AusBonsai

Hi everyone!

I’m new to this forum, came because I have a new tree, a Leptospermum scoparium.

It arrived a week ago as a pre bonsai, in a half cutted plastic container. Yesterday evening I noticed there is some leaf drops if I touch the tree, and some flower buds seem to be a bit darker then they were. The tree is at indoors in a window sill, i water it when the surface becomes a little bit dry. I didn’t make any work on the tree, no root cut, no root reduction, no pruning. Only 2 days ago I have just removed it from the plastic container and moved to a bigger ceramic pot and filled the empty space around the rootball with fresh soil mix.

My question is: is the leaf dropping normal because it the travel and the new place and conditions, or I do something wrong, like too much watering, too less watering? Or maybe it’s so fussy that even the removing to the bigger pot causes the leaf dropping? It’s winter here now, so today morning I have put the tree under my growing lights. Thank in advance for the answers!

Hi Lazac and welcome. You don't say where you live, which can affect any advice given. Your tree will be in need of water. If the rootball dries out completely it will die. You should be watering it at least once a day and keep watering it until water runs out the bottom. It is also a tree so it must be kept outside. If you were in Brisbane and keeping it behind a glass window it would be dead by now. Good luck with it. A photo would help too

EDIT I just read dow the bottom that it's winter. Where in the world do you live ? That may change what I have written drastically.

Hi Tony!

Thank you for the answer! I live in Central Europe.
Yes it’s winter now, but my indoor conditions are not that normal indoor conditions, as I use a lot of additional lamps for my trees. The temperature is about 24 Celsius. So the conditions in my opinion are rather spring than winter.
I keep around 30 other species, tropical, subtropical, Mediterranean trees.

So you think the same as me, that I should increase the watering? At first I thought it is caused by the transferring to a bigger pot, but As I see it drinks a lot, and once, at Saturday I skipped one watering so for Sunday the soil became a little bit more dry than earlier. I try to attach some photos!

The photos are ordered by time, from receiving the tree until now.

Hi Lazac,
Like most trees there are several reasons why trees drop leaves.
1. Even evergreen trees will drop old leaves once a year. Provided new leaves have grown and the tree is healthy annual leaf drop is no problem.
2. Too dry - when there's not enough water the tree will drop some fresh leaves in an attempt to conserve water and survive a drought. Give additional water.
3. Too much water - can cause root problems which in turn means the tree cannot take up water so perversely a tree can dehydrate because it has had too much water. Root problems usually take many weeks to show up so I think that is unlikely for your tree at this stage.
4. Change in conditions - Occasionally a sharp change of conditions will also cause some leaves to drop until the tree adjusts to the new conditions.

In the later photo the tree still looks OK. Your current indoor conditions are still quite warm and with grow lights the tree is likely to be trying to grow so will be using more water. Make sure the tree still gets enough water and see if that helps

Slip potting - straight transfer of the roots to a new pot and more soil without any root cutting or break up the root mass - can sometimes cause problems as water does not always move easily from fresh soil into the older root ball. Make sure the inner soil with the roots actually gets wet, not just the new soil outside.

Hi Shibui!

Thank you for the answer!

Yes, the 3. case (root rot) I would also exclude, because I have seen the roots just 2 days ago and I saw no tor there fortunately. And the new pot has plenty of holes at the bottom, so no excess water can stay there.

The 4.case with the slip potting and fresh - old soil problem I experience once with an azalea, so I learnt from it, and this lepto I water rather the original root ball, than the new soil.

Soooo, the lack of water and the new place/conditions can be then. Actually all my trees I have to water even now in every 2 days as they dry out quickly in the bright light and warm, so maybe it’s the problem that this lepto needs even more water. Should I NOT wait until the soil surface starts to dry out? The day when it became a little bit more dry was at Sunday by the way and dropping started yesterday.

Additional info: the leafe dropping only happens if I touch the tree, if it “stand alone” then I don’t notice it. And as I see it drops down rather the old leaves than new leaves.

Hi Lazard, and welcome.
Leptospermum scoparium is thirsty and needs a lot of water even a little drying out upsets it. Suggest you place a tray of water for it to sit in until it recovers. Your first picture shows very dry roots, top the water tray up everyday. It can sit in water without root rot for a long time especially with high temps. Once it has recovered and stops dropping leaves you can then still leave it in the water tray and just top up as required when tray is dry. The best way to kill a Leptospermum scoparium is to let it dry out.
Cheers
Kirky

KIRKY wrote: ↑January 20th, 2022, 9:36 am Hi Lazard, and welcome.
Leptospermum scoparium is thirsty and needs a lot of water even a little drying out upsets it. Suggest you place a tray of water for it to sit in until it recovers. Your first picture shows very dry roots, top the water tray up everyday. It can sit in water without root rot for a long time especially with high temps. Once it has recovered and stops dropping leaves you can then still leave it in the water tray and just top up as required when tray is dry. The best way to kill a Leptospermum scoparium is to let it dry out.
Cheers
Kirky

Yep. I once had a beautiful finished red literati scoparium. It missed one day of watering and never recovered.

There is no going back once they dry out. Mine sit in a water tray all year even in winter no detriment to roots. Otherwise miss a hot day or two and they are dead no recovery. I know this from experience since sitting in a tray all are thriving.
Cheers
Kirky

If you leave a L. scoparium to get bone dry it will almost certainly die.

However, death from being dried out is quick and would be seen within a short number of days from the date of death. But all the leaves die at the same time, not usually with random falling.

It would be more like just ageing leaves or die-back or something else that causes the issue. A bad root repot also produces the same effect. Total death usually means all the leaves die suddenly and all together.

If the root work wasn’t that bad, but just a little bit too rough, you will usually see the outer extremities of the branches dying back to better accommodate the remaining rootball.

I have had them occasionally drop all leaves after I went too heavy on the root removal, but then slowly new shoots would appear 4-6 weeks later sometimes. But it’s a really bad sign if all the leaves die and drop simultaneously.

Leptospermum scoparium is a species you might want to grow in a medium draining mix, so it isn’t draining super fast, as they can tolerate occasional wet feet.

I have been in Germany (Hamburg area)in mid winter and the boyfriend of a Swiss girl I knew had a similar set to you, lots of lights, heating etc and while that would be fine for indoor plants I would not consider it suitable for Leptospermum, especially Scoparium. I have always found Scoparium the most difficult lepto to grow as bonsai. I have a number in the garden and their doing fine.

As a plant they need full sun to really thrive. Good luck with your tree and will be interested to see how it goes

Grant

Hi Lazac, it's always interesting to read about people growing Aussie natives overseas so please do keep us updated, even if your tree suffers rather than thrives. There's another member on here growing a casuarina in Sweden; those updates are always a good read.

We're still learning about the best way to grow our natives as bonsai so it's even better when people in other places are trying to learn about them too.

KIRKY wrote: ↑January 20th, 2022, 9:36 am Hi Lazard, and welcome.
Leptospermum scoparium is thirsty and needs a lot of water even a little drying out upsets it. Suggest you place a tray of water for it to sit in until it recovers. Your first picture shows very dry roots, top the water tray up everyday. It can sit in water without root rot for a long time especially with high temps. Once it has recovered and stops dropping leaves you can then still leave it in the water tray and just top up as required when tray is dry. The best way to kill a Leptospermum scoparium is to let it dry out.
Cheers
Kirky

Hi Kirky! Thank you for the answer! Since that I water it more frequently and deeply, and I have put a tray with water under it. It really drinks incredible lot!

Rory wrote: ↑January 20th, 2022, 8:58 pm If you leave a L. scoparium to get bone dry it will almost certainly die.

However, death from being dried out is quick and would be seen within a short number of days from the date of death. But all the leaves die at the same time, not usually with random falling.

It would be more like just ageing leaves or die-back or something else that causes the issue. A bad root repot also produces the same effect. Total death usually means all the leaves die suddenly and all together.

If the root work wasn’t that bad, but just a little bit too rough, you will usually see the outer extremities of the branches dying back to better accommodate the remaining rootball.

I have had them occasionally drop all leaves after I went too heavy on the root removal, but then slowly new shoots would appear 4-6 weeks later sometimes. But it’s a really bad sign if all the leaves die and drop simultaneously.

Leptospermum scoparium is a species you might want to grow in a medium draining mix, so it isn’t draining super fast, as they can tolerate occasional wet feet.

Hi Rory!

Thanks for the information! Then I hope it’s not a sign of total death. Root work I haven’t made in any level, just slip pot it. Since that I water it more frequently, never let the soil dry out even a little bit. I checked now the tree, and as I see, the leaves which are falling down are from the inside and lower levels of the foliage. Maybe old leafs? Or I’m thinking on that, in the first 5-6 days after receiving the tree, I haven’t put it under my lamps, just at the windows sill, so maybe not enough light could go inside the foliage.

Grant Bowie wrote: ↑January 20th, 2022, 10:05 pm I have been in Germany (Hamburg area)in mid winter and the boyfriend of a Swiss girl I knew had a similar set to you, lots of lights, heating etc and while that would be fine for indoor plants I would not consider it suitable for Leptospermum, especially Scoparium. I have always found Scoparium the most difficult lepto to grow as bonsai. I have a number in the garden and their doing fine.

As a plant they need full sun to really thrive. Good luck with your tree and will be interested to see how it goes

Grant

Hi Grant!

Thank you for the answer! Yes, I know scopariums are very difficult to grow and very fussy. But they are so beautiful that I will try with them until I will have success. Now the tree looks the same like 2 days ago, no leaf drop if I don’t touch the tree, the foliage is still green, leafe drop occurs only if I touch the tree, and the dropped leaves are from the inside of the foliage. Btw I can increase the humidity of the place where the tree is, so if is likes higher humidity levels, I could handle it.