Hello all,
Long-time lurker, limited poster.
As background, I live in Northwest Louisiana and mainly collect trees for Bonsai. I have been practicing Bonsai for about 3 years. The attached pictures are of a Littlehip Hawthorn that I collected in 2021. This is the second year in it's container; I plan on repotting next season. The tree is potted in a 3:1 mix of 50:50 Turface/Pumice and Pine Bark Mulch, all screened to between 1/16" and 1/4". I pruned the tree on 4/19, leaving the lowest branch and highest branch unpruned to thicken the lowest branch and future leader. I fertilized with a 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer (Southern Ag PowerPak 20-20-20 Water Soluble Fertilizer with Micronutrients) on 4/9 and again on 4/21. My normal procedure is to use the fertilizer solution, immediately followed by a good soak with straight water to make sure I wash any fertilizer from the leaves. I also sprayed the tree with Bioadvanced 3-in-1 on 4/14 because it had a small infestation of mites or aphids on one of the low branches. I am noticing now that all of the outer leaves of the tree have become pale, with some starting to get maybe some signs of fungus (black spots). I'm more concerned with the pale leaves. The tree is in full sun. Is this a mineral deficiency? Should I go ahead and fertilize again this week? I would love to get the forum's insight. Thanks!
Long-time lurker, limited poster.
As background, I live in Northwest Louisiana and mainly collect trees for Bonsai. I have been practicing Bonsai for about 3 years. The attached pictures are of a Littlehip Hawthorn that I collected in 2021. This is the second year in it's container; I plan on repotting next season. The tree is potted in a 3:1 mix of 50:50 Turface/Pumice and Pine Bark Mulch, all screened to between 1/16" and 1/4". I pruned the tree on 4/19, leaving the lowest branch and highest branch unpruned to thicken the lowest branch and future leader. I fertilized with a 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer (Southern Ag PowerPak 20-20-20 Water Soluble Fertilizer with Micronutrients) on 4/9 and again on 4/21. My normal procedure is to use the fertilizer solution, immediately followed by a good soak with straight water to make sure I wash any fertilizer from the leaves. I also sprayed the tree with Bioadvanced 3-in-1 on 4/14 because it had a small infestation of mites or aphids on one of the low branches. I am noticing now that all of the outer leaves of the tree have become pale, with some starting to get maybe some signs of fungus (black spots). I'm more concerned with the pale leaves. The tree is in full sun. Is this a mineral deficiency? Should I go ahead and fertilize again this week? I would love to get the forum's insight. Thanks!
