Reviving a gifted serissa

[TPM]

In November last year I was gifted a Serissa - while the tree is beautiful and I have been casually interested in bonsai as an art form, it is my first ever tree (and one I never would have gotten myself). It is extremely temperamental, the first month or so in my care it acclimatised well and took off growing and flowering out of control, I even had to prune back some shoots and suckers that were taking off too fast. I keep it out doors where it gets filtered sun during the day, only water so the soil is damp - very bad of me but I haven't been fertilising as I couldn't find one that suited what was recommended online.

However, my country has been hit hard by La Niña this past year, and as late November and December hit, the weather turned horrible. It went down hill after one particularly windy and rainy day where I was at work, by the time I got home it was well into the evening and the tree looked completely windburnt and had gotten more rain than it ever should where it is situated. The weather would do this for a week at a time which meant I was moving the tree around to keep it out of the wind and stormy weather, there was very little natural sunlight. Indoors isn't really an option, my home is very cold and dark, even though it is currently summer. It never really recovered from this and stopped flowering, then the leaves all yellowed, then dried up brown and finally dropped about 1-2 weeks ago. The soil was moist this whole time but I reduced watering (partially because I fear it died, also because I didn't want rot on the off chance it would live, honestly I barely watered for a fortnight and let some humid afternoon showers do the heavy lifting), but the weather improved remarkably this February and I returned it to its original spot. I must emphasise - there was not one single leaf on this tree, I even noticed a few ants near/on the tree and began preparing for war (no nest in the soil, though there is one nearby in the garden. I keep the tree on a table, and I have a few super tiny garden spiders recruited for aphid control - they get on well with the potted plants in the yard, though I generally remove their webs when they get too confident).

In the last week I noticed new leaves growing on the inner most branches, and even on the trunk, plus two new suckers. In a matter of days I'm really thinking it will come back to life now that it has light and humid warmth again. I need to know where to go from here - watering, feeding, pruning. It has a lot of really dead looking outer branches, should I prune them all back? They have no green whatsoever and are very dry/brittle looking. On feeding - the internet has recommended a balanced NPK, but every supply shop I have visited has never heard of such a product, and I can't find a reasonably located bonsai store. The closest I can find to 'balanced' is Seasol, has anyone used this before? How long should I wait before fertilising, particularly given I'm going into autumn down here? Also, the fullest and greenest of the new growth doesn't appear to be variegated as the leaves originally were before they dropped, is this a concern? Perhaps they're just new and will develop the pattern. Sorry for the length of the post!

 

[eugenev2]

In November last year I was gifted a Serissa - while the tree is beautiful and I have been casually interested in bonsai as an art form, it is my first ever tree (and one I never would have gotten myself). It is extremely temperamental, the first month or so in my care it acclimatised well and took off growing and flowering out of control, I even had to prune back some shoots and suckers that were taking off too fast. I keep it out doors where it gets filtered sun during the day, only water so the soil is damp - very bad of me but I haven't been fertilising as I couldn't find one that suited what was recommended online.

However, my country has been hit hard by La Niña this past year, and as late November and December hit, the weather turned horrible. It went down hill after one particularly windy and rainy day where I was at work, by the time I got home it was well into the evening and the tree looked completely windburnt and had gotten more rain than it ever should where it is situated. The weather would do this for a week at a time which meant I was moving the tree around to keep it out of the wind and stormy weather, there was very little natural sunlight. Indoors isn't really an option, my home is very cold and dark, even though it is currently summer. It never really recovered from this and stopped flowering, then the leaves all yellowed, then dried up brown and finally dropped about 1-2 weeks ago. The soil was moist this whole time but I reduced watering (partially because I fear it died, also because I didn't want rot on the off chance it would live, honestly I barely watered for a fortnight and let some humid afternoon showers do the heavy lifting), but the weather improved remarkably this February and I returned it to its original spot. I must emphasise - there was not one single leaf on this tree, I even noticed a few ants near/on the tree and began preparing for war (no nest in the soil, though there is one nearby in the garden. I keep the tree on a table, and I have a few super tiny garden spiders recruited for aphid control - they get on well with the potted plants in the yard, though I generally remove their webs when they get too confident).

