My Carmona is dying :(

bbqguise

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Hello

I am new to Bonai and on Christmas, i received an 8 years old Carmona Fukien tea Tree and I've had it for a week and the leaves are starting to turn black and the general health of the tree seems down :(
I have done so much research in the last week on how to keep it alive but no matter what I do it seem to be getting worse and worse.
I water it every day or every other day when the soil starts to become a little dry to the touch and I keep the plant leaves damp with mists of water from time to time.
I have the plant on a window sill and I live in the 6a (Montreal /canada) zone, the shop where it was bought from is also in the same area as mine.
Not sure what I'm doing wrong, I keep it inside as directed by the store's professionals and followed all the instructions they gave.
my apartment is heated but i keep a window cracked for it not to become too hot or too cold and the plant is never exposed to the cold wind.
During the night when there is no light i move it away from the window in case it gets too frosty and in the morning i put it back on the window sill.
Yesterday I found some aphids on the underside of most leaves ( they weren't there when I got it ) so I sprayed it with this: https://www.homedepot.ca/product/safer-s-trounce-1l-ready-to-use-yard-garden-insecticide/1000107188
because it said it is also effective against aphids but overnight the leaves turned black in color. ( the aphids are mostly gone)
not sure what I'm doing wrong and I really don't want to kill an 8 yo plant within one week of getting it.
what steps can i take to bring it back to life?
i bought some bonsai fertilizer food that arrives in the next couple of days: https://dyna-gro.com/product/bonsai-pro/#iLightbox[]/0

Should I be removing the dying leaves?

any advice on what i should do regarding watering/placement/fertilizer to bring it back to life?



thanks




this is when i initially received it ( 7 days ago) in full health
2021-12-17 10.18.21.jpg

this is 5 days after i got it ( some leaves started to lose the green in them and develop brown/black/yellow spots)
2021-12-26 12.20.11.jpg
this is one week later (today) (yesterday night is when i spared it with the aphids insecticide)
2021-12-27 08.28.17.jpg
 
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Wires_Guy_wires

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Not above a radiator is a better placement. The heat will damage everything because the air flowing above it literally is desert-like.

Most garden store professionals know jack shit about keeping plants, and they repeat what they've been told by people who themselves repeat what they've been told.

A plant requires stable conditions. So moving it every night will be detrimental to its health.

I don't know carmona, but stability, bright window sill, no heating and again.. Stable conditions and letting it get accustomed will give you a chance of saving it.
 

just.wing.it

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Finicky species in my opinion....
I'm nearly convinced that the Carmona Bonsai sold are only designed to die shortly after the new owner begins to like it.
Then you've been bitten by the bonsai bug and you go out and buy more trees and everything else.

Just take a gander at the similar threads below....
 

Carol 83

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Finicky species in my opinion....
Just not a good beginner tree or not a good tree at all in my opinion. It might bounce back, they are notorious for dropping their leaves when moved. Don't let it dry out but don't keep it soaking wet. Maybe try a ficus, they are much more forgiving.
 

penumbra

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I am concerned that it is being over watered and over misted.
 

Katie0317

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Have you tried spraying it with Neem oil? I have a Fukien tea that has tried to die on me a few times and they are prone to various bugs. I also did a lot of reading and now use neem oil and it's worked each time. You have nothing to loose at this point! I'd do it asap!
 

Katie0317

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I rewrote that post and it flew away...I'll try again.

I see you sprayed it. Don't spray it again unless you're seeing live bugs. Then I'd use neem oil instead.

Yes, get it away from the radiator.

Take a sharp knife and lightly scrape the trunk. If you see green, that's a very good sign. It should live if you see green on the trunk.

Put your finger down in the dirt. It should not be wet but only moist. Let it dry out and then keep it moist until summer. Your tree doesn't need much water until summer and it never needs to be misted.

If the trunk is green remove all the dead and dried leaves.

Take a sharp pair or pruners and cut a half inch off of a branch. If it's dead keep doing that until you get to live wood. You may have to remove the entire branch.

A fukien tea is a difficult tree as they tend to be buggy and are finicky about light and watering.

Don't give up on this unless it's dead. Lots of people assume they're dead when they're not. Check the trunk and let us know how it looks.
 

sorce

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Hormona.

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce
 

ShadyStump

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No experience with Fukien tea, but I'm on board with the, "radiator bad," crew.
In general, trees don't deal well with extreme swings in their environment, something all heating units cause. I have a juniperus procumbens under high powered grow lights in my kitchen (totally an experiment- I don't recommend trying yourself) that was doing fine until I got it set there as it's permanent location. In only two weeks half its foliage had dried to a crisp (you normally wouldn't notice stress in a juniper for about a month or so) because I failed to take into account a heater vent in the room.

Mitigate that, and you might have a chance.
Also, it's generally not a good idea to fertilize or spray a sick tree unless you know for certain it's solving the issue making the tree sick. It very frequently only stresses the tree more.

Good luck, and don't quit even if this one doesn't work out. Killing trees is kinda my specialty, and I've already learned so much from it in 2 years that I expect to have the healthiest trees on the continent by the time I get it right. Kinda like cadaver labs for med students. 😉
 

Bnana

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Take a sharp knife and lightly scrape the trunk. If you see green, that's a very good sign. It should live if you see green on the trunk.
DON'T DO THIS!
This plant has leaves so it's not dead. So it will be green. You do not want to create a wound on a tree that's clearly weak.

If you see green it can still die and it doesn't change how you'll treat the plant.

But this is not an easy species. Advice on watering and location, away from the radiator, is helpful. Those are the main things you can do. If possible place it in a light but cool (unheated, not freezing) room.
 

Bonsai Nut

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Just tossing my two cents in here:
(1) Water deeply, and allow to almost dry out before watering again.
(2) They like humidity.

Don't worry about any cold above freezing. I have had mine sitting outside here in NC as long as the temps don't get below 30 degrees F (-2 C), at which point I bring it inside and have it sitting in a bright window with my other tropicals. It has been outside about 75% of the time the last two months, including many days that stay in the 40's.
 
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