Is this chlorosis?

[Carol 83]

I got this Pink Pixie a little over a month ago, from a Bonsai nursery. The leaves looked like this when I bought it. It seems like Pink Pixies have a little lighter colored leaves, than some bougies, but not sure this color is normal. It is in full sun, and has received one dose of Bougain. The soil looks wet, because it's been raining.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Well... to start with you have more than your fair share of aphids on that plant, so you should try to get rid of them.

It could be chlorosis caused by iron deficiency. However yellow leaves like that could also be a sign of root problems / rotting. I would consider popping it out of that nursery pot and inspecting the roots, and then (assuming things look moderately ok) slip-potting it into a larger pot with nothing but an inorganic drainage layer all around it.

Then try fertilizing with Miracid or similar acid fertilizer. Plants with iron deficiency are often caused by soil pH being too high to allow the plant to take up iron, rather than a lack of iron in the soil mix. If you have alkaline soil, you can supplement iron all day long but plants won't be able to take it up.

 

[GrimLore]

Aphids...

Next, it appears to be Nitrogen starved - Bougain has a very low N rating of 8... In Spring when ours go back out after a long Winter they go into a shaded area for a few weeks, get 20-20-20 to inspire vegetative growth which is normally deeper green.

They are also potted in organic, but very fast draining, almost all sphagnum peat, stays damp but drains and allows air. The peat sounds counter productive but it drains so well the acidity does not bother them at all.

When they are darker and full here we put them out in full sun 6 plus hours a day, stop fert, and let them whither a bit the first week. Followed by flooding daily they do lighten up a bit but start to bloom a lot. Bougain is designed for Bloom and we find just controlling a 20-20-20 works just as good.

Being an outdoor/indoor plant up North they do require a bit of bouncing around but they also need to be potted here so it all works out

Grimmy

 

[Carol 83]

I have to admit, I haven't been paying as close attention as I should have lately. I honestly didn't see the aphids, so thanks for the heads up on that @Bonsai Nut. I'll spray everything tonight. The soil is very dense, and we have had a lot of rain lately, so I was planning on getting it out of that mix this weekend. Hopefully that will help, the other one I bought at the same time, has normal green leaves.

 

[GrimLore]

soil is very dense

Run a skewer through it a bunch of times meanwhile. From top to bottom in case it is that compacted. Keep in mind they may be from the same source but they probably came from the South and it could be also having a more difficult acclimating then the other...

Grimmy

 

[Bonsai Nut]

it appears to be Nitrogen starved

This one is a little bit of a hard call because the plant looks universally yellow. A plant can exhibit chlorosis symptoms due to nitrogen as well as iron deficiency, but the giveaway is:

(1) If the new growth is yellow, while the old growth is green / greener > iron deficiency.
(2) If the new growth is green, while the old growth is yellow/yellower > nitrogen deficiency.

Looking at the plant, I was leaning towards #1 above, but since the plant doesn't show much difference between old and new growth it could be either... or both.

Miracid would address both issues, regardless, since it will provide nitrogen as well as acidifying the soil to improve iron uptake. It is a 30-10-10 liquid acidifier that also has iron

 

[Carol 83]

They were both that light color, when I bought them, but the one has since turned a normal green. They have been getting normal Miracle Gro once a week. I'll pick up some Miracid this weekend, get it sprayed and into some better soil. Thanks guys!! I would hate to lose this one.

 

[Carol 83]

So, I sprayed it with Bayer 3-1, gave it some Miracid and now have some white spots on the leaves. Googling suggested maybe some kind of fungus? I would attach a picture, but having a round of thunderstorms. The other one I bought at the same time is a healthy green and growing like a maniac.

 

[Carol 83]

I braved the rain and took a picture. I have done what was advised pulled it out of the pot, roots seemed OK, not rotted. Skewered the soil for better aeration.

 

[Aiki_Joker]

See this recent thread if you haven't already also, members have put good info for troubleshooting there

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/yellowing-leaves-growing-tree.34266/

 

[Carol 83]

See this recent thread if you haven't already also, members have put good info for troubleshooting there

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/yellowing-leaves-growing-tree.34266/

Thanks, yes looks very similar to mine.

 

[Hartinez]

Glad this popped up to the top of the new thread list. Having the same problem with a bougie and an Acer Ginnala. Above answers are helping out significantly along with what @Aiki_Joker told me.

 

[Aiki_Joker]

I had nutrient availability problems with Acer spp. too (UK sycamore). Though they are generally more pH tolerant than bougies I think. The UK sycamore issue I had was most probably rooted in nutrient imbalance in the fert though causing over saturation of N and K slowing the uptake of P.
Not sure if of interest but worth bearing in mind:

The slow release fert I used had an applicable P value at a glance. However, the water soluble P component was low (as opposed to the other P component included in their formulation that was highly soluble in neutral ammonium citrate - which is a buffer). I would surmise that pH, lack of buffering and high cation exchange capacity in the soil made the latter component unavailable to the plant. Thus cutting the effective P value to less than 50% of the listed value and swamping the plant with high N and K leading it to be unable to uptake enough P (even though there should have been enough there based on the water soluble residual P left after the citrate soluble P component was oxidised - made unavailable). I never did get an accurate measure of the pH changes to find out but pH of soil should have been around neutral. This happened about 5 months after repot in the growing season and supplementation with wood ash from the BBQ (which is basically an organic source of water soluble P) fixed it fast!

 

[Carol 83]

Sprayed for bugs, dosed a couple times with Miracid, and repotted. It is looking much better!

 

[Carol 83]

Fully recovered. I thought I'd snap a picture of the bracts, before I have to bring it inside, and they end up on the floor.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Wow, that was a dramatic change!

 

[shinmai]

It’s the blue pot that did it.

 

[Carol 83]

It’s the blue pot that did it.

@Soldano666 , apparently your pot has magical qualities. Better prepare for a big influx of orders.....

 

[Soldano666]

@Soldano666 , apparently your pot has magical qualities. Better prepare for a big influx of orders.....

Good thing I have a buttload of them drying and getting ready for the kiln

 

[Carol 83]

Good thing I have a buttload of them drying and getting ready for the kiln

Just hint at the special "curative properties", and you'll make a killing! (I get a cut)