Serissa help 🙏

RaginCajun

Yamadori
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West Monroe, Louisiana
USDA Zone
8b
I bought this serissa earlier this spring from a lady in Miami. Had it shipped to me in zone 8b When I got it the soil was terrible! And the pot also was quite ugly and completely glazed on the interior. I repotted it into my own fast draining bonsai mix I use for all of my trees. Soil mix is 25gals of akadama, pumice, lava rock, haydite, Elvan stone and I mix 1 big bag of fox farms ocean forest into the 25 gals. Mixed up well. Ive read serissa likes a slightly acidic soil so I mixed a little kanuma in with it but not much.
The serissa gets about 4hrs of direct sun from sun up until the Sun rises above my display bench which is covered by a 30% shade cloth then it gets filtered sun the rest of the day until the sun sets west of my house around 5:30pm. I have been watching the soil closely and watering only when the top dries. Usually every other day. It never dries out and the soil drains so well I'd say it stays evenly moist, not saturated at all. I use Japanese tamahi cakes for fertilizer. And once a month I'll give all my trees a shot of bonsai pro 7-9-5 and ProTekt 0-0-3 . I have junipers, myrtles, lantana, Holly's, oaks, azaleas, gardenia, redwoods, BC, rosemary, bougie's, maples, lorapetalum, plums, wisteria, Sweetbay magnolia,Texas sage, JBP and more I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention... All my trees are doing great. I pretty much dwell at my bonsai bench and work station. I cannot figure this serissa out! Since I brought it to Louisiana it has been in the same spot on my bench, same care and lighting for months. It has grown and flowered the whole time but dropped more leaves than it has grown in. Some of the new growth has even yellowed slowly and fallen. It's not a rapid leaf drop but has consistently dropped 2-3 leaves a day for a while. Takes the leaves a couple days to slowly turn yellow and drop. We have had brutal 100° actual ambient temperature here for about 2months now everyday. Heat index up to 120°. The only thing I can think of is maybe it's too hot for it. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Any help is greatly appreciated. Hope I included enough pictures and information.
 

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RaginCajun

Yamadori
Messages
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Location
West Monroe, Louisiana
USDA Zone
8b
PS... The white Fringe flower underneath with chlorosis was actually almsot dead from iron toxicity when I got it a few months ago but it is actually throwing off new growth and the older leaves are turning dark green as they should be. Just figured I'd throw that out there before someone asked.
 

RaginCajun

Yamadori
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West Monroe, Louisiana
USDA Zone
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Welcome to Crazy!

@Mellow Mullet

Sorce
Thank you! I have been lurking the site for a few yrs now. Have always been able to find the information I wanted here just by Google searching particular questions I have had. But I can't find anything that's helping me with this serissa. I did read somewhere they can drop leaves if too wet, too dry, "TOO HOT" or too cold.. my guess is too hot for my tree particular serissa. 🤷🏻‍♂️ But I wasn't able to find any evidence of this being a possibility so I figured I'd better join the group and see if I could get some answers
 

Katie0317

Chumono
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I have quite a few serissas and they're all well and it's as hot here as it is there. I moved mine completely under a shade sail for the summer but water daily.

It does take a while to figure out the watering on serissas, and I'm guessing yours is a watering issue. I noticed they're starting to turn yellow at the tips. If you were overwatering I'd expect to see them turning brown but since you're not seeing brown it may be a matter of not quite enough water and too much sun.

You could try moving them to your shade bench full time and don't fertilize until they're back on track. They're not bad, so try not to worry. When they do go down they go very fast. There's an issue but it looks like something you can correct.

Good luck and I'd also suggest to continue taking pictures once a week or so. It will help you compare in a months time. Stay on the board and let people know when you figure it out so you can help the next person.

Good luck.
 

RaginCajun

Yamadori
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50
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Location
West Monroe, Louisiana
USDA Zone
8b
I have quite a few serissas and they're all well and it's as hot here as it is there. I moved mine completely under a shade sail for the summer but water daily.

It does take a while to figure out the watering on serissas, and I'm guessing yours is a watering issue. I noticed they're starting to turn yellow at the tips. If you were overwatering I'd expect to see them turning brown but since you're not seeing brown it may be a matter of not quite enough water and too much sun.

You could try moving them to your shade bench full time and don't fertilize until they're back on track. They're not bad, so try not to worry. When they do go down they go very fast. There's an issue but it looks like something you can correct.

Good luck and I'd also suggest to continue taking pictures once a week or so. It will help you compare in a months time. Stay on the board and let people know when you figure it out so you can help the next person.

Good luck.
I have read so many of your previous comments on the topic of sick serissa and always took your advice as sound. So, that's cool to be speaking with you.
It's definitely just being fussy but otherwise healthy. Are they so finicky that they would shed leaves by moving them into more shade? Like a few ft over and down a row on my bench? I'll put more emphasis on my watering with the serissa. Thank you for the help.
Just curious, how many varieties of serissa do you have? I was told mine is a Chinese serissa by a fellow in the hobby. The flowers on this one are trumpet shaped and very small. I'd love to figure them out so I can get the variety with larger more rose like flowers.
 

Katie0317

Chumono
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Location
Central Florida
USDA Zone
9B
I have read so many of your previous comments on the topic of sick serissa and always took your advice as sound. So, that's cool to be speaking with you.
It's definitely just being fussy but otherwise healthy. Are they so finicky that they would shed leaves by moving them into more shade? Like a few ft over and down a row on my bench? I'll put more emphasis on my watering with the serissa. Thank you for the help.
Just curious, how many varieties of serissa do you have? I was told mine is a Chinese serissa by a fellow in the hobby. The flowers on this one are trumpet shaped and very small. I'd love to figure them out so I can get the variety with larger more rose like flowers.
I have three different varieties. I don't know anything about Chinese serissa, at least not by that name. I do have the same one that you have and it's the steadiest easiest one I have. It's quite large and I'm keeping it in a pre-bonsai pot and dirt for now to let the trunk keep growing. I posted pics of all three at some point because someone asked for them. It was a few months ago.

I think moving it to a shadier spot and giving it a bit more water on a daily basis would help. Be careful with the water and go slow. I think you may have had everything going smoothly and then it got really hot. Repotting may have been a bump in the road too.

You said you water every other day? That's not enough. They need water every day. I wouldn't give it as much as you're giving now but watering daily is the right course for these plants.

Don't fertilize again until it stops turning yellow.

They are very! finicky but once you get them on a good path I find them easy. But they don't like being moved but it's so hot out I don't think you have a choice. I'd move it under the shade sail for the rest of the summer and water less but water daily. It may pout for a bit from being moved but it should perk up by getting more water and shade. Be careful not to overdo it with watering daily, They don't like wet feet. So you can't water like you've been watering. That's a hard thing to change on your part but you'll get the hang of your own tree. Good luck.
 

RaginCajun

Yamadori
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Location
West Monroe, Louisiana
USDA Zone
8b
I have three different varieties. I don't know anything about Chinese serissa, at least not by that name. I do have the same one that you have and it's the steadiest easiest one I have. It's quite large and I'm keeping it in a pre-bonsai pot and dirt for now to let the trunk keep growing. I posted pics of all three at some point because someone asked for them. It was a few months ago.

I think moving it to a shadier spot and giving it a bit more water on a daily basis would help. Be careful with the water and go slow. I think you may have had everything going smoothly and then it got really hot. Repotting may have been a bump in the road too.

You said you water every other day? That's not enough. They need water every day. I wouldn't give it as much as you're giving now but watering daily is the right course for these plants.

Don't fertilize again until it stops turning yellow.

They are very! finicky but once you get them on a good path I find them easy. But they don't like being moved but it's so hot out I don't think you have a choice. I'd move it under the shade sail for the rest of the summer and water less but water daily. It may pout for a bit from being moved but it should perk up by getting more water and shade. Be careful not to overdo it with watering daily, They don't like wet feet. So you can't water like you've been watering. That's a hard thing to change on your part but you'll get the hang of your own tree. Good luck.
Ok thank you so much. I have and will follow your advice. I slid the tree over into a shadier spot on my bench. It's getting shaded by my dwarf crape myrtle bonsai as well. This particular tree has definitely been growing since I got it, and actually this evening while watering I noticed really for the first time how much it has indeed grown since I got it from a couple low branches that have grown in since I've had it and have shit straight up through the canopy and look very healthy. But it has dropped leaves the entire time I've had it slowly. Some days it'll drop a dozen leaves. Then nothing for a week then all of a sudden it's back to dropping 2-3 leaves. Then it'll stop. So you are probably spot on with the advice of giving more shade and water. We shall see, I'll keep everyone updated. Do you have any winter advice? I used to live in Pinellas county Florida and our winters here are definitely worse than there for sure. I'm preparing for it if I need to buy a grow light and a tent. I have access to a spectrometer as well so I could measure the spectrum throughout the day and mimick it with a nice light. Thanks for your time and all of your help. God Bless, Trent.
 

Katie0317

Chumono
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As for winter advice I'd suggest getting through the summer with less sun and a little more water and see if it doesn't respond. If it responds positively it will be a good indicator for how to proceed in winter. It's pretty warm there in winter so it shouldn't be a difficult transition.

Continue to take photos once a week on a solid colored (white) background and it will give you a good view of what's happening. Our memories are not as accurate as a photo. Try and let the tree be your guide. You can use this same thread if you continue to have problems. Good luck.
 

RaginCajun

Yamadori
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Location
West Monroe, Louisiana
USDA Zone
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As for winter advice I'd suggest getting through the summer with less sun and a little more water and see if it doesn't respond. If it responds positively it will be a good indicator for how to proceed in winter. It's pretty warm there in winter so it shouldn't be a difficult transition.

Continue to take photos once a week on a solid colored (white) background and it will give you a good view of what's happening. Our memories are not as accurate as a photo. Try and let the tree be your guide. You can use this same thread if you continue to have problems. Good luck.
Thank you ma'am.
 

p_anova

Mame
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Washington DC. DC ARBORETUM IS BEHIND MY HOUSE!
They are super fussy as everyone stated. I chose a sacrifice branch and wired it away from the canopy to let grow freely. It did wonders for my tree, healthy and predictable, even in winter! Downside, it looks very odd 🤔. Give it a try and see if that helps.20220720_185430.jpg
 
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