In the last week I noticed new leaves growing on the inner most branches, and even on the trunk, plus two new suckers. In a matter of days I'm really thinking it will come back to life now that it has light and humid warmth again. I need to know where to go from here - watering, feeding, pruning. It has a lot of really dead looking outer branches, should I prune them all back? They have no green whatsoever and are very dry/brittle looking. On feeding - the internet has recommended a balanced NPK, but every supply shop I have visited has never heard of such a product, and I can't find a reasonably located bonsai store. The closest I can find to 'balanced' is Seasol, has anyone used this before? How long should I wait before fertilising, particularly given I'm going into autumn down here? Also, the fullest and greenest of the new growth doesn't appear to be variegated as the leaves originally were before they dropped, is this a concern? Perhaps they're just new and will develop the pattern. Sorry for the length of the post!

I think @Shibui might be able to help with more specific advice for fertilizer and just generally a wealth of information.

I would suggest posting some pics of current condition.
Generally speaking autumn is a great time to fertilize plants as they generally store this for spring growth, but it's also generally not recommended to fertilize a sick plant.
But i think we need to get an idea of what the soil looks like and the general plant condition.

 

[TPM]

I think @Shibui might be able to help with more specific advice for fertilizer and just generally a wealth of information.

I would suggest posting some pics of current condition.
Generally speaking autumn is a great time to fertilize plants as they generally store this for spring growth, but it's also generally not recommended to fertilize a sick plant.
But i think we need to get an idea of what the soil looks like and the general plant condition.

I know this isn’t a great photo, but you can see some leaves on the inner branches (there were zero about five days ago). I’ve lifted the stone a couple times to check the soil so hopefully you can see a bit there - it’s pretty moist, don’t think I’ve ever seen it really dry up before. The moss has been a bit poorly since I was given it, but it sort of greens and looks fuller when wet. The outer branches are very dry and woody.

 

[Shibui]

'Balanced' in relation to fertiliser does not mean equal. Balanced fertiliser means it has all the nutrients that plants use - higher N with lower P and K.
Powerfeed is a good 'balanced' fertiliser at 12: 1.4: 7
I use a lot of Thrive as a liquid feed - 25: 5: 8.8
Dynamic lifter (and other brands of chook poo pellets) are useful, though a bit lower in N - 3.6: 1.1: 1.7
Charlie carp is another liquid fert made from natural (mostly) components - 9.6: 0.99: 5.6 is higher in K but still has all major elements so still 'balanced' as a fertiliser.
Urea is not balanced (only N). Blood and bone is not balanced (lots of N and P but little or no K)

Almost all fertiliser you can buy in a packet is likely to be 'balanced' and as none of my plants can read the labels they are happy with whatever fertiliser I give them.

Despite being prone to leaf drop serissa are very resilient. Mine often drop leaves but soon grow again as yours has. Turns out is is actually quite hard to kill them. Biggest problem is controlling the abundant suckers.
Pruning is good for bonsai. It makes them bushier. Leaving all the branches won't hurt. Only the live bits will grow new leaves and you can cut after you see what's really dead but I would probably cut back the long, thin branches to concentrate new growth before the tree gets too long and lanky. Serissa can be pruned any time, including when recovering from leaf drop. In other words cut whatever you want whenever you want.

 

[coachspinks]

To add to what Shibui said, Serissa often sulk but I have never had one die. Here in Georgia, US zone 8b, I treat them as "hardy" tropicals. I know of Serissa that are planted in the landscape here and have lived through temps below 10 degrees F. We had a cold snap of 7 F a couple of nights. I brought mine into an unheated garage until temps normalized. Mine like full sun. In terms of potting, I like to repot in warmer weather when they are actively growing. I avoid keeping them too wet but if your mix is free draining, over watering should not be a problem. I took 6 cuttings a few weeks ago and dropped them in a glass of water. They all have roots now.

 

[Zac]

Yes serissa will let you know when they're not happy. Mine loose their leaves every year in the winter because in my zone it gets too cold outside for them and I can't yet supply the right environment for them inside they have always came back except 1 year I lost 3 of them but that's because I went away for a week and person taking care of them for me drowned them and they had a major mealybug infestation they never recovered but replaced them and the new ones are doing good. The originals weren't in the best soil so make sure you have them in a well draining soil. That's the hardest part of doing bonsai is if you have to go away unexpectedly is finding someone to care for your trees properly. I use dynagro pro for all my trees and slow release pellets from bonsai supply they have some specifically for flowering bonsai. Best of luck

 

[TPM]

w

To add to what Shibui said, Serissa often sulk but I have never had one die. Here in Georgia, US zone 8b, I treat them as "hardy" tropicals. I know of Serissa that are planted in the landscape here and have lived through temps below 10 degrees F. We had a cold snap of 7 F a couple of nights. I brought mine into an unheated garage until temps normalized. Mine like full sun. In terms of potting, I like to repot in warmer weather when they are actively growing. I avoid keeping them too wet but if your mix is free draining, over watering should not be a problem. I took 6 cuttings a few weeks ago and dropped them in a glass of water. They all have roots now.

Wow! That gives me a little confidence. The weather this summer where I live has been oscillating in a range of 8-36 degrees celcius, sometimes in a matter of hours. Just yesterday it was a good humid 30 (85*F?) degree day and then a storm rolled in at night and today it hasn’t even hit 20 (less than 68*F). My biggest worry has been these huge weather changes - warm humid days with no wind that the tree seems to like, and then a few gusty days of cold rainy weather. Australia’s actually having issues with diseases (funguses and the like) and pests that have bloomed with all the water and not gotten a chance to burn off in the normal summer weather. I believe the soil drains well - it’s never looked “wet” or muddy, though with the bits of rain that frequently manage to get under the patio I barely water it - and through the drainage holes the moisture seems uniform.

 

[TPM]

'Balanced' in relation to fertiliser does not mean equal. Balanced fertiliser means it has all the nutrients that plants use - higher N with lower P and K.
Powerfeed is a good 'balanced' fertiliser at 12: 1.4: 7
I use a lot of Thrive as a liquid feed - 25: 5: 8.8
Dynamic lifter (and other brands of chook poo pellets) are useful, though a bit lower in N - 3.6: 1.1: 1.7
Charlie carp is another liquid fert made from natural (mostly) components - 9.6: 0.99: 5.6 is higher in K but still has all major elements so still 'balanced' as a fertiliser.
Urea is not balanced (only N). Blood and bone is not balanced (lots of N and P but little or no K)

Almost all fertiliser you can buy in a packet is likely to be 'balanced' and as none of my plants can read the labels they are happy with whatever fertiliser I give them.

Despite being prone to leaf drop serissa are very resilient. Mine often drop leaves but soon grow again as yours has. Turns out is is actually quite hard to kill them. Biggest problem is controlling the abundant suckers.
Pruning is good for bonsai. It makes them bushier. Leaving all the branches won't hurt. Only the live bits will grow new leaves and you can cut after you see what's really dead but I would probably cut back the long, thin branches to concentrate new growth before the tree gets too long and lanky. Serissa can be pruned any time, including when recovering from leaf drop. In other words cut whatever you want whenever you want.

Ok, that’s good to know. When I read balanced and trued to google what that meant, much of the internet was telling me it literally meant equal ratio of N: P :K. Had me pretty baffled but I’ll try your suggestions when the tree is doing a bit better.

 

[eugenev2]

w

Wow! That gives me a little confidence. The weather this summer where I live has been oscillating in a range of 8-36 degrees celcius, sometimes in a matter of hours. Just yesterday it was a good humid 30 (85*F?) degree day and then a storm rolled in at night and today it hasn’t even hit 20 (less than 68*F). My biggest worry has been these huge weather changes - warm humid days with no wind that the tree seems to like, and then a few gusty days of cold rainy weather. Australia’s actually having issues with diseases (funguses and the like) and pests that have bloomed with all the water and not gotten a chance to burn off in the normal summer weather. I believe the soil drains well - it’s never looked “wet” or muddy, though with the bits of rain that frequently manage to get under the patio I barely water it - and through the drainage holes the moisture seems uniform.

