My Fukien Tea

[RickMartin]

This is my tree I got from online. Im building I lighting system for it for the winter today. Im using my led setup I used to grow my aquatic plant life with, hung around 10 inches above the tree. My home internet is down due to what I assume is the snow fall we got last night but as soon as it comes back up I will post pics.

Rick

 

[RickMartin]

ok here are some pics after i got the lighting system hooked up.



its really busy up top



after i trimmed a little. i didnt want to push it to far.



any comments or suggestions welcome.

Rick

 

[edprocoat]

Nice little Tea, they can be troublesome at times. I would lift the pot up and check the bottom to make sure there is a drain hole. I only say that as I have seen similar pots with Teas like that in Home Depot that had no bottom drain.

ed

 

[RickMartin]

I did that the minute I unboxed it. It has one so im lucky there. I also checked to make sure the drain was clear. Thanks for the heads up though. Would you thin it more or leave it for now.

Rick

 

[edprocoat]

I did that the minute I unboxed it. It has one so im lucky there. I also checked to make sure the drain was clear. Thanks for the heads up though. Would you thin it more or leave it for now.

Rick

Rick it needs to get acclimated to its new environment. It will probably lose some leaves for a while but it should bounce back. Let it start growing then cut it back to two lower leaves on each branch to ramify the branches.

ed

 

[RickMartin]

by lower leaves are you refering to the leaves closest to the trunk or the leaves under other leaf.. Thanks for your input it is greatly appericiated. This is my first tropical, ive researched it, and it says to thin back to 2-3 leaves after 6-8 have grown but im trying to figure out which 2 leaves to keep.I did thin some on the tree but only leaves that were about to fall off or was wilted. I did put a himidity tray under this tree.

Rick

 

[RickMartin]

I'm letting this tree rest for awhile, with only water and lights to make it happy. I got a humidity meter and humidity is 69%. The humidity tray seems to be working

Rick

 

[edprocoat]

by lower leaves are you refering to the leaves closest to the trunk or the leaves under other leaf.. Thanks for your input it is greatly appericiated. This is my first tropical, ive researched it, and it says to thin back to 2-3 leaves after 6-8 have grown but im trying to figure out which 2 leaves to keep.I did thin some on the tree but only leaves that were about to fall off or was wilted. I did put a himidity tray under this tree.

Rick

Rick, you cut back to the leaves lowest on the stem, closest to the trunk. This stops elongated growth and causes the tree to output leaves from the area you cut back to making the branches denser nearer the trunk (ramification).

ed

 

[BonsaiEngineer1493]

Hey Ricky,

They are a pain! Someone gave one to me for free because it was being attacked by mealy bugs. Luckily it recovered in my care; however, I occasionally get a few bugs here and there. You need to stay on top of it. Once pests show up you can start of with a jet stream of water. If that does not do the trick you can move to a brush with water to scrub it off. Worst case scenario will involve soapy water, horticultural oil, and finally chemicals.

It does need light during the winter and look up some fertilizer.

The one I received was common "S shaped" movement. I chopped it down and created it into a semi cascade. Here are the pics

 

[RickMartin]

i like what you did to that tree. so far i haven't seen any bugs at all on this tree, but i will keep a eye out for them every day. Right now i just want it to rest and get over the stess of being shipped.

Rick

 

[Bonsai_Bango]

I had aphids on my tea tree and I used neem oil to get rid of them. Seemed to do the trick pretty quickly, smells terrible though definitely spray outside or well ventilated area.

 

[RickMartin]

Rick, you cut back to the leaves lowest on the stem, closest to the trunk. This stops elongated growth and causes the tree to output leaves from the area you cut back to making the branches denser nearer the trunk (ramification).

ed

Thanks Ed I understand now. When a branch gets 6-8 leaves cut back to 2-3

Rick

 

[RickMartin]

Jusr a small update. The tree has a few new growth on it but ive noticed alot of new buds showing up.

Rick

 

[RickMartin]

Tree is doing great. I will post pics sometime next week. To keep view of the branching i have to trim this tree all the time. It buds like mad, but i just stopped feeding for the winter so maybe it will slow down some.

Rick

 

[RickMartin]

This is my lighting system.



I love my LED's

Rick

 

[RickMartin]

Just a quick note: as soon as battery charges up for the camera i will post new pic's of the tree. I will also post closeups of new growth popping up everywhere.

Rick

 

[RickMartin]

Ok as promised here are some new pic's as of today.

Full shot of tree



next four are of new growth coming out









on second pic leaves look like they have something on them..it's just water scale as i mist the leaves several times a week.

Rick

 

[b0ns@1]

Lookin good rick think I might thin the top of my one like yours, probly do it in the next week or so I wanna see how my tree reacts to the wiring first

 

[RickMartin]

yeah mine was pretty thick on top. I had to get some light through it. I would have left it other wise.

Rick

 

[b0ns@1]

It looks like ots gonna flower to