Hi, ok, first of all they are very fussy crazy trees, so don't beat yourself up. Second, get it away from the air conditioner. Far away. Third, get the water out of the saucer - once a tree has finished draining after you water it (a few minutes at most) dump out the water, because what you're doing is rotting the roots otherwise. That's not a humidity tray... which is a big wide one with pebbles or anything in it (that won't rust or rot) for the pot to sit on, water in the tray, but never high enough to touch the pot. Stop misting it - you're asking for mildew and it doesn't help otherwise except to add more water to the pot. You don't mention sun - but it can take a lot all day long, so get it more light. Water when the top of the soil and just about 1" down is dry, not to some schedule. When you do water, do it well enough so most of the roots get some (don't just sprinkle the top 1". Let me know how you're doing in 10 days. If leaves are completely brown & dry, snip off with tiny scissors. Be patient, it may take a while to recover.

thx so much, ill try all of that, it is near the window, but I guess that it is not getting enough sun. I will try all that you said and let you know how it works out. thx again ^_^

BTW, the tray that the pot sits on is full of gravel, does thta make it a humidity tray?

It could be full of anything that keeps the pot above the water, with a tray (or soup tureen or anything else that's wide enough to span the foliage spread of the tree and hold water). The idea is to provide water evaporating right at the plant without actually wetting the soil - however you do it and whatever you call it.

I am having trouble finding a good spot in my house that will get it sun, can it go outside for a certain ammount of hours each day? and then I bring it back in for the night? or something... also, I dont think the air conditioner is drying it out, because the soil is still damp and everything. could the air conditioner still be hurting it? Im sorry if some of these questions are stupid, but i am trying to figure out a good spot for it. Also, would artificial sunlight be a good alternative in my case?

Damp soil is due to bad soil, and has very little to do with humidity in the air. A/C WILL dry it out, make it cold, etc. and with the lack of light it has right now, is altogether bad. The crummy soil it came in needs changing to coarse loam (NO peat, potting soil or topsoil from outside) about 2/5 the mix, small bark mulch bits 1/5, and 2/5 chicken grit (from a farm feed store) OR small, rough aquarium gravel, OR crushed lava rock, pumice OR turface (the last can be hard to find so don't worry about it unless you have it handy). That mix will allow water to drain much faster, so if you feel the need to water say when the top 1/2" is dry, go ahead, especially if it's in more sun all day. Don't ever let the pot sit in drain water tho', of course. If you can find a small (1') fluorescent fixture and have it 6" above the plant x 15 hrs/day, it'll be a lot happier. If you were more experienced, and depending on where you live, etc., it might go out in summer, but you might just be better off keeping it in for now as there are other factors involved, and bringing it in and out isn't good for it either.

I see...Would putting it inside an empty aquarium tank and using heat lamps (like for a reptile) be an OK idea? I think I will just either cover up the air conditioner completely, or i will leave it off, it gets some light from outside where it is right now (now that I have lifted the shade on the widnow as high as it can go) The main problem is, I need to have it in the room I sleep in so that I remember to take care of it regularly. I know that this is silly, but first of all, the only other place to put it is in my sister's room and If it is in there, I will most likely forget to take care of it. Also, since you suggested re-potting it, could you recomend the order of the soil that it should go in? (IE. bottom layer gravel, then soil, then wood chips...ETC) BTW, thanks again for all of your help ^_^

EVERYthing I mentioned (but do take the 'Or's' into acct. of course) gets mixed together... NO layers anywhere. It needs a lot more light than you're allowing it - can't you put it on something right in the brightest window of the house/apt.? I also think that if you're that prone to forgeting about it, bonsai may not be the thing for you... they require more attention than house plants, not the other way around. Aquariums, too much moisture, a confined space and lots of light/heat = insects, mold, mildew, etc. etc. It's needs good air circulation, bright natural light and watering according to need (which can take some time to learn), so if you can't deal with it, maybe you know someone who's really into bonsai who will care. Don't mean to sound impatient here, but it's a tree, not an African violet.

I understand, I will do all that you suggested. thx again

Let me know how it is in a month!

Oh wait, I almost forgot, What could the leaves at the top turning white mean? Ive never seen or heard of this happening to a plant or tree before...

Since I was completely unable to find a suitable lighting spot that was in a room that was not TOO hot all the time (the previously mentioned room, my sister's, is always at like 80 degrees...I thought that that would be too much constant heat on the tree, but I could be wrong...) Anyways, I purchased a fluerescent (SP?) lighting plant grow system from bonsai boy (Link to the actual product - http://www.bonsaiboy.com/catalog/product203.html). So far, this light seems to be helping the plant out alot, atleast from what I can see, it is not getting worse, and now it's flowers are blooming completely and they are all white (whereas before they were white and purple) and from the pictures of serissa trees that were in bloom that I have seen, all of the flowers were white, so I think this means that the tree is doing better...I hope it is atleast. Also, I have another question, the first few flowers at the top of the tree are still white-ish, what could this mean? also, there are 2 stem-like branches frowing out of the pot that came with the tree, with these stems, they do not have dwarfed leaves like the rest of the tree, also their leaves are not as dark green as the rest of the tree's, in fact they are lightish green and some of them are slightly brown, what should I do? Since this "stem" is not a part of the main tree-trunk, should I just snip it off? or...? Please get back to me when you have the chance. Thanks in advance ^_^.

Hi, 80 F. is not too hot for your tree, but dryness in the room could be. What's growing from below are called suckers (like you might see growing around apple trees outside) and cut them off just below the soil as they'll take energy you want to keep in the main trunk. They're lite green because they're new. If your flowers had purple before, and don't now, they may still not have enough lite, but I'd leave that alone for now (plus some flowers do change color as they grow) as things seem to be going well otherwise. I think it's probably pretty happy!

Why on earth would you think 80 degrees is too hot for a tropical :-)? Some places during the summer it doesn't get that cool at night.

I've been in the central part of the Yucatan out of the wind in a valley where temps were over 120 degrees with 90 percent humidity and plumerias and bougainvilleas were blooming up a storm.

It's hit 98 degrees 2 days in a row on my back porch and most of my tropicals are loving it. They keep on going when it's mid 110's later on when summer gets here.

IMHO most people baby their plants way too much and then wonder why their plants croak the first time adversity comes their way.

randy

I see, ill take both of your advice into account, thanks again ^_^

When I brought my serissa home I was excited to repot the thing. In doing this I devided the tree into 2 trees. The one I wanted to keep and put in a nice pot was about 12'' tall and alot of leaves, but only had a few strands of roots cause I made a bad cut. I planted it and wired it in place, I though for sure the plant was going to die. I gave it some shade for a day or two and then put it out in full sun and kept the soil moist. It lost all of its leaves. Then about 5 days after losing all of its leaves, new buds came out. This was about 3 months ago. Since then, I have purned the tree.
Florida has excelent conditions for this plant, so for you, find a place in your house where you can duplicate florida weather as close as you can. You need lots of sun, high humidity and do not let the plant dry out for more than a 1/2 day. With that, the plant should do well.
I would not trim off the branches, even if all the leaves are gone too soon. Wait to see if the brances die and break off, then trim. It might just be shell shocked and might bounce back.
-Bill