Just a little fyi.
Be careful to assume your tree is getting water while it rains, i quickly learned this the hard way. Better to check the pots properly with chopsticks rather than eyeballing it...especially in light rain when the surface looks wet but the rest is not.
Had to stand in the rain a few times to water trees...because it simply wasn't enough

 

[TPM]

Just a little fyi.
Be careful to assume your tree is getting water while it rains, i quickly learned this the hard way. Better to check the pots properly with chopsticks rather than eyeballing it...especially in light rain when the surface looks wet but the rest is not.
Had to stand in the rain a few times to water trees...because it simply wasn't enough

I actually double checked the soil last night because the rains had continued all day while I was at work - it’s definitely moist all the way through. The stone you can see actually extends pretty deep into the soil, and when I lifted it I discovered a new problem - ants.

Why are there ants in the soil?! I did notice a lot of the shed leaves were decomposing under this stone so I removed what I could, would that cause it? Is it time for pesticide?

 

[eugenev2]

I actually double checked the soil last night because the rains had continued all day while I was at work - it’s definitely moist all the way through. The stone you can see actually extends pretty deep into the soil, and when I lifted it I discovered a new problem - ants.

Why are there ants in the soil?! I did notice a lot of the shed leaves were decomposing under this stone so I removed what I could, would that cause it? Is it time for pesticide?

The main reason for this could be some insect infestation, ants go where the food is.

So possibly root aphids or some other burrowing insect.
Take a close up picture of the roots, you might see tiny white "fluff" which is not mycorrhizae in this case

 

[Shibui]

Why are there ants in the soil?!

Depends what you really have:
Ants crossing the pot and climbing the tree usually means a pest infestation. It may appear there are ants 'in' the soil but they may just be passing over/through. The ants 'farm' the aphids/scale because they get sweet 'honeydew' but may not actually be living in the soil.
Ants do sometimes take up residence and make a nest in the pot. It is warm and the potting mix is easy to dig and make tunnels so a great place to live with regular source of water. In this case they can cause problems - making larger cavities in the root zone leads to soil drying out quicker. Ants seem to have ability to waterproof the tunnels so watering can become more difficult too.
Drowning them is one option but you'll need to submerge the entire pot for several days as the ants can hold air in the tunnels and survive shorter periods of wet.
Ants are tough to kill with pesticide. No good just killing the ants above ground with contact insecticide because there are lots more under the soil. You need something they will take back into the nest and feed to babies and queens to get rid of the entire nest. Try ant baits, ant/wasp dusts, etc.

My serissas survive outdoors through our much colder winter than Sydney. They do not like when it gets real cold and usually go back a bit when we have frosts but can survive slightly below freezing temps.

 

[TPM]

The main reason for this could be some insect infestation, ants go where the food is.

So possibly root aphids or some other burrowing insect.
Take a close up picture of the roots, you might see tiny white "fluff" which is not mycorrhizae in this case

Ok, very bad news. I was trying to take a more detailed photo and saw something soft bodied in the soil - I think it was a gnat larva. I don’t see any aphids or eggs, not sure I could even see any gnats, only ants and the single larva. There will be more through out the pot I imagine…

Pesticide time? Does pesticide damage the tree?

Does this mean root fungus, or could it be the decaying leaves under the stone and pebbles? Given the frequency of the rain this last year (it’s just been Sydney’s wettest year on record, definitely the wettest I’ve seen by a long shot) I wouldn’t be shocked but I need to know how to clear the water out - is it wise to repot while the tree is in recovery mode?

 

[Shibui]

Does this mean root fungus, or could it be the decaying leaves under the stone and pebbles?

