Having a lot of trouble with a Fukien Tea Tree

[okayguy111]

Got a Fukien about 6-8 months ago, and I've been really happy with it. I live in Canada though, so the tree has to stay indoors in the winter. My room is super duper dry because of the constant heat. I've been watering my bonsai every 2-3 days to keep it from drying out.

This morning I noticed it had really suddenly dropped a lot of leaves, and the rest were looking really wilted. I watered it about 12 hours ago, and I also removed some white bugs and fungus-like material from the tree. Also noticed some prominent wrinkles in the base of the trunk of the tree.

I'm just looking for advice on what might be going wrong. Here are some pictures.






Overwatering?
Underwatering?
Result of the humidity?
Would it be a good time to repot, to try to get rid of the bugs and fungus that might be growing?

Thank you so much for any help, I really don't want it to die.

 

[edprocoat]

Fukien Tea is an extremely picky plant, they can drop leaves if you look at them wrong. The heating in your house will dry the plant quick, those stones on the surface will make it hard to see when the soil actually needs water. The pot you have it in looks like one of those self watering pots which could be drowning it. The white on the leaves could be powdery mildew. The bugs if they are gnats are harmless, if they are mites thats a different story and you will need to hit it with insecticidal soap. You need to give it strong light indoors. All in all they are way to much trouble IMO. I know you want to keep it so first remove the stones, if its dry it will come back with proper watering, if the soil is moist it may need repotted, soil should allow the water to drain out at the bottom after you water it. If its not draining you may have root rot. This too can be overcome by getting it in a good draining soil mix, do not fertilize a sick plant.
A good soil mix would be thirds of the original soil, pumice or lava or akadama. You could even use dry stall or oil dry. The idea is to get a medium that will not break down and clog the drain allowing it to get wet retaining some moisture while also letting it dry out enough to bring fresh air to the roots to keep them healthy. Use the search function here and look for soil mixes and insecticidal soap recipes, either can be bought ready made too. Good luck with it !

ed

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

If you can't grow it outside year-round, Fukien tea makes horrible bonsai. Try a green island ficus if you must grow inside. If you have the option of outdoors, grow what grows in your neighborhood and you will be richly rewarded.

 

[okayguy111]

Thanks for the tips!

I loved having it in the summer cause it grew amazingly, but I think it's the dryness of the room thats killing it.

Today the leaves look the same, I watered it yesterday.

I've been putting the tree under the tap to try to make it less dry. Is this a good idea?