What is wrong with this fukien tea bonsai?

[GailC]

Having treated the bonsai with sevin, should I now spray it with water to get the white splotchy marks off of the leaves?

Nah, leave it on for now. The white splotches are residue, doesn't look great but adds some protection.
If they really bother you, you can rinse it off.

I've never grown fukien but there is a good chance some of the leaves could drop.
That generally isn't anything to worry about, they'll grown back. Just don't cook your tree in the hot summer sun.

 

[three4rd]

And yet...as you can see from previous posts, it was suggested to me to keep it out in the sun all the time. I tried that and it did look like it was starting to 'cook' as you say. Brought it back in...for better or worse.

 

[markyscott]

it did look like it was starting to 'cook'

If you keep your tree inside, it’s growing in the dark. Even if you put it in front of a sunny window, the light levels indoors are a fraction of what the tree will experience out of doors. A bright sunny day in the Pacific Northwest, for instance, have approximately 12,000 foot candles. Here in Houston, it’s much higher. If you can imagine a very bright room indoors with many windows and lots of sunlight - that’s about 2,000 foot candles. In front of one window with south facing light, it might be 1/2 that. If you move a foot or two away from the window, it probably drops in 1/2 again - you’re talking about 400-500 foot candles of light vs 12,000-18,000 out of doors.

Can fukien tea handle full sun? Absolutely. I used to grow mine in completely full sun, right next to my pine trees. In southern China where they’re from, they’re grown as hedge rows and can handle absolutely full sun.

Are you getting leaf burn on yours? Without a doubt that’s the case. If you’ve been growing yours indoors under 400-500 foot candles and suddenly move it into the full sun, the leaves will absolutely burn and get scorched. The leaves have all grown under extremely low light levels and are intolerant of full sun. You have to slowly acclimatize your tree. Give it a bit more light every day for a couple of weeks to give it time to adjust, otherwise, you’ll get leaf burn.. The set of leaves that grow in the sun will be adapted for higher light and won’t give you any trouble.

Should you put your tree outside? Absolutely. It is highly likely to die indoors. Your main problem will be getting it to survive the winter indoors. You should consider supplementing the light your tree gets indoors.

Scott

 

[Silentrunning]

Mine get full sun until about 10 am and then get shaded by Oak trees. I don’t want to get them used to full sun for the very reason Scott said. When it starts to freeze and they have to come in it would result in sickness if not death.

 

[Anthony]

@Silentrunning ,

just remember on my side - Tropics - they sleep from
Christmas to Mid or End of February.

Also I add on, some don't like pot life.
So matter what you do, they die.

Only taking cuttings from those that like pots down
here.
All like being hedges.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Silentrunning]

@Silentrunning ,

just remember on my side - Tropics - they sleep from
Christmas to Mid or End of February.

Also I add on, some don't like pot life.
So matter what you do, they die.

Only taking cuttings from those that like pots down
here.
All like being hedges.
Good Day
Anthony

Anthony, by sleep do you mean you put them in a dark and cool spot so they go completely dormant or are you just saying that they have zero growth?

 

[Anthony]

@Silentrunning ,

Doug, where they are, goes into the house's shadow,
and is very bright [ remember our sunlight is more potent
than Florida or Arizona ],
Temperatures will be at a low of max 64 and as high as 70 deg.F
10 p,m or earlier until 8 a.m.,with daytime staying around 86 to 88t
for 30 to 10 minutes.

Trinidad is a cloudy island, and at that time of the year breezy.

Please note the under 70 is like every 3 to 5 days.
70 is closer to normal.

This year, the latter half of January to February's end and a few
days of early March [ Sun returns to the shadow side by 23rd or
so February ] was 65 to 69.

Those sub-tropicals in sunlight, Serissa s. Fukien tea [ little pots ]
seemed to have been roasted by day and chilled by night.
All died a month or two later.
Good Day
Anthony

* Yes, no new shoots or leaves.