It is hard to be definitive when the only thing to go on is a part description by a beginner who does not know what to look for yet. Pictures are worth the proverbial thousand words and often show something to experienced growers that you haven't even considered.
Fungus gnats are very small and the maggots are quite small too. There are a great many other white soft bodies that could be in your soil. Not everything in the soil is bad. Insecticide will not usually harm the tree. They would be virtually useless if they killed both plants and pests. You will need to find the correct pesticide for each different problem though. Not all pesticides work the same way or work on all pests.

Root fungus is not as common as some internet posts would have you believe. There are many thousands of different fungi that grow in the soil. Most are not harmful, some are actually very helpful and a few others cause problems.

 

[Zac]

To get the soil to dry out after placing tree where it will not get rained on remove the pebble top dressing and aerate the soil gently so don't rip the roots up this will allow soil to dry out and is good for the tree. I had to do this with trees I revived from online suppliers because the shipping process compacted the soil. As stated by Shibui pictures would be extremely helpful. Before using chemical pesticides can try neem oil it is natural and can be used on the tree and soil and is a pesticide and fungicide some even recommend spaying it on trees and soil on a maintenance routine. Best of luck

 

[TPM]

It is hard to be definitive when the only thing to go on is a part description by a beginner who does not know what to look for yet. Pictures are worth the proverbial thousand words and often show something to experienced growers that you haven't even considered.
Fungus gnats are very small and the maggots are quite small too. There are a great many other white soft bodies that could be in your soil. Not everything in the soil is bad. Insecticide will not usually harm the tree. They would be virtually useless if they killed both plants and pests. You will need to find the correct pesticide for each different problem though. Not all pesticides work the same way or work on all pests.

Root fungus is not as common as some internet posts would have you believe. There are many thousands of different fungi that grow in the soil. Most are not harmful, some are actually very helpful and a few others cause problems.

The little soft body I removed was about 1cm long, and I found another one maybe half that size, I haven't seen the same type of bug since. This one was a darker colour, but definitely the same body structure, I attached a photo of it.

I removed the pebbles (noticed the bugs - some very very tiny maggots and small flies that I think were the gnats, added a photo of a fly) and had a few lucky days of clear skies and it looks to be doing well. When I removed the pebbles there were a lot of wet decomposing leaves underneath, a few looked a bit mouldy but they’re all gone too and I haven’t see many bugs since - maggots or ants.

I noticed how the old material and the pebbles were really holding in the water, I saw some odd little bugs that I fear are aphids near the base of the tree, and some sort of algae around the trunk which I think is drying out now.

HEAPS of suckers and shoots out the trunk, these photos are about a week old and there are even more, there’s also more foliage. I trimmed out a few of the ones in the soil. I’ve noticed some of the leaves are growing through really big! The newest foliage is more normal sized and variegated, but there’s still some big ones - I had originally thought bigger leaves meant a tree needed more light, but that doesn’t seem right here?

 

[Shibui]

The soft body is the larva of some insect but can't ID what sort. No need to worry unless there are more than a few.
The tiny fly is a fungus gnat and almost certain the smaller white maggots are the larvae. They like organic material and wet conditions so probably attracted to the rotting leaves and/o organics in the potting mix. Easy to treat with hydrogen peroxide but letting the mix dry a bit often reduces numbers.
Serissa are naturally a suckering species so you will be constantly removing new shoots from the base of trunk and coming from the roots.
Great to see it starting to come back strong after the initial setback.

 

[TPM]

The soft body is the larva of some insect but can't ID what sort. No need to worry unless there are more than a few.
The tiny fly is a fungus gnat and almost certain the smaller white maggots are the larvae. They like organic material and wet conditions so probably attracted to the rotting leaves and/o organics in the potting mix. Easy to treat with hydrogen peroxide but letting the mix dry a bit often reduces numbers.
Serissa are naturally a suckering species so you will be constantly removing new shoots from the base of trunk and coming from the roots.
Great to see it starting to come back strong after the initial setback.

Those photos were actually a few days old, it looks even better now! I haven’t seen any ants or maggots for a few days though maybe I’ll have to dig deeper.

 

[Carol 83]

I haven’t seen any ants or maggots for a few days though maybe I’ll have to dig deepe

I wouldn't dig around and disturb the roots, it looks to be bouncing back. Good for you!