This might be a stupid question… but is my bonsai dead? And what did I do wrong? It's looked healthy for about 2 years (since being gifted it) and l've been able to start training the shape etc. Then one day all the leaves went brown and fell off. And now just this for weeks…
by Proof-Chemistry-8404
5 Comments
I’d assume it’s the soil. It looks pretty dead, but if you scratch the bark just a bit and see green underneath it means it’s still good.
I don’t particularly like the pot, it’s got no draining holes and it can be prone to root rot.
I’m not a pro with the bonsais and please correct me if I’m wrong.
Depends. Could be deciduous. However if it lives inside, with no sunlight. Bonsai are just trees in small pots. You still need to follow the rules for the species.
if its been like this for weeks its dead, yes.
That looks dead, yes.
Classical causes would be not enough light or keeping a species from temperate climate indoors. Next suspect would be the potting situation with dense soil in a small, especially shallow, pot; the risk of either suffocating the roots or letting the soil dry out too much is high.
Whenever you’re seeking advice, you should include the type of tree and your location or hardiness zone.
As for your tree… It appears to be possibly a Chinese Elm, although I can’t be sure without the foliage.
Emergency measures :
Scratch the surface of the bark and see if there is green underneath. You can try this at several levels of the tree trunk.
Anywhere you see green is still alive.
Death usually occurs from the top down as the tree tries to survive. So if it’s brown at the top of the trunk try going lower. If it’s brown even at the base, it’s probably completely dead.
The exception to death from the top is when a tree’s roots have rotted… In that case, the roots die first and death occurs from that point upward… But if the roots are healthy or at least still alive, but some other condition is hindering growth, then the tree will suffer from the top first with life persisting further down as the tree attempts to survive in its bulkier parts nearer to the ground… kind of like frostbite or gangrene in a human… You lose the extremities first as the body tries to preserve the tissues closer to the vital organs.
However, if you see a level that is green, then the tree is still alive.
If so, I would immediately take the tree outside if your climate is above freezing. Place it in a partially shaded area… Not in direct sun.
Do not water until the soil is dry in the 1st inch of soil.
Do not fertilize a sick tree. The only exception to that is if the illness is from a deficiency of nutrients or minerals… But that is not likely to be the case with your tree because you would have seen a gradual weakening of the tree with discoloration of the leaves and leaf loss before the tree got to the point of death.
Do not give up if there is still green under the bark… It could take weeks to recover and put out new leaves.
However, if there is no green under the bark at any level, then your tree is probably dead… Sometimes in rare cases, the roots can still be alive so if you want to just observe it in a shaded area outside for a couple of weeks then feel free to do so. However, if there is no green under the bark and there are no new shoots coming up from the roots or leaf buds coming out within two or three weeks you might as well discard the tree.
Bottom line: if there is green under the bark it’s alive. If no green under the bark, it’s probably dead.