AusBonsai

Hi everyone,

I have owned this tree for about 6 weeks and it really seems to be struggling. I purchased it from interstate and it was sent to me via Australia Post. It must have had a rough trip as by the time it got to me it was not in a very good state, a lot of the soil had come out of the pot and it was very very dry. Since then despite my best efforts it has continued to deteriorate. It is currently getting a lot of water, spends 50% of the day in shade, 50% in sunlight, and seasol once a week. When I first got it I gave it a minor trim but only really to remove dead leaves.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I need to do to get it back to full health? Help!

Hey Josh,

It should be ok. Tridents are relatively hardy, the care you offer it over the next few weeks will be important.

I wouldnt be trimming any leaves or upsetting the root system at all over the next little while.

Filtered light will be the best for a few weeks and plenty of seasol with your watering.

It should be fine.

Nice purchase, now to get the vigour back

Dave

Looks like it will pull through to me.
Yep keep it out of any harsh weather (wind sun) and keep the water up.
I reckon it will be fine.

Looks OK to me - it may be sun or wind burn. I would dunk it in a bucket or tub to give it a good deep watering and keep it in shade with lots of Seasol. I use Seamungus on everything I re pot and also on anything sick and it seems to have good results.

Just don't rot the roots!

If you're keeping it in sunlight, maybe keep under shade cloth during summer so that it's not so harsh on the leaves and you don't get leaf burn. I've had to do this for my maple.

How long was it in transit for, remember Aus post didn't/won't water it for you so if in transit 2-3 days, that's 2-3 days without water plus being tossed around so its likely to like a bit sick. I'd soak it in seasol for a couple of hours to give it a good soak through. I would find a spot in dappled/light shade. I wouldn't move it back and fourth in and out of sun/shade, find a semi shaded spot and leave it. Give the foliage a spray with seasol every day for a week. If it did dry out the roots may struggle to take up water efficiently.
It will recover, just needs a little TLC for a week or two.

Josh.

Hi joshW . What I do if I buy any trees that I can't put into my own bonsai mix straight away( ie decidous trees in summer ) is to plant them into the ground or a bigger pot . That way I don't disturb the roots and I have a buffer that helps the tree to look after itself till I and the tree are ready . You still have to look after it but it does not need as much care . My mix is quite open so I water just about every day . I find a lot of stock that I have bought need a different water regime . Once planted in the ground just keep moist .

I had alot of trees shipped to me over the years and occasionally one gets lost or delayed so when it finally turns up they can be in bad shape. It all depends how dry the soil got. If it was a day or two i think it will still be fine as its still got green leaves and hasent defoliated itself (a bad sign) . Just make soil that when u first watered it that it was soaked properly as if the soil was very dry it can be hard to get full saturation. keep it out of hot wind and in partial shade. You should see new growth in the areas that lost there leaves in a few weeks provided the soil didnt get too dry.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll post another pic in a week or two when hopefully it has bounced back.

Cheers,

Josh

JoshW,
Nice tree, but mate hate to see you so stressed out would love to alleviate the stress off your shoulders and you can send me the tree.

Regards
Rae.

P.s looks a little bit pushed around but I agree with the rest, gently and tender loving care, I am sure that it will be fine.