Brazilian Rain Tree help!!!

[Phe508]

Hey everyone. I have had this Brazilian rain tree for about a year now. About a month ago I noticed some of the new leaflets were turning lighter and lighter and finally almost white. They appear flimsy and more delicate than normal but none of them appear crispy or dried out. Right now he’s inside under a grow light for 12 hours a day. Moved to Michigan about 8 months ago. I water regularly and fertilize with a liquid organic fertilizer about once every 3 weeks or so. Any idea what’s going on?

 

[Paradox]

Is the entire tree doing this or just one branch?
Is it happening on the entire branch or just inner leaves or outer leaves?
How strong is the grow light and how far away from the tree is it placed?
What is the plastic sheeting behind it? Do you have it in some sort of humidity tent?
How often do you water?
What kind of soil is it in?


EDIT
Looks like its the entire tree
Looks like you have it in coarse soil - Lava and pumice?
The tree does look pretty weak

 

[Phe508]

Is the entire tree doing this or just one branch?
Is it happening on the entire branch or just inner leaves or outer leaves?
How strong is the grow light and how far away from the tree is it placed?
What is the plastic sheeting behind it? Do you have it in some sort of humidity tent?
How often do you water?
What kind of soil is it in?


EDIT
Looks like its the entire tree
Looks like you have it in coarse soil - Lava and pumice?
The tree does look pretty weak

It started out just the top few branches/new stuff. Now the entire tree essentially. Yeah it’s quite coarse no organic material in the soil. Watering every 3-4 days due to how coarse it is and will dry out otherwise. The plastic is just painter plastic. When I’m feeling ambitious I will somewhat enclose it and leave a humidifier on for a bit

 

[Phe508]

It started out just the top few branches/new stuff. Now the entire tree essentially. Yeah it’s quite coarse no organic material in the soil. Watering every 3-4 days due to how coarse it is and will dry out otherwise. The plastic is just painter plastic. When I’m feeling ambitious I will somewhat enclose it and leave a humidifier on for a bit

Not sure how strong the light is but it’s a full spectrum about 6 inches from the plant

 

[BrightsideB]

Pretty interesting.

 

[Mapleminx]

@Clicio @leatherback @LanceMac10 might have some insight into this.

 

[Clicio]

I would love to be of any assintance, but the truth is I have never seen a brt like that.

 

[Carol 83]

I have a Serissa that has developed some white leaves like that. I think it's because they are extremely close to the grow lights. That doesn't look to be the case for your tree though.

 

[LanceMac10]

Make sure the drainage of the pot isn't resting in standing water.

 

[Carol 83]

Make sure the drainage of the pot isn't resting in standing water.

That is SO important. Last year I got Bootstrap Farmer trays to set my trees in to make watering less labor intensive. But even though they have raised ridges on the bottom, they weren't high enough to keep the bottom of the pots out of the water. Which meant dumping the trays and negating the ease of using them. I bought a bunch of humidity trays for super cheap when Dallas Bonsai was going out of business to use for the plants I kept in the windowsills at work. I turned them upside down and set my pots on top of them, problem solved.

 

[Paradox]

I have my BRTs in pumice, lava and akadama and I typically need to water them every other day at least. Otherwise they get too dry and start to look unhappy.
I agree with Lance though, make sure the pot can drain. I put the pots of mine on little 2x2 tiles (3-4 per pot) so that they dont sit directly on the bottom of the tray I have them in to catch any excess water. This allows the pots to drain well and not sit in the water in the tray.

 

[Phe508]

Any consideration that my water pH I’m using is off? I did some reading about pH and it causing mineral deficiencies? I water with tap water…

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Your chlorophyl looks shot. Might be light but what are you using for fertilizer? You may have a deficiency of Fe, Mg, or N all of which can lead to chlorosis.

 

[Phe508]

Your chlorophyl looks shot. Might be light but what are you using for fertilizer? You may have a deficiency of Fe, Mg, or N all of which can lead to chlorosis.

I use an organic liquid 1:1:1 fertilizer. I mix it with water and water it in once a week. Little less frequently the last couple months cause of winter.

 

[Phe508]

You guys….my Barbados cherry has also become struck with the plague. Any idea what I might be doing wrong?

 

[Phe508]

Update:I decided that the Brazilian might be cold in my air conditioned house. I moved into a window in my garage and he did this! Also whacked him back significantly if you don’t recognize him haha

 

[Lorax7]

Did you have the BRT outdoors for the summer? If so, what were the nighttime temperatures getting down to this fall before you brought the tree indoors? I haven’t seen this particular phenomenon on BRT before, but I have had issues with leaves getting white spots like this on my Albizia saman, which is in the same subfamily of Fabaceae as the BRT, and I think what I saw on the Albizia saman was damage due to exposure to cold temperatures.

 

[Phe508]

No he was inside under grow light as his permanent home. Began looking really feeble as depicted in the pictures at the top of this post. Moved to garage in a window and he looks great! In my inexperienced opinion I’m nervous out nighttime temperatures even in the summer here in south michigan so I’ve never been brave enough to put him outside.

 

[leatherback]

I’m nervous out nighttime temperatures even in the summer here in south michigan

Wow, how cold is michigan in summer? Just brought my BRT in this weekend. Night-time temps were dropping below 10F

 

[Lorax7]

I’m nervous out nighttime temperatures even in the summer here in south michigan so I’ve never been brave enough to put him outside.

Oh, it can definitely handle our nighttime temps in Michigan in the summer. They just need to come indoors in the fall when the nighttime lows start getting into the mid 40s.