Software
Houzz Logo Print
webuser_982400249

I was wandering what is the exact kind of Bonzi tree I have?

4 years ago

This is my Bonzi tree. I have had it a little over a year now, I have not really trimmed or shaped it. I live in a dry climate, but have a plant humidifier. It lives indoors with a plant grow light. It is watered once every two days, and has the right soil. Yet the "leaves" are a yellow kind of color. So I was wondering why, and what I can do to fix it.

Thank you!

Comments (5)

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I’m afraid that’s a moribund, or likely already dead, Juniper. They’re not suited to being indoors so treating it as a houseplant has worked against it. And I wonder if that container has a drainage hole? You’ve been overwatering and if there’s no drain hole its even more detrimental.

  • 4 years ago

    Floral beat me to it but unfortunately, you have a dead bonsai tree that was once a juniper. Virtually impossible to keep a juniper alive indoors for any length of time. Maybe a few weeks but certainly not for more than a year!!

  • 4 years ago

    It was Juniperus procumbens "nana" (dwarf Japanese garden juniper)

    Reason it's no longer viable: In nature, the respiration rate (the rate at which the plant uses energy) must be lower than the rate at which the plant makes its food/energy during photosynthesis if the plant is to live. Outdoors, cool temperatures in autumn would slow respiration markedly, so the tree remains roughly in balance with the plant's reduced ability to create food/energy during shorter fall/winter days and lower light intensity.

    When you brought the little juniper indoors, the relatively high indoor temperatures and low humidity levels caused respiratory function to skyrocket, while at the same time, low indoor light levels notably limited the plant's ability to create food/energy. So substantively, the plant starved to death.

    Al

  • 4 years ago

    no plant.. especially a conifer tree like this.. needs water every other day ... they usually prefer a sip of water and total drainage before the next watering ... does that pretty pot have a drain hole ...


    also.. it was poorly pruned before you got it.. if you havent pruned it since ... never leave pruning stubs on a tree of any kind ...


    yeah.. its dead ...


    anyway... its hard to grow trees indoors.. and adding bonsai root pruning to the equation.. doesnt make it any easier ...


    ken



  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I have many junipers in bonsai pots which in summer often require watering every day or every other day.

    Whether or not to leave a pruning stub on a tree depends a lot on the circumstances. Some reasons that would make a bonsai practitioner WANT to leave a branch stub:

    1) The branch will be used as 'jin', a deadwood feature that compliments the composition. Juniper very commonly are shown with many deadwood features utilizing stubs of branches intentionally debarked in order to kill the branch.

    2) Almost all deciduous trees have many dormant or adventitious buds in branch axils or in tissues that make up the branch collar or bark ridge. If you were removing a branch near the top of the tree because the branch was too heavy (thick), pruning flush with concave cutters could eliminate many of those buds, which would eliminate potential for new thin branches to arise from tissues surrounding the wound.

    3) On many species, NOT leaving a stub can cause a considerable amount of dieback of tissues surrounding the wound, creating large and unsightly scars which heal very slowly in 'thin-skinned' trees. Leaving a short stub allows the stub to die back to its attachment point to the lower order branch or trunk. Soon, a branch collar will begin to grow at the base of the branch, which clearly delineates between dead tissue and the live branch collar attempting to roll over the branch. Then, cutting the dead branch stub flush to the outside of the branch collar allows the collar to roll smoothly over the wound, reducing the size and unsightliness of any scars. This is particularly useful when working trees with smooth/thin bark, like Stewartia.


    This ^^^ is a before/after image with Marc Noelanders actually sitting in a large tree, and what it looked like ...... with liberal use of deadwood, after styling.

    Al

Sponsored
Outdoor Spaces
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars19 Reviews
Experienced Full Service Landscape Design Firm Serving Loudoun County