back to our place again) to consider repotting? I had given it a bit of fertilizer last week and then before that a little in January. I know it's suggested not to during winter months but for awhile there it was starting to look like I had little to lose by trying it. Interesting about the etiolation - that's a term I was not familiar with. Wonder if at some point some of those long stems should be cut back?
 

greenman63

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I would wait until it gets some good growth before trimming, and at that, just snip the tips for the better part of the season and let it get bushy for a little while if possible. Don't stress it until you're pretty comfortable that it's bounced back. Hold off on the fertilizer for a while, seems like it's had enough lately. Pay attention to light, heat and water for now; you already know not to overwater. I think you can be fairly optimistic, hoping I'm not wrong 🤓
 

three4rd

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Thanks again for all your help with this. I'd hate to lose it, so we'll see how things go along. I actually would like, at some point, to take it out of the pot since it'd be a new experience for me. Curious to see how the roots are doing. I've transplanted hundreds of things over the years, but never a bonsai. Is it pretty much a matter of just combing the old soil away from the roots (being careful not to tear them I imagine?) and then repot with the new soil. I know there are loads of YouTube clips on it.
 

Carol 83

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Greenman...thanks for so much info and advice! From what you're saying, probably best to hold off on removing from the pot / root work, etc. till after it's back at our place since it doesn't seem to take too well to traveling. I'm noticing more leaves than has been the case over the past few months. I'm also attaching a picture showing where the bonsai usually is. It had been between two windows and thus sort of hidden by a strip of wall. Where I have it now it receives more direct light. The window is a southern exposure in a room full of plants. Let me know what you think. It's certainly not going to win any awards but hopefully it's not dying either. It's deceiving since someone not familiar with how it's been doing could look at this and say it's fine due to all the new buds, etc. but, as I mentioned before, what has been happening is that the leaves come out and then sort of shrivel up after a short time. Some of these leaves (on the left side) are some of the largest that the plant has developed since probably the early part of winter. The pictures make them appear a bit more yellowish than they really are.

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You have begonias growing indoors? Going to have to try that. Can't be much help with the Fukien, I have sworn off of them, they are fickle SOB's. Best of luck with yours.
 

three4rd

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Yeah...about 7 pots full. Every year I dig bunches of them out of the beds in fall, bring them in, them plant them back out again in spring. I take them out of the pots, divide them up and put them all around the beds. They do really well. Haven't bought any new begonias in probably 20 years or more. Not all annuals take to being moved in and out like that, but the begonias do. I love having them over the winter for the constant blooms, but by the time spring rolls around I'm really tired of watering so many additional plants. The annuals get fed every watering from October till May. My plant room seems so much less crowded once all the annuals are back out! I bring in way too many! Same for geraniums. I just hate to leave them out to freeze and so just about the time I think I'm done and have transplanted enough, I'll wind up bringing in one or two more.
 

three4rd

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I'm going to take the fukien out of the pot and see what's going on. It's a bit of uncharted territory since I've never done anything with these before. The new leaves that came out over the past few weeks are again just shriveling up and go to nothing. This has been the pattern over the last year. The newest not-yet-emerged leaves simply fall off when even touched. I suspect this is not going to go well, but it seems pointless to continue on with a plant in this manner - that appears to be marginally alive at this point. At the risk of being anthropomorphic, it just seems unfair to the plant to keep it struggling so.

I welcome any and all advice since I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing other than my experience with repotting hundreds of root-bound plants over the past 40+ years. I'll check out some videos before proceeding. I know we're not technically in spring yet, but quite honestly I don't see things improving going forward without some degree of intervention.
 

three4rd

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I did it....see what happens. I was as careful as I could be, having never done this before. Rewired it to the drain holes as it was (well...not as nicely done...but I think it'll be fine). Roots didn't look rotted, but neither - as you can see - did they look like I expected. Also, it was nowhere near pot bound. Ground just looked soggy though, so hopefully the new mix will help. If it's on the way out anyway, figured I have nothing to lose. It would not have survived much longer without some sort of intervention I believe.

