Wrightia Religiosa question

Tiffinit

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Question for my Wrightia religiosa people..
Is it normal for my water jasmine to drop pretty much all of its green healthy looking leaves and grow new ones? Because it had a full canopy of dark green and bright green leaves and now all the leaves are dropping and new leaves are growing, it also stopped producing flowers. I can see some bulbs appearing then right before blossoming they turn brown and die.
 

Forsoothe!

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It has suffered drought. Tells us what you did to cause this?
 

Carol 83

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Mine got sad for a bit inside this winter, but is full and lush outside now. I agree with @Forsoothe! that it may have dried out. They seem to be thirsty plants.
 

Tiffinit

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Hmm I watered it very thoroughly in the morning and at dawn because here in Fort Worth tx it’s been about 96 degrees for a week now but this has been going on for about 2/3 weeks now. I have akadama on the top layer of soil and it hasn’t dried out except a couple of pebbles here and there.
 

Tiffinit

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I feel like if I water it more I’m going to drown it!! Lol it is growing a whole lot of new leaves so that’s good right?
 

Tiffinit

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I also read that if I had healthy green leaves that are just falling off from barely touching them it was a sign of over watering..is this in-correct information?
 

Forsoothe!

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You can't over-water anything in 96° heat. Period. Water two times a day with a hose when it is not muggy. Once in morning is OK, but then again at 3 to 4 PM, especially on a sunny day that has not rained (by then). If that doesn't work for you then you need to modify the exposure to direct sun to bring down water use (by the plant). These come from equatorial southeast Asia, so it is acclimated to high humidity in the growing season, and the typical reaction to drought for plants of that zone is to drop leaves in the dry season which is not any cooler than the wet season.
 

Tiffinit

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Thank you @Forsoothe! ive made other posts asking these questions and more about a week or so ago and no one has broke it down or told me what you just did. Thank you so much!
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Wrightia are popular as bonsai in Malaysia. When I visited Malaysia, it rained twice a day, every day, heavy rain for about an hour, sometimes more. It rained lightly off and on at night, along with heavy wet fog. The morning sun would dry things out, by 10 am things are quite dry, sunny beach weather. Then a brief storm, dry again by noon. Then around 3 in the afternoon another heavy downpour, this one lasting longer than the morning shower. Sun back out by 5 pm, by sundown clear skies, but then the heavy fog would roll in. Fog so dense that walking outside even on a sidewalk can be difficult, because you might not even be able to see your feet. The fog would get everthing dripping wet. The ground never dried out. This was in the Genting Highlands. In the cities the fog is not as bad, but the daily rains are the same. Everywhere along the streets Wightia is planted as a landscape plant. You can smell the flowers everywhere you walk in residential areas where they have landscaping. They love wrightia both as bonsai and as a landscape shrub.

There is a reason wrightia is called "Water Jasmine". I saw many a potted plant of wrightia standing in a tray of water. They never want to get dry, and tolerate standing water almost as well as bald cypress. Well, maybe not completely submerged like bald cypress, but they do well standing in a tray of water for the summer.

The other is they come from tropical areas. Standing them in water works well when temperatures are above 70 F, or 20 C. When it is cool, below 70 F, they probably should not be standing in water. They really only grow well when termperatures are warm, much like Ficus, so when temps are warm, keep them in shallow trays of water. In winter grow them more like conventional bonsai.

Standing a bonsai in shallow trays of water to keep them wet is actually a common practice in summer. It can be done for Wisteria, Wrightia, Bald Cypress, Metasequoia, Willows. These species will tolerate, even appreciate being in shallow standing water continuously for the warmest months of the summer, bald cypress can be kept constantly submerged.

If you find yourself having to water a tree two or more times a day, a good practice would be to put it in a shallow tray of water. Fill the tray in the morning when you water. Then at night, if it is not empty, empty it for the overnight. Refill the tray again when you water in the morning. This method will work for species that are not normally grown in standing water. Hornbeams and maples in shallow pots can be helped through the hottest part of the summer this way.
 

Tiffinit

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Thank you @Leo in N E Illinois! I didn’t know what they loved water that much! I am going to try this first thing in the morning! I’m wondering now if this is why my grafted Japanese maple purple ghost has all its leaves scorched while not being in the sun at all! Thank you!
 

Tiffinit

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Update on my water jasmine..
I have “up’d” my fertilizer on the tree to baskets with superfly pellets in them, and have watered morning, 3-4oclock, and right when the sun is going down and I removed all the dry leaves and bigger leaves that were dark green and left probably 15% foliage on it.. I was scared but….the tree started back budding and producing so many leaves and now has 80% more flower buds coming up on it!! Thanks everyone!!! I’ll post a picture tomorrow when the sun comes up!
 
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