prunus spinosa: dead or alive

[Berra]

Did you ever see a tree come back alive from the state of picture 1?

Picture 2 is from July 20, maybe a week after I noticed something was wrong.

Picture 3 (June) shows the tree overpotted, which is why it is probably dead now.

In April, I overpotted to get it into a new angle the previous owner recommended. It was tricky to cover the roots and make it stable in the pot in this angle. The roots were far away from the base of the tree, one thick old root leading to feeder roots 20cm away.

Didn't have a good pot. Built the training pot and I thought I would keep it fairly dry this year, but then life and work got in the way and it was standing unprotected from massive rainfall during a couple of weeks.

After I noticed the issue, I was recommended to put in a clear plastic bag in the shade, that's when it went from picture 2 to picture 1 in a couple of days.

 

[Shogun610]

Did you ever see a tree come back alive from the state of picture 1?

Picture 2 is from July 20, maybe a week after I noticed something was wrong.

Picture 3 (June) shows the tree overpotted, which is why it is probably dead now.

In April, I overpotted to get it into a new angle the previous owner recommended. It was tricky to cover the roots and make it stable in the pot in this angle. The roots were far away from the base of the tree, one thick old root leading to feeder roots 20cm away.

Didn't have a good pot. Built the training pot and I thought I would keep it fairly dry this year, but then life and work got in the way and it was standing unprotected from massive rainfall during a couple of weeks.

After I noticed the issue, I was recommended to put in a clear plastic bag in the shade, that's when it went from picture 2 to picture 1 in a couple of days.

So you removed from the grow box when it was leafed out to put into a smaller container.. that’s the main issue and then Who recommended that you put tree in plastic bag? You created an environmental where no roots can drain water and you prevent oxygen from getting into roots , creating a anaerobic environment, your tree is dead from the bag. Should have left the tree in its grow box

 

[Berra]

Yes, I did. The tree was in bad shape in the growing pot.

I was given this advice by the previous owner, a well known collector of these type of trees.

Not sure this is a reputable source, but regarding the bag:

Bagging and dry blow - SOS Bonsai

The bagging technique is applied to plants that have suffered severe stress, such as a harvest (transplant) or a drastic pruning of the roots. It can also be useful after a “dry blow”, a situation that occurs, for example, when you have forgotten to water a bonsai for a while or, in the presence...

www.sosbonsai.com

I am not saying you are wrong though, it appears I killed the tree. If it was months of overwatering due to too large pot and rain, or the bag, I don't know.