I thought a few pics of the root ball might help. Let me know what you think. I really didn't cut much off since there wasn't anywhere close to what I expected, rather just removed most of the soil from around the roots, then gradually re-added the new mix, carefully setting the soil around the roots and tamping down the pot so as to avoid air pockets (same as I do with any repotting).IMG_0178.jpeg
IMG_0177.jpeg
 

AaronThomas

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Soil looks bad. Too much water retention and not enough air circulation.
But the could be just part of your problem with the FT.
 

three4rd

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Well, at least most of that soil is gone now. I wasn't overly optimistic when I took it out and saw how few roots there were.
 

greenman63

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Looks pretty normal for FT roots, but yes, the soil had to go at some point. What soil mix did you end up using? Hope it's responding well.
 

three4rd

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Used this... https://www.amazon.com/Tropical-Tinyroots-Buttonwood-varieties-Additives/dp/B007GSHZLG

So far, I'd say it suffered a set back. Hopefully that could be a normal reaction to repotting? Basically no leaves at all at this point. Lots of buds - but there have been over the past few weeks. When touching a few of the tiny leaves that did seem to be emerging from buds, they just fall right off. Everywhere I scrape a little it's green underneath though - even at the smallest branches. They all bend - so I'd say nothing obviously brittle, i.e. dead. Just seems the plant has no energy anymore though to sustain new growth. See what happens. I have no idea what else to do.
 

greenman63

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Stay the course, I think you're doing fine. Keep providing as much sun, heat and adequate water as you can, and I'm very optimistic it will come 'round. A warm spring with new soil should give it a push in the right direction. If the weather is good, I'd say you're safe to add just a hint of liquid fertilizer to your watering can every other time for a week or two, just to give it some extra nutrients. Go easy on the nitrogen and you should be ok. I can give you some recommendations if you need them, I'm just pinched for time at the moment. I'll check in with you soon.
 

three4rd

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LOL...my financial advisor, in the wake of what has been going on in the markets, has been telling me the exact same thing...."stay the course" :) Thanks again. I'm hopeful..babying it along as best I can.
 

three4rd

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Well, could come to that. I don't give up easily...on any plant. Can you elaborate on "constant battle"?
 

Carol 83

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Well, could come to that. I don't give up easily...on any plant. Can you elaborate on "constant battle"?
They're happy, then you look at them wrong and they drop all their leaves. Then they start sprouting new ones to give you hope, then they drop them again. Eventually they tire of playing with you and die. Just my jaded perspective, I have no luck with them.
 

three4rd

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Looks pretty normal for FT roots, but yes, the soil had to go at some point. What soil mix did you end up using? Hope it's responding well.

At this point I'm starting to think it's gone. Still lots of buds, but nothing happening. In comparing to a few older pictures, it looks like the trunk / stems are taking on a bit of a shriveled, grayer cast to them then more brown. I'm not real hopeful. Not sure what else to do. I still do come across some green when I scrape a bit, but less so. Some stems that use to show green no longer do.
 

three4rd

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Update....I'm no longer seeing any green anywhere when I scrape away at any of the branches. Anything left to be done? It seems like it dries up very quickly with the new soil, so today I added water till some drops ran out the drain holes. Took out some soil and added a bit more fertilizer. Maybe take it back out again and see how the roots look? Or just give up at this point? All the buds are still there but just appear to be drying up.
 

three4rd

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One possible ray of optimism remaining is that over the past few weeks, we're back to unusually cool temps for this time of year. It has really been more like fall. The sunroom where the bonsai resides is set to go down to 62 at night and no higher than 65 during the days - at least by thermostat. Once the weather warms, it can go up into the 90s in summer. So, if it's not already simply gone, perhaps it just hasn't been warm enough yet? The one thought against this hope is that it has always been in the same room under the same conditions and never anywhere near this point.
 
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