Bonsai identification Help Needed for a gifted bonsai bc it’s not doing well and I need to find a care guide for it!

[Stayc]

 

[TrevorLarsen]

I don’t know the species. But I have some questions. Does it live inside? What soil is it in?

 

[Stayc]

It’s healthy in this photo. It was outside during the day and brought in at night. Then winter hit so it stays inside now and it is NOT happy at all. It’s in a ceramic pot that can’t freeze or it will crack. It’s in the soil from the nursery so whatever that is. It came with no info at all. So very frustrating!

 

[19Mateo83]

Welcome to the nut House! What does it look like now?

 

[Stayc]

Thanks!!
I’m so sad! It was doing well then started doing this….

 

[19Mateo83]

That looks like an azalea and it looks like it wants to go back outside. Your home AC has desiccated its leaves. If you are still getting nights below freezing where you are it can mulch the pot in to help insulate it.

 

[Carol 83]

That's an azalea and I'm pretty sure I know where it came from. It's not an indoor tree but neither can it survive below freezing temps. Adding your location would go far in getting the best advice for your climate.

 

[Stayc]

I’m in Washington, DC. Thank you guys! All of this is so very helpful!!!

 

[Stayc]

That looks like an azalea and it looks like it wants to go back outside. Your home AC has desiccated its leaves. If you are still getting nights below freezing where you are it can mulch the pot in to help insulate it.

I am afraid it would shock it to take it directly back outside right now. My heat is on but I do keep a humidity tray under it.

 

[Stayc]

Hi Carol! Where did it come from? I would love to know!

 

[Stayc]

What about the garage? Would that work better?

 

[Stayc]

Also open to someone who can make house calls to help me care for this little guy if anyone knows of anyone. I feel under prepared! Northern Virginia DC suburbs technically. I’m zone 7A.

 

[brainfree]

Find a sunny window to put it in. See if that helps. It does look like an Azalia though so it could survive one winter indoors in a sunny window.

 

[Stayc]

Find a sunny window to put it in. See if that helps. It does look like an Azalia though so it could survive one winter indoors in a sunny window.

Thank you!

 

[TrevorLarsen]

If it ends up dying don’t let that stop you from continuing in the hobby. I think most peoples first tree died and we just learned and kept trying.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Welcome to the site! That is an azalea of some sort or other, and depending on type, it may be more or less cold hardy to zone 7. I have azaleas here in zone 7B/8A and I would never think of bringing them indoors, even with temps as low as the mid teens.

Part of the challenge of bringing plants indoors is that you are bringing them into a different environment. Forget about temps, but indoor humidity is that of a desert, and then you generally have inadequate lighting. It is easy to under water them... and then in a panic over-water them.

However the good news is that if you really love the tree, you can buy another and get better at keeping trees indoors/outdoors. Think of the gift not so much as this specific tree... and more as a gift of a new hobby/adventure. I have personally killed many many trees... but now I propagate many more trees than I kill

 

[Stayc]

I have azalea shrubs that of course I leave outside. I brought the tree in because 1.I had zero information on what kind of tree it was and 2. Ceramic pots fracture and crumble when they freeze. I’ve learned that the hard way….even when they were sheltered by the house in the sunny section, buried in mulch bc the surface soil even freezes, etc. I bring all of my plants in ceramic pots indoors to overwinter. So I will repot this guy in a more suitable winter appropriate pot once he’s healthy again and leave him outside from then on now that I know what type of tree he is. A bonsai shop in Maryland has provided care info, fertilization info, and specific repotting soil type for this tree now that it has been identified.
Thanks, all!

 

[Stayc]

Welcome to the site! That is an azalea of some sort or other, and depending on type, it may be more or less cold hardy to zone 7. I have azaleas here in zone 7B/8A and I would never think of bringing them indoors, even with temps as low as the mid teens.

Part of the challenge of bringing plants indoors is that you are bringing them into a different environment. Forget about temps, but indoor humidity is that of a desert, and then you generally have inadequate lighting. It is easy to under water them... and then in a panic over-water them.

However the good news is that if you really love the tree, you can buy another and get better at keeping trees indoors/outdoors. Think of the gift not so much as this specific tree... and more as a gift of a new hobby/adventure. I have personally killed many many trees... but now I propagate many more trees than I kill

My husband has said no more plants…but this one was in memorium of someone very near and dear to me. So I am determined to save it. We have a humidifier on our furnace and I have standalone humidifiers I will put it near until the outside humidity, which is also low here in winter, and temps rise. Spraying water on the leaves a few times a day is helping. It’s in a very bright window and gets tons of light indoors. I think it just needs more than the 40% humidity that the furnace unit is set on, per the bonsai specialist. She recommended not shocking the plant by moving it into the colder temps all of a sudden but waiting until the temps rise in a month or so.

 

[Stayc]

If it ends up dying don’t let that stop you from continuing in the hobby. I think most peoples first tree died and we just learned and kept trying.

Well this one was a memorial gift for me to remember my lost son, so it’s special. I’m determined to save it. I honestly would never try bonsai by my own choice bc it’s too hard for me. I don’t have a green thumb at all. Clearly.

 

[Srt8madness]

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