AusBonsai

The 2 most common causes for conifer death on relatively new enthusiasts, is over watering and not enough sun. Either of these on their own will kill the tree, but together, its a an overdose that is fatal.

The best advice has been said about not watering until the soil is basically dry with a teeny tiny bit of moisture left. The real trick is though, just checking the surface is dry is useless, as the heart of the tree is deep in the soil, where the roots are deep and buried, and if this is still moist or wet when it is next watered, after only a short period of time it will start to rot the roots and the tree cannot get nutrients to the foliage, and thus... dies. Long periods of sunlight helps in the growing process of not just aiding photosynthesis for a tree, especially conifers, but drying out the soil and thereby giving the roots freedom to collect nutrients is of paramount importance. Conifers need a lot of sun, preferably full sun. Without being there to look at your bonsai, the only help would be that statistically the law of averages for most conifers would suggest the probable diagnosis to be over-watering.

Hi there,

I remember my horticulture teacher saying that conifers and pines drop needles when they are too wet. You are probably killing your tree with kindness.

Given that, if it is true, you now have a good opportunity to try jin or shari. Be careful though.

Cheers,

Brad.

Took a punt on the weekend and slip potted this into a larger pot. Used a mix of bonsai soil(I buy it from Bonsai Emporium), pine bark mulch and some pulverised sheep manure. Submerged in Seasol prior to and after repotting. Put some lucern hay on top for to help create some warmth.