Received tropical via UPS and nervous

[Boscology]

Someone in my club recomended parrot's beak as good bonsai material that is happy to live inside during our extended winters. One day during a moment of weakness I put Gmelina (i think its phillipens) and didnt really find much except for one on ebay. I put the minimum bid in and a week later I found out I won it (I think it might be a pretty obscure choice for our nation's bonsai efforts).

The seller was Wigerts who of course I had heard about and read glowing reviews on. we discussed it and she mailed it monday morning. Three day shipping, of course it was packaged solidly but since it arrived today and not Wed. so I am wondering if they didn't screw up and leave it in a truck an extra night.

A lot of leaves look pretty bad, maybe 70-90% of them ( I assume due to the cold/shipping time).

My plan is to give it plenty of alone time in a nice sunny warm window and follow the horticultural advice for the tree (there is not much out there that I can find, sadly no mention of this family that I could find in my Dirr's bible).

I got it for a very nice price in my mind $25 plus shipping and it has some very nice bark, root flare, and is pretty full for its short size. If it doesn't make it I won't be out too much financially but I believe it is pretty nice pre bonsai material so the loss might be greater.

Should I just "use kid gloves" and let it be, only making sure its basic needs are met or should I possibly defoliate the bad leaves using the proper technique

Going back now I see in the original ad some of the leaves had a white discoloration and so I am also wondering if I may have a couple of things going on here. Original ebay listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gmelina-pre...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

[Cadillactaste]

Have you asked them...how they suggest to handle it for TLC care and their thoughts oh the tree. I would think as a nursery they might be more apt to offer you some sound information. Did they send this with a heat pack?

I know absolutely nothing about this species...but, feel that it wouldn't hurt to at least send photos to them. And ask for advice on how to proceed.

 

[Boscology]

Well, when we discussed it she told me that if I wanted to have them ship me the tree that I had completely paid for that it would be at my own risk, or I had the option of them housing it for me like $1 a week.

A few months ago I ordered several satsuki varieties and they were delivered in great condition (and the weather was maybe 20 degrees colder those days) So I figured if I was able to make myself availible to pick it up when it was dropped off all would be fine.

tbh I do not believe this was packaged as well as the last shipment froma different company where the individual 1g containers were boxed individually with a special box that had a hole in the top for the trunk, these individual boxes were saran wrapped and every other one had one of those heat packs wrapped in the outside of the box. These were all in a large box with your standard packing peanuts. I noticed the ones without the heatpacks or furthest from the heat took longer to bounce back but they did.

For this Gmelina the pot was saran wrapped and a tall box filled with packing peanuts and the heating pad was attached to the side of the box high up, like where the top of the treeline was or higher. When we talked about it I kind of just communicated that they should just ship it using whatever methods they trust for shipping to colder climates.

I really want to support nurseries that specialize in bonsai and will continue to try to do so but maybe I should have communicated more thoroughly.

Heres more about the species, interesting stuff;

Flowers open during the night and remain open for 1 day, rarely 2 days, before they fall. Fruiting begins with a green fruit which contains one seed. You can see the plant fruiting here still green. The fruit is not edible and non-toxic.

I have read that you may only be lucky enough to see flowers if the tree had vigorous amounts of growing over the current summer.

Parrot's beak is a frequently used common name for it but there are a handful of others I have seen

E: I also definitely plan to talk to the club member who is familiar with these at the meeting on tuesday as well!

 

[carp]

Most broadleaf evergreens will drop leaves or yellow during shipping. No big deal. Keep it from freezing or experiencing frost and fertilize it. Once the growing season starts, it will bounce back strong. Continue feeding spring through summer.

 

[Kodama16]

Like carp said. Tropicals normal get temp sock and will drop a lot of leaves. Just keep it in a warm place with a lot of light and keep it humid. It will bounce back pretty fast. The tree looks healthy to me. But if you want you can hit it with a fungicide. Personal I'd leave it though.

 

[Boscology]

Thanks for all the responses,

The thought of using some light fungicide that i use passed for a moment but I figured if its already struggling with the cold no need to kick it while its down.

Just keeping it inside, in our brighest, warmest, room with no other plants (the guest room)

In hindsight this tree is pretty tropical, i think like zone 10a I read once so quite less hardy than even azaleas. possibly I should have tried to pay more for some expedited shipping.

You know those times where you throw a bid on somethig not exactly planning on winning. I am quite impressed with it and it is a quite unique plant espescially here.

 

[Mike MoMo]

Makes me wanna order something from Wigerts. Probably wait couple of months but that's a fine looking tree

 

[Boscology]

Makes me wanna order something from Wigerts. Probably wait couple of months but that's a fine looking tree

Yea, as for the quality of the tree its defitely great and some free advertising for Wigerts. The base was thicker than expected. Some nice nebari I couldnt capture in the photo, and it has lots of brnaches to choose from. Fine roots are all over the top layer of the soil, didnt want to mess with it too much but it is likely going to get some sort of a repot this spring if its healthy enough this year.

 

[carp]

The tree isnt doing anything out of the ordinary. This is a typical reaction to shipping. No fungal issues.

Gmelina grows fast. It will drop those yellow leaves and push new growth out immediately.

 

[Woodland Spirit]

Is this a plant that would benefit from stripping the most wilted leaves or does it prefer to do it on its own?

 

[carp]

@Woodland Spirit

Wouldn't matter as long as the plant is kept from freezing or frost.

 

[roberthu]

Any update on this? I just repotted mine so kind curious to how tough Gmelina is in general.