ninibonsai

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Hi there! I am completely new to the bonsai world, and DESPERATELY need immediate help. I was recently gifted an "8 year old satsuki azalea bonsai" that shipped from Connecticut.

I live in Seattle where the weather is currently in the 60's, cool with some sunlight. I have my bonsai outside on a covered balcony where it gets some sunlight during the day, but not too much direct sunlight. It came with some nice pink flowers in late August, but ever since I've had it the flowers have all slowly withered away. I am spraying the leaves and giving the soil plenty of filtered tap water, making sure not to let the soil dry out. The hairy leaves started to turn brown and grew spotty (signs of an unhealthy plant I read). On some branches there seem to be growth of new buds but the surrounding leaves are all starting to turn brown and crisp as well, and I'm unsure the buds will sprout. I have pruned it once, cut off the dead leaves and flowers but the good leaves are still turning brown and spotty. I'm not sure what is happening, but it looks to me like my bonsai is dying. Are the leaves supposed to come off with the change in season? Would fertilizers help? Should I be cutting the withering leaves/flowers or just let it fall off naturally?

I attached some photos, and I am really hoping fellow bonsai lovers and experts can help me save my bonsai. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and thanks much in advance!!!

Cheers,
Nini
 

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63pmp

Shohin
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Dont spray the leaves. Hold back on watering the roots. Satsuki flower only once a year. Old leaves die off after a couple of years as stems grow. I think you are just watering too often. Leaves dont need spraying with water it just leads to fungi diseases.
 

MrBeto

Mame
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I hate to say this, but it looks it's gone. The same thing happened to mine.
 

Stan Kengai

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It looks like you have a couple of issues. In you third picture, there are leaves near the end of a branch just left of center with dark brown tips. This indicates over watering in my experience. The rust colored leaves are a different problem, likely fungal. There are plenty of resources here on battling fungus.

Pay closer attention to the plant's watering needs. Don't water on a schedule. Dig you finger into the soil to see if it is damp before watering, or use the chopstick method. Search here for fungal advice. This plant can recover with proper care.
 

MichaelS

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My first thought was that this plant dried out at some stage. You need to lift it out of it's pot and look at the roots. If there are no white root tips, your problem is there. I don't see a fungal issue with this tree. Brown and dead roots can be caused by too much or not enough water. Usually not enough. Too much water is usually indicated by yellowing followed by brown leaves. Not enough water is usually indicated by browning tips without yellowing. When the roots dry out, applying water makes them rot leading you to think you have over-watered. It only takes one day of too much dryness to kill the roots. The best thing to do at the moment I think is to submerge the pot in water for 10 minutes. After that, no more water until the top 10mm is dry. Then repeat until you can repot. Repot in spring making sure you remove as much of the old soil and dead roots as possible with a sharpened chop stick. Remove any flower buds. Just scratching the outer surface of the root ball and repotting will lead to trouble down the road. The inner soil either becomes water repellent or saturated, both of which kills roots. Whatever you do don't apply any fertilizer now.
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
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Welcome to Crazy!

If anyone knows the seller, which is likely, they may be able to help you knowing what soil they use etc....

Sorce
 

KiwiPlantGuy

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Hi there! I am completely new to the bonsai world, and DESPERATELY need immediate help. I was recently gifted an "8 year old satsuki azalea bonsai" that shipped from Connecticut.

I live in Seattle where the weather is currently in the 60's, cool with some sunlight. I have my bonsai outside on a covered balcony where it gets some sunlight during the day, but not too much direct sunlight. It came with some nice pink flowers in late August, but ever since I've had it the flowers have all slowly withered away. I am spraying the leaves and giving the soil plenty of filtered tap water, making sure not to let the soil dry out. The hairy leaves started to turn brown and grew spotty (signs of an unhealthy plant I read). On some branches there seem to be growth of new buds but the surrounding leaves are all starting to turn brown and crisp as well, and I'm unsure the buds will sprout. I have pruned it once, cut off the dead leaves and flowers but the good leaves are still turning brown and spotty. I'm not sure what is happening, but it looks to me like my bonsai is dying. Are the leaves supposed to come off with the change in season? Would fertilizers help? Should I be cutting the withering leaves/flowers or just let it fall off naturally?

I attached some photos, and I am really hoping fellow bonsai lovers and experts can help me save my bonsai. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and thanks much in advance!!!

Cheers,
Nini

Hi Nini,
I tend to agree with Michael S and his assessment but I would like to add my opinion.
My gut feeling is that this shows a lovely broom style but is far too thick ( number of branches. In Spring, I would be tempted to cut the tree in half, thin out the remaining branches so maybe you end up with 10 not 20, and repot etc. They can handle being root pruned by up to half their root ball chopped and the new bonsai soil plus being hard-chopped would reinvigorate the tree.
Lots of videos on azaleas on You-Tube as they can take being hammered.
My 2 cents worth to start afresh and enjoy watching the new growth. Also do nothing apart from a little watering until spring.
Charles
 

ninibonsai

Seedling
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Things are looking up! Couldn't have done it without you all - Bonsai is lookin a lot more barren but also a lot healthier and the buds are even starting to bloom. Thank you all so much, bonsai saviors!!!!!! Photo updates attached!
 

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