Podocarpus Macrophyllus dry leaves - where is problem?

[Adanoa]

Hi,

I´m new to bonsai. I got this podocarpus. It was 3 months alright, but now it is getting dry leaves(needles). That leaves are drying from the top.
I´m wattering that tree 2-3 times per week and little fertilized once per month. I have it near the window on north/east side.
Where is problem?
Please help, thanks.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

It might be if it's indoors.

Sorce

 

[Adanoa]

Well, I had it indoor all time. And I read, that it shouldn´t be a problem.

 

[Theo Smith]

I don’t know where you’re located but, podo’s are no friend of cold weather. Could be that the sill area is cooler than the rest of the room. They need a lot of light as well.

 

[penumbra]

I have had no luck keeping pods inside despite the fact that many say its possible. I would love to see a picture of the problem. Question; do you rotate the plant or is it sitting with one side facing the window and the other away from the window?
BTW, you need to add where you live if you are serious about getting good advice.

 

[Mayank]

Hi,

I´m new to bonsai. I got this podocarpus. It was 3 months alright, but now it is getting dry leaves(needles). That leaves are drying from the top.
I´m wattering that tree 2-3 times per week and little fertilized once per month. I have it near the window on north/east side.
Where is problem?
Please help, thanks.

I had a podocarpus inside that did not make it even though I thought it was doing great. They're hard to keep alive. Go into your profile and add your location, growing zone etc. There are probably members that live in that area that can give more focused advice.

 

[Adanoa]

I'm living in the Czech Republic (center of europe). Now we have about 14 celsia outside and about 21 celsia (70 fahrenheit) inside.
Now I'm trying to use softer water (boiled and filtered). We will see what happens.

 

[penumbra]

Question; do you rotate the plant or is it sitting with one side facing the window and the other away from the window?

Adanoa, the reason I asked you the above question is because of a personal experience I had with podocarpus. Mine was outside, on a porch and it got good sunlight on one side. I neglected to turn it and the shady side died back. I have cut off all of the dead portions and it has been moved to a greenhouse. The new growth looks good. When I kept one inside some years back, it went well and then started dying in pieces after a few months and finally gave up the ghost in the winter.

 

[Adanoa]

Sorry, I forgot to write it. Yes, I try to rotate it once per 3-4 weeks.
So that dry needles and branches are dead and should be removed?

 

[penumbra]

My experience has been that those branches will not come back, so yeah, prune it out.

 

[Hermes33]

I have had no luck keeping pods inside despite the fact that many say its possible. I would love to see a picture of the problem. Question; do you rotate the plant or is it sitting with one side facing the window and the other away from the window?
BTW, you need to add where you live if you are serious about getting good advice.

I’ve lost 2 and about to lose 2 more I think. Same issue…. Slowly drying out. I even moved under a grow light and put on a heat mat. Even with often misting and a high humidity apartment (San Francisco), it got even worse and I fear I have lost them. Also with me it was very sudden.

 

[Russ1]

I have 1 bigish one and some 1-2 year old cuttings.. I keep the big one in my attic from Nov. - April under a sky light, temps get into the mid 30's to mid 50's.
I also, last winter, left some rooted cuttings in my cold frame and they survived the winter without issue.
The thing they have in common is higher humidity than in the house. I still have to water the one's in the Attic every 2-3 days..
Low humidity along with warm indoor temperatures may be the issue, I notice that with a lot of plants that do better cooler with higher humidity, even most Tropical plants that struggle in the house during winter with low humidity.
Higher humidity is automatic with cooler temps.

 

[Hermes33]

Thank you! I’ve turned off the heat mats lol

 

[Russ1]

You may find this interesting:
Link to Podocarpus Info