You're killing your tree with that bag. The circles you made on the pics are all fungal infections from the high humidity and lack of air movement. The bag's gotta go. Remove & flush/burn the affected leaves & DO NOT MIST YOUR PLANT.

IF you really are growing in the 5:1:1 mix, you needn't worry about watering properly or about salt build-up, so there is NO need to go to the expense of using distilled water.

Forum discussions frequently center on the question of adding dilute coffee/tea or grounds to plants as a 'tonic', but Arabica (coffee) and Camellia (tea) are known for their toxic alkaloid (caffeