Overfertilization Of Olive Tree Bonsai

[richardandrewparedes]

Hi everyone! I just wrote to ask about overfertilization. 2 weeks ago, i watered my Olive tree Bonsai with a homemade liquid fertilizer i have made with molasses and seaweed (sargassum). It started to push out growth profusely. Then, this morning, I found these leaves. Could this be a result of spraying the homemade fertilizer i have made? I dont want my Olive tree to die. is there anything i could do to save it? I am using akadama and pumice as my growing media so i think it could easily be washed off the soil. Hope you could help me. Your kind feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Firstflush]

Hopefully it is outdoor in full sun.
How much are you watering? Olives like it in the dry side.

 

[Fidur]

It seems whatever it is, affects mostly new growth. I bet a fungic desease or maybe you sprayed that mix in full sun, but I have never had a problem with my olive so let's wait for someone with experience.

 

[richardandrewparedes]

Hopefully it is outdoor in full sun.
How much are you watering? Olives like it in the dry side.

Hi, I only water once every 7 to 8 days when the weather is very hot.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Hmm…Watering timing depends on the moisture level of the media.

My first impression is underwatering. But don’t know how much rain you are getting in between watering, especially during summertime in the Phillipines

The fertilizer is unconventional, and I don’t know its NPK composition. So I can’t see this mix would provide much nitrogen though, so you could actually be an added case of under fertilizing.

Cheers
DSD sends


As a precaution you could flush the soil.

 

[leatherback]

My olives get watered daily. I doubt it is too wet. If anything, I would water more if it is in full sun.

THe fertilizer can do this, if you accidentally fertilized the foliage instead of the soil. Young leaves are very easily damaged by salt buildup. Be carefull that you fertilizer the roots/soil and not the leaves and it probably is OK. If the next set of leaves also shows this patterns, you probably have a fungal infection.

 

[Shibui]

Molasses is high sugar. Sugar ties up Nitrogen temporarily while the soil life uses the sugars. I was involved in trials using sugar to control annual weeds as part of native grassland recovery. Higher levels of sugar severely stunted all plant life in the test plots. It is possible you have unknowingly cased a nitrogen deficiency for the tree. In any case this home made fertilizer will not be 'balanced' (not the correct ratios of all plant nutrients)
I would water well to reduce the residual molasses and then fertilize with something that is actually a balanced fertilizer.