I gave the trunk a good scratch sort of towards the base...I had to scratch it quite a bit in order to see the trunk...I hope that won't damage the tree somehow...is there a way to 'seal' the scratch? In any case, I think it may still be alive. Under the bark, while it wasn't green, it was more like a yellow with a tinge of green,,,and it felt smooth...not dry... So ....if it IS still alive, is it normal that 3-4 weeks after all the leaves fell off, no sign of new leaves? I HAVE continued to water the plant every other day or so...a full soaking. Tx!

The two worst plants any beginner can start with are serissa and fukien tea, the problem is that both of these are 'pleasing' to the eye and look nice to start with. Both can be and usually are a royal pain in the butt to work with. When in the states I grew mine in a greenhouse setting (along with a few other tropicals) but never a FT. What you should do is Google care of them, there is a wealth of info on the web. If you go to the website of Jerry Mislick he has a ton of information on care of most tropicals and he grows them indoors way up north. To handle them indoors you will need at least flourecent lighting 5 or 6" above the plants. With just a few one standard double tube fixture should be enough to work. Humidity trays help but with dry central heating it's more of a placebo for you in the winter. You should buy the highest wattage tubes you can find and 'full spectrum' is best. They should have the lights on 12 to 14 hours a day. The plants will get 'leggy' but you just prune that back in the spring. As a point of information: I did a test of serissa vs. soil mixes a number of years ago under controlled conditions. The winning medium was pure medium Perlite...which looks really crappy when used in a Bonsai pot. Bob

First, it's a fallacy that succulents like to go dry before you water them. Succulents PREFER an evenly moist soil. The problem is they react poorly to saturated soil, so if your soil supports any significant amount of perched water, you have a problem. Succulents gone dry suffer drought stress just like other plants. Fortunately, they generally tolerate that stress a little better than other commonly grown houseplants, and are able to recover. That built in ability to TOLERATE, shouldn't be taken as a preference. Plants tolerate a lot they don't like. If you have foliage at the ends of branches, you need to determine what's causing it. The big 3 are low light, low N supply, and root congestion. If roots are congested, it won't matter how much light or N you supply, the growth will tend to concentrate near apices and your plant will have that 'poodle' look; so be thinking 'repot' if the plant needs it, and around Father's day is a good time to do it. You can use the Miracle-Gro. It's a fine fertilizer for containerized plants. For bonsai though, fertilizers that get their N from nitrate sources are better because they tend to keep growth compact by reducing internode length and keeping leaves smaller. If you DO use the MG, you'll need to be sure your plants are getting an adequate supply of Ca & Mg, because they are lacking in the MG. If you're making your own soil and didn't use lime (dolomite), you'll need to address this issue. I won't get to deeply into it until I find out what you're using for soil. Avoid watering in sips. The practice ensures that soluble salts will build up in the soil, causing a drought reaction that could cause shedding of foliage and branches, or poor looking foliage and poor growth. Use a soil that allows you to flush the soil when you water. For bonsai, nothing else is appropriate and will lead to problems. You can review pictures upthread. Soils like Josh, Parabellum, and I use will all please you and your plant. A picture would be nice ..... Al

I make sure to use water that has sat out overnight to water my plants. Does that not make a difference? Or not enough of a difference? You already learned that the crystalline structures on the leaves of your plant is composed of dissolved solids (sugar and mineral salts) left behind as the water in the exudate associated with the guttation (primarily driven by over-watering) evaporates. If you allow your water to rest overnight in an open pan, some of the water in the pan evaporates, but ALL of the dissolved solids in the water are left behind, So technically, the concentration of dissolved solids in the water (which includes fluoride, and chloramine, used now to chlorinate most tapwater) would be slightly higher than water straight from the tap. The pH of water straight from the tap is also slightly lower than water that has rested for a period of time, due to dissolved CO2 gassing off. Also yes, can you point me in the direction of drain hole tutorials?? I'm guessing you mean how to drill the holes? This should help: Drilling holes in pots The 2 types of drill bits most appropriate for drilling holes in pots are a diamond core drill for the highly vitrified (hard material - baked at very high temps - glass, ceramic, ......) pots, and a drill with several names for drilling clay pots fired at low temps, such as terra cotta. That (carbide) drill is called a 3-point drill, spear point drill, or a spade drill, seen here: You only need 1 - in 1/2 or 3/8" size. For the hard stuff, diamond core drills are best, though the 3 point drill will drill the hard stuff, too. Diamond core drills: You can buy either type at big box stores. They're not that expensive, and they last a long time if you take care of them. They are best used with a steady stream of coolant from a squeeze bottle (contact lens solution bottles work great for this) or with the work surface barely submerged. IE, put the pot upside down in a tub and fill the tub with water until it just covers the work surface. If you use a spritzer or squirt bottle, a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water is an excellent coolant, and soapy water is better than plain water but not as good as the antifreeze mix. The coolant keeps the tool from over-heating, and in doing so, increases the life of the tool substantially - like triple or quadruple the number of holes you can drill. Regular masonry bits are "ok" for drilling terra cotta or cement (you can make them work), but inappropriate for anything harder. The right tool makes everything easier. And lastly, should I be flushing all my plants (pothos, croton, aloe, snake plant...) when I water? One way or another - YES, absolutely. Ideally, your choice of soil should allow you to water to beyond the point of saturation, so you're flushing the soil as you water. If you can't do that w/o worry that the soil will remain soggy for a prolonged period, limiting root function, or worse, wrecking root health it would be best to consider learning how to amend the soil you're using or make a soil that allows you to flush the soil regularly. There are also a few very simple work-arounds that will allow you to use a soil that would otherwise be inappropriate. For example - if you're using a soil too water-retentive for a plant's well-being, and you need to flush it - you can flush thoroughly over a sink or tub or outdoors. When the pot stops draining, hold it in your hand(s) and move it up and down. You'll note that on the reversal from downward to upward motion, Newton's First Law of Motion takes over and some of the excess water in the pot exits through the drain hole. As the amount of water diminishes, more can be forced from the soil by reversing directions more forcibly. As long as your pot is of a manageable size, this simple trick is invaluable for anyone using an excessively water-retentive soil. If the pot is too large, you can use a wick to drain excess water, or even tipping the pot at a 45* angle to drain makes a very significant difference in how much excess water a medium can hold. Compare B with A to see how much excess water the simple act of tipping the pot forces from the pot. E shows what a wick, used correctly for best benefit, can achieve. D shows one way of using ballast to reduce excess water. Even when using extremely water retentive soils, ballast can reduce the amount of excess water a soil can hold to less than 5% of what it would hold w/o use of ballast. Al