gabemartini
Seedling
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 5
Hello, hive mind of Bonsainut! I'm in a bit of a pickle and could really use some advice.
For context, I'm in London, UK, zone 9b. We had a slight heatwave last week, but now we're back to around 20-21°C. My trees are on a NE-facing balcony with a canopy, getting about 4 hours of direct morning sun and an hour of afternoon sun. I'm a beginner and only have some experience with evergreens.
I bought a Deshojo maple in the first week of June from a nursery. The tips of the leaves were quite brown, but most of the other leaves seemed fine. The nursery gave me a whole spiel about watering and evaporation during heatwaves (though there hadn't been one in the UK at the time) and assured me this was normal. They advised me to defoliate the worst leaves and assured me it would bounce back in a few weeks. This was around mid-June, and I only removed a handful of the worst leaves.
Fast forward to today, and all the leaves have severe browning. At first, I thought I was under-watering, but I never let it dry out completely. I water only when the surface soil feels like it's about to dry up but is still moist, which can be every 2-3 days. Britain's quite damp, and since the plant doesn't get sun all day, the water takes time to evaporate. However, every piece of advice online says to water when it starts to dry up, which apparently means daily or even twice daily in summer. This baffles me because the soil still feels wet after the first day.
Then I wondered if the morning sun was too harsh, even though it's only morning sun. I moved the plant about a week or two ago to a spot on the balcony where it gets brightness but no direct light, yet the browning continues.
Now I'm thinking... am I overwatering? The soil seems to be either very broken down Akadama or a general bonsai mix from the nursery that's more like mud. The pot is tiny so it should dry up really fast....? I'm quite confused at this point and in need of some advice by people who aren't dumbasses like me.
Attaching some photos of the disheveled thing. Also, the soil is wet because it rained in the morning at like 9am. It's 4.30pm now when the photos have been taken.
Should I just let it be? should i water it more? should i stop watering it? Should i repot it now in early July(blasphemous)? Should I burn it in a pyre and go cry in a corner?
Help!
For context, I'm in London, UK, zone 9b. We had a slight heatwave last week, but now we're back to around 20-21°C. My trees are on a NE-facing balcony with a canopy, getting about 4 hours of direct morning sun and an hour of afternoon sun. I'm a beginner and only have some experience with evergreens.
I bought a Deshojo maple in the first week of June from a nursery. The tips of the leaves were quite brown, but most of the other leaves seemed fine. The nursery gave me a whole spiel about watering and evaporation during heatwaves (though there hadn't been one in the UK at the time) and assured me this was normal. They advised me to defoliate the worst leaves and assured me it would bounce back in a few weeks. This was around mid-June, and I only removed a handful of the worst leaves.
Fast forward to today, and all the leaves have severe browning. At first, I thought I was under-watering, but I never let it dry out completely. I water only when the surface soil feels like it's about to dry up but is still moist, which can be every 2-3 days. Britain's quite damp, and since the plant doesn't get sun all day, the water takes time to evaporate. However, every piece of advice online says to water when it starts to dry up, which apparently means daily or even twice daily in summer. This baffles me because the soil still feels wet after the first day.
Then I wondered if the morning sun was too harsh, even though it's only morning sun. I moved the plant about a week or two ago to a spot on the balcony where it gets brightness but no direct light, yet the browning continues.
Now I'm thinking... am I overwatering? The soil seems to be either very broken down Akadama or a general bonsai mix from the nursery that's more like mud. The pot is tiny so it should dry up really fast....? I'm quite confused at this point and in need of some advice by people who aren't dumbasses like me.
Attaching some photos of the disheveled thing. Also, the soil is wet because it rained in the morning at like 9am. It's 4.30pm now when the photos have been taken.
Should I just let it be? should i water it more? should i stop watering it? Should i repot it now in early July(blasphemous)? Should I burn it in a pyre and go cry in a corner?
Help!