Honey locusts dying I don't know why

[Bon Sai]

Hello!

Well, I got me some seeds because I wanted to plant some of these trees in my yard, but I ended up with quite a lot of seedlings so I made a bonsai grove with them.


They have these compound leaves with tiny leaflets which look like little branches.

The soil is a mix of different kinds of porous fired clays and volcanic earths which retains water quite well. It has a layer of chipped pine bark on it to help keep humidity. I have been watering it every day never letting it dry and have put some fertilizer. The trees were doing well for some months, with a good colour.


This is what they look like now. It doesn't seem the normal leaf fall of autumn. The stems are getting dry too.


I don't think the problem is the soil because the trees I intended to plant in the ground are dying too and I used a soil sold especially for trees.


Also, I used the same soil with this weeping willow bonsai and it is doing very well.

The only theory I have is the water being too hard. I use water from a river and I know this water is hard.

OK, that's it. Can anybody help? Thank you in advance.

 

[just.wing.it]

So, did you dig up the seedlings after they had leafed out??
In other words, when did you dig them up for the grove??
Did you dig them the same year that they sprouted??

 

[Bon Sai]

So, did you dig up the seedlings after they had leafed out??
In other words, when did you dig them up for the grove??
Did you dig them the same year that they sprouted??

Yes. As soon as they sprouted real leaves, I digged them up, cut the tap root and planted them on the plate. They were doing well for some months after and were growing, with the really hot summer.

From what you say, I conclude this is not the normal procedure but I have a book that recommends this, the only difference being it tells to plant the trees on a training pot with potting soil after.

Anyway, the trees on the pots are dying too and these I didn't dig up.

 

[just.wing.it]

Anyway, the trees on the pots are dying too and I didn't dig them up.

Well, this is the part that is strange....

I was just thinking about a tree that sprouted in my yard in spring of '16.
I let it be until late winter/early spring of '17 and dug it up, when the buds were just opening, I cut off a 12 inch tap root and put into a nursery bucket...
It's done well so far, and I'm letting it grow out, so I didn't do any pruning to the branches....fwiw.

I know that digging deciduous trees up after they have leafed out is always a dangerous game, though you can get away with it...but I never have.

What you describe is exactly what I did to a little red maple that popped up in my yard a few years ago...
I thought the tree was doing well...but just before autumn, it stopped taking up water and keeled over.

When you consider your other plants also drying up though...the red flag is watering, or lack thereof....
Hard to say....

 

[just.wing.it]

I see that aloe plant in the background there...looking kinda rough too...
I have never kept aloe, but I bet someone here might know what's going on based on the looks of that aloe.

 

[Starfox]

Given the soil mix you have I would guess they have dried out at one point, it just takes one hot and windy day to do it. I lost a lot of first year seedlings last year during a week of windy weather and didn't change my water schedule, this year I had more survive because I watered twice a day on those windy days.
You will always lose some but when they all go it is rather disappointing.

I generally just grow my seedlings out in normal potting mix as it retains more water and gives you more of a barrier against drying out.

 

[Bon Sai]

I see that aloe plant in the background there...looking kinda rough too...
I have never kept aloe, but I bet someone here might know what's going on based on the looks of that aloe.

Well, this aloe was left abandoned for a long time but it's getting better.

Your red maple story is interesting. Did it grow? My trees grew sensibly.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I have a honey locust that I pulled out of the ground as a seedling in the middle of summer a few years back. It survived the rather harsh treatment for several years. Then when I was staying on the 10th floor of an apartment it seemly died due to either colder temperatures or desiccation, but then it threw some new sprouts from the roots and is now my only “forest” or grove planting. It is not much to look at but I’ll try to snap a photo for giggles.

From my experience I would say that they are tough as nails if a bit sensitive to dry spells. Make sure you have drainage holes in your pot if you have to try again, But give them until spring to see if they come back.. although more likely with a larger plant they may go for early dormancy in the face of a drought.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Where in the world are you? It is autumn for the Northern Hemisphere, and leaves fall from trees around this time. Are honey locusts in your neighborhood losing leaves too? The soil looks heavy and retentive. Are you having success with growing plants? If not, keep practicing, and read up on soils and watering. It takes a while to “get it”.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I guess there are only three sprouts which hardly qualifies as a forest, but I plan on letting this do it’s thing and who knows what it will look like in a decade or so.
Sometimes you style the tree and sometimes the tree styles you.

 

[Bon Sai]

Where in the world are you? It is autumn for the Northern Hemisphere, and leaves fall from trees around this time. Are honey locusts in your neighborhood losing leaves too? The soil looks heavy and retentive. Are you having success with growing plants? If not, keep practicing, and read up on soils and watering. It takes a while to “get it”.

Northen hemisphere but not very up north. Spain. It is still quite hot here and trees are not losing their leaves yet. This summer is lasting more than it should.

I have a moderate success, but I'll keep practicing

 

[Bon Sai]

They weren't dying at all I'm happy. I like this species very much and want to plant one of these in my hen coop so they have some shade in summer.



They have been leaf-less for half a year. Do you think it's normal?

Let's see what happens next summer. My theory is they were not strong enough, being just half a year old, to withstand the hotness of last summer here.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Congrats. Likely correct you are. Trees not strong enough with less roots for hot weather leaf support.