Stewartia Monadelpha just arrived

[BonsaiDruid]

Hi, I am new to this forum, but not new to bonsai. Usually I buy my trees in person, but I bought a Stewartia Monadelpha online. It arrived in a 1 gallon pot, single trunk, about 34-36 inches tall. I live in NW Indiana, so the summer is hot and sunny. My question is: do I leave the tree in the pot it was shipped in and repot next spring? If so, should I trim the top down? the trunk goes up for 18" and then forks... or should I do a midsummer repot into a grow-out box, so I can lay out the roots and start to develop a good radial root pattern.
I am reading through the older threads on Stewartia, but I would be grateful for some advice on whether to start or wait... I have also repeatedly read that they do not like to be transplanted, so I am trying to keep repotting to a minimum.

 

[caffeinated]

I'd imagine you'd want to fatten it up a a bit. I'd leave it alone and let it grow and wait to repot until next spring when you can sort out the roots. Meanwhile, morning sun / afternoon shade and let it grow. Maybe a chop in height next year, then let it grow out again, just to keep wound sizes to a minimum on a tree that's prized for it's bark. It's also looking a bit dry or unhappy from shipping, so another good reason to just let it grow for now.

 

[BonsaiDruid]

I'd imagine you'd want to fatten it up a a bit. I'd leave it alone and let it grow and wait to repot until next spring when you can sort out the roots. Meanwhile, morning sun / afternoon shade and let it grow. Maybe a chop in height next year, then let it grow out again, just to keep wound sizes to a minimum on a tree that's prized for it's bark. It's also looking a bit dry or unhappy from shipping, so another good reason to just let it grow for now.

Thanks for replying Yes, I do want to thicken the trunk. The four long whippy branches on top are kind of annoying, but I'll leave them for now. I really want the lower branches to grow, that’s why I thought I might take a few inches off those long whips. It's tall and top-heavy for the little pot it was shipped in. I know it should be hands- off til next year, but it's so hard to wait for a look at those roots! I hope the soil they shipped it in will drain well and not keep it waterlogged.

 

[BonsaiDruid]

*UPDATE*
It's been a couple of years, and this tree is still struggling! In late winter/early spring of 2024 it was repotted, and I pruned some problematic roots. Apparently it was horribly offended and sulked for the rest of the year, and none of the buds ever opened until about 2 months ago! I was excited about the new leaves, thinking this tree had finally turned the corner, but now the leaves are turning a reddish black color, spreading from the tip back toward the petiole. The soil has good drainage, leans acidic, and is watered with rainwater. Can anyone suggest what might be going on with these leaves?
*It was getting light from full-spectrum LED lights (from fluorescent-type tubes) aligned vertically, facing 2 sides of the tree in an effort to get buds to open anywhere along the trunk. After this happened to the leaves, I thought maybe they were too bright and burning the leaves(?) so now it is the middle of the room getting much less bright ambient light.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Leaves look like they’re not getting enough water; either from rotting roots or from getting too dry between watering.

Are you growing this inside, or how is being grown?

 

[BonsaiDruid]

Leaves look like they’re not getting enough water; either from rotting roots or from getting too dry between watering.

Are you growing this inside, or how is being grown?

It has been indoors in my studio, where I overwinter my Tropical bonsai (ficus, jasmine, jaboticaba) where temps are between 65-70 in the winter. I've read that it needs to be well-drained and hates wet feet, but also hates being dry... it is in a round 'tie pot', that has holes along the sides to help root growth.

 

[WEI]

stewartia is not an indoors tree. it’s not tropical. you should shield it from the worst of winter but it needs dormancy

 

[BonsaiDruid]

stewartia is not an indoors tree.

yes, unfortunately it must come in for winter. It has been doing so poorly that I was afraid to put it in cold storage this past winter. When I put it outside last year (late spring 2024) as soon as I moved it out of shade, the leaves burnt to a crisp within a few hours, and it only reopened buds again 2 months ago. I am trying not to kill it...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Unfortunately, the Stewartia just isn’t going to thrive in those conditions. It’s definitely contributing to the leaf problems you’re asking about. It should be outside now and in the winter, it needs chill hours like a temperate tree.

FWIW, yours looks more like a pseudocamelia than monadelpha, which may be a bit hardier.

 

[WEI]

^as Brian said. stewartia are deciduous trees. deciduous trees need chill hours (dormancy) to survive. forcing a tree to expend energy maintaining foliage to photosynthesize inferior indoor light in a warm environment - against its natural biological rhythm - will worsen its condition. it's like making a very sick man sleep during the day and wake during the night to cure his illness. he'll muddle through short-term, but that's terrible for his health long-term.

outside, your tree would benefit from complete afternoon shade or partial shade throughout the day to prevent leaf burn. I'm near the DC metro area, where summers are generally sunnier and hotter than NW Indiana. my stewartia receives full morning light and is shaded most of the afternoon. I chopped off 70% roots during repotting alongside light pruning and wiring in early spring. no health issues and is growing vigorously.

 

[rockm]

Get the tree Outside. You’re killing it. That’s the bottom line.

You asked for help. That’s the solution that will give the best results. Any other path that involves indoors and artificial light for a temperate zone tree will end with a dead tree

 

[BonsaiDruid]

okay, thank you. I wasn't arguing, just explaining. All my other temperate trees are put into cold storage for winter to keep them from going below 30F, november to march (they all did fine, except my 30 yr old pomegranate, which thanks to a temp drop to 27F may be dead). This tree was the only exception.
It's 5:05 pm CDT here, and 73F where the tree is currently indoors. I am going to move it outside right now, where it is currently 47F. I am also going to put out this smaller Stewartia monadelpha I just received 3 days ago (because I am obviously a glutton for punishment).

 

[BonsaiDruid]

FWIW, yours looks more like a pseudocamelia than monadelpha, which may be a bit hardier.

I bought them from a reputable grower (Dancing Oaks Nursery, Monmouth Oregon); if they are not monadelpha I will be furious!

 

[BonsaiDruid]

Get the tree Outside. You’re killing it. That’s the bottom line.

You asked for help. That’s the solution that will give the best results. Any other path that involves indoors and artificial light for a temperate zone tree will end with a dead tree

Well I'm in Zone 5 so if that's true- it will die next winter. I guess I will find out the hard way.

 

[rockm]

It is southern species. Can’t get around that. It’s possible to grow species hardy to one zone outside a species hardiness range. I’m growing Texas species here in Va. winter storage for my live oak is done in a cold greenhouse at a nursery. It comes with a boarding fee. I overwinter cedar elm (another Texas native species -and collected there as was the oak) in the backyard with pots on the ground under six to eight inches of mulch
There are ways to do this just takes some thinking and possibly cold greenhouse boarding if you can find it. A storage shed with a little supplemental heat might also work but trying to keep things “ warm” in such a structure can be tricky