Need advice on my Fukien Tea.

[blacksmith]

Hello everyone, my bonsai dropped all the leaves a month ago and I thought it was dead. After two weeks small leaves appeared and after a while this is what it looks like:

The thing is that this picture was taken like three days ago so there are even more leaves and they are bigger. So what I want to know is either it is normal to have so much leaves and how should I threat it now. Thanks.

 

[Anthony]

Blacksmith,

[ Please note Tropics ]
down here in the tropics, the fukien tea is very dense of leaf, having many leaves from one point. They also handle full sun very well.

How much light are you giving yours ?

How cold does it get around your area?

It is supposed to come out of South China, South China is sub-tropical, a zone 9.

Growing outdoors or indoors ?

Does not need much fertiliser, we use 1/3 strength into moist soil, once a week. [ something like 3N.3P.3K plus micro nutrients.]

If it could stay the summer and early autumn outdoors, you should aim on growing enough to be potbound for winter. If you can control the soil, the shrub should handle winter better as watering goes.
Good Evening.
Anthony.

 

[blacksmith]

Not too much of sunlight, growing indoors, watering once in two days, the room temperature goes up to +25 as outside temperature is +27 and will go up to +40 in summer.

 

[edprocoat]

Blacksmith, the Fukien Tea really is an outdoor tropical tree and should be outside with strong sunlight and kept moist. They will limp along in a lot of conditions such as, indoors and dry/damp, outdoors in in a too dry environment or not enough sunlight. I found Fukien Tea to be constantly weak, losing leaves, near death. They are one of the worst tropicals to keep thriving. Its not impossible, just takes a lot of work to keep them happy. My first thought whenever someone asks my advice on a Fukien Tea is the advice I got from a regular here a few years ago when I joined about Teas, he said " Toss it out and get a real tree, too much stress " lol but I am not that cruel. I kept mine alive for many years, it was a constant battle with tons of worry and stress too, when I finally lost it I decided, never again.

Blacksmith if you fill out the info in your profile people will know what part of this old globe you are from and can give you better advice on your Bonsai.

ed

 

[Anthony]

Blacksmith,

the Fukien tea needs a drop of 10 deg.C at night from a high of say 33 deg.C [ I am going on the figures you gave for temperatures.They were in C ?]

I am not sure how much past 35 deg.C, it can go, as air temperature goes.

I doubt it is Tropical, as it comes from China near Canton [ Guangzhou], I can prove this because it is grown in the vast fields of bonsai shipped out of China and I know two of the importers in the U,K,

However, indoor life will certainly make it weaker and don't expect it to handle autumn or winter very well.

The painter Carl Rosner [ has a site on-line ] grows them successfully indoors, and has for many,many years in New Jersey.
You may wish to just e-mail him.
Good Evening.
Anthony

An image for you of a small Fukien tea from down here about 10 years old

 

[blacksmith]

In celsius, yes. At night time it is about 20. The instruction said it is an indoor plant.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Fukien Teas are classified as a tropical bonsai or at least that is what i have read and not seen anything to the contrary. I keep mine indoor under lights during the winter months here and put outside once temps are consistently above 50. Its been fine for near a decade now.

They love light, as much as you can give them. Don't overwater. Mine likes to dry out between waterings. Too much water and you will get yellow leaves. They are finicky and don't like change. Keep an eye for bugs because they tend to attract them.

 

[blacksmith]

Thank you, nybonsai12, will keep your suggestions in mind.

 

[Poink88]

I live in TX so my Fukien Tea cannot take full summer sun. It loves outdoors but under shade here. I only bring it in when temps dip below freezing which is seldom here.

Long straight branches are better shortened and re-grown. Long is relative to the bonsai size but for medium sized tree...1" is already long FOR ME. They don't wire too well so clip and grow is the best method for FT as far as I am concerned. When new growth get longer than 1"...I pinch.

I agree about them being bug magnet. I just spray them with 50% water/50% milk/ 2 squirt dish washing liquid on a liter spray bottle when they get any ....so far so good.

Soil, they look like happy with mostly peat moss so I haven't changed mine yet. I water them 2-3 times a week depending on how hot/dry it is. Avoid letting them get too dry. Your indication is dull colored wilting leaves. Once they reached that, expect them to drop but new ones will pop in a few days if you water it soon enough.

Big or more leaves are good when developing...don't worry about it now. You need to reduce later once it is in the final/refinement stages.

If this is mine, I'll start with this pruning...
View attachment 35834

Good luck!

 

[Anthony]

Dario,

thank you for this information.

Interesting our sun is hotter than yours due to the angle of the earth to the sun, as you get closer to the equator, but our humidity only goes as low as 45% and then back up to 70/ 80 %
at night [ generalised figures ] We don't cross 80% due to island breezes and this also modifies our heat, as well as patchy cloud cover.

We have tried to explain to folk on-line that mainland China has no tropical zone. The lowest listed is zone 10. Maybe on the beach you can get slightly warmer. Both K's and my grandfather have explained that Canton had 4 distinct seasons, but their summers were hotter.more humid than the Caribbean's.

http://www.backyardgardener.com/zone/china.html

So we have been trying to get folk on your side to factor that in when growing not only the Fukien tea, but the Serissa, Sageretia, and a good many plants from China.

Texas seems to go to zone 9a and 9b. Still a chance of frost and way colder than we can go at our low of 70 to 65 deg.F Tropical trees are supposed to be able to just handle 55 deg.F for a very short period. Possibly less resistance in pots.

This is probably why there are so many dead Fukien teas and Serissas.

On our side Fukien teas are happiest when they are root bound, and can control the soil. We water early morning and early evening, but morning is the only time when you need to make the pot drip. Early evening is more to keep the soil moist as the breezes are active at night as well.
Good Morning.
Anthony