It could be that the soil was just absorbing the water and that the old soil was never quite absorbing water that well. A lot of times if my soil gets too dry it seems to run out of the holes a lot faster because it is actually running to the sides and straight out of the pot never actually reaching the soil. When it does get this dry, it is better to submerge water as opposed to top water. Let it soak in a pan of water about 2/3 the height of the pot until you see moisture on top of the soil. You can also do the water level just to the height of the pot and wait until all the air bubbles stop. As far as your soil being too wet, what type of soil did you use? What did you mix with it? I don't know about using pebbles on the bottom for drainage. Bonsai need every bit of soil they can. I use a thin layer of fired clay. I read somewhere on here that you shouldn't use the pebbles in the bottom but I can't remember where. It may have been on another forum.

As the tree was a gift from BnQ England, it came with a Compost Bonsai mix - i know a specialist would have been better but there were none around home!

The bag says it combines composted bark, top quality irish peat and other ingredients such as perlite and grit to provide enhanced root development, it also says 30% peat but doesnt give much information.

The pebbles were washed with boiling water and rinsed with clean water before adding but it only added a small layer.

Jimmy

Tanyag, some of your information is very good - for house plants, but bonsai are different and "need every bit of soil they can" will not work at all. Most bonsai are planted in an almost soil-less mix of grit, gravel and bark, and we also don't advocate watering by dunking or immersion, but by using a rose head watering can that will allow water to penetrate everywhere (if done slowly and well) and won't disturb the slightly middle-mounded mix or wash it away. OL - Your mix sounds pretty good for Fukien, so don't worry about that. Don't use a separate layer of stones or anything on the bottom - it's been proven recently that it can worsen drainage problems (tho' usually in larger pots) than anything. If you have a lot of grit in the mix (add more!) you should be fine, but fukiens need to be watered fairly often unless they live under a bell-jar like mine do, on their own humidity trays.

Hey Lucy, by soil, I meant whatever the growing medium is. I didn't necessarily mean peat. It sounds like what overlord has is too much peat, but its hard to say without knowing the other ingredients. What you are telling Overlord about the stones on the bottom is what I was referring to from Al's post on drainage which was in the container gardening forum and here I believe. I believe the explanation had something to do with giving the feeder roots as much space as possible to spread and take in nutrients and not sit in water.

By "we also don't advocate wtering by dunking or immersion", I don't know who the "we" is. I have chatted with several people on line and in person and read four different books by four different authors who all suggest using a combination of immersion and top watering. I've been doing this with success, but I don't have any that have any major center mounds to wash away. They are slight, but I don't dunk the whole base under the water. I only allow the water to come right to the top edge of the pot, not above.

This may sound silly, but I've never heard of a rose head watering can unless that is the one that has a watering head attached to a bulb that holds the water. I would love one of those but haven't been able to find one. I see them in pictures in books. I personally use a nasal suctin bulb for babies. I have to be very careful not squeeze too hard or I get indentions in the soil, but it has worked so far. None of my friends have them either. They have their collection outside and water with a sprinkler system that has it's own set of sprinklers set to mist. Must be nice.

Hi Tanya, by 'we' I meant most long time bonsai people, and I take my lead from the expert ones, who teach and who've earned awards internationally, etc. There is that community, another of relative newbies (people only doing it as a hobby for a few years) and others who are more interested in selling lots of little clones, for instance, and who advocate (along with mass produced care tags!) immersing pots to water them, but believe me the first group I mentioned are growers, horticulturists who are dedicated to their trees, and work in bonsai full time, and the vast consensus (certainly in more recent decades) is that immersing may be a good emergency measure if a tree has become totally dried through accident, etc., but otherwise watering from above is the way to go because it allows a lot more 02 into the mix, it washes out unwanted chemicals, etc., rather than just mushing them around in the soil, and doesn't compact the soil the way sub/immersion does. The authors you're reading are unfortunately giving outdated info, or else the books are old, etc. or the authors simply not as knowledgable. Rose head cans have long spouts with flattish pads (usually brass) on the ends with tons of tiny holes, so plants get gently 'rained' on, and while it takes longer to water them, it's more natural than pouring a bunch on all at once, and doesn't disturb the soil (mounded or otherwise).

Lucy, I wasn't trying to be snide in my question. I really wanted to know who the we was. I can tell that you take your craft seriously and have been doing this a long while. I was recommended the books that I got by someone who is able to regularly attend the Houston Bonsai Club meetings. All of the books he recommended had the same idea in them and were recommended by the club. It is probable that they are liked by some but outdated in their information. I suppose now I will stop doing it if it is not the right thing to do. I have some questions for you. If I water them outside, can I use the hose if I have a sprayer that I can adjust to mist or light shower? I have a watering can like you are talking about but the water seems to come out of it way too fast. Is my can too big? Is that why it's so fast coming out? Secondly, have you ever used coir in your mix instead of peat? Lastly, I want to make sure I understand what you're talking about when you say 'grit'. What exactly is it? Course sand? Crushed shale? Decomposed granite? Do you use lava rock or fired clay in your soil? Why or why not?

Tanya - I never thought you were snide, sorry if I gave that impression. You probably need a 'better' can with smaller holes... you can get ones made in the UK which are more expensive, but worth it, or just look around there (I'm in Canada and got mine at a specialty store, but for all I know Wal-Mart or HD may have some). Sure, use the hose, mister, whatever, but it's important that all the soil get a drink of course, not just the top half. Coir has been argued about and the consensus is not good though right now I can't remember why, only that its properties for whatever reason are not recommended. As far as grit goes, if you have access to crushed lava or turface (fired clay) that's great. I also use decom. granite ('chicken grit'), builder's 'sand' (rinse off the dust... ask for it at const. sites), small bedding gravel (what it's called at the local place), a lot of the smaller glassy looking aquarium gravel (vs the painted looking colored kind), etc. People use pumice, not sure about shale, and only 1-2 spec. kinds of kitty litter are high fired, so stay away from the usual as it turns to mush. NOTHing that's been exposed to salt, grease, etc. though. And perlite's excellent if you can live with the whiteness. Fir/pine bark is important to any conifers, azalea, etc. that need acid, but sizing should be about 1/16 - 1/8" bits, not always easy to find. Mixes have been and will be argued forever, so it often ends up a matter of what's available that also works for your trees... Good luck, be glad to help whenever with whatever.

From repotting it last sunday it took 4 days for the soil to slightly dry out and watered it yesterday. It has taken the same amount of water for it to run through and is still wet to the touch. Am I ok to just water it when it needs it even though it could take 4-5 days or have I compacted the soil too much?

Jimmy.

The peat in the mix is what's staying wet all the time... do water it when say, the top half inch or so is dry, but seriously consider add more grit to the mix or changing out the peat asap.

I know I've read to never let a FT dry out because that is sure death, but 4-5 days is an awfully long time to stay that wet. What was your mix ratio?

All I know about the mix is what I wrote above ^

Today I repotted it again (jesus, if I ain't killed it now then i don't know what will) I didn't compact the soil as much and added a tiny bit more grit to the mix. It only took half the water than it did last time so I feel better...I just hope the tree does!

Jimmy

Its now been around 2 weeks since I repotted it. It is dropping 1-2 leaves per day and is still taking the soil around 3-4 days to look like it needs a water. I have noticed buds growing that look healthy. Is this a good sign or will it take a few more weeks for the repot to start effecting it?

Jimmy

Why 'a tiny bit' more grit? Why not a lot more (but don't do it again now!)? It is not a house plant and you must get rid of the mindset of 'soil' (hard to do I guess). Also give it the most light and humidity possible and then leave it alone except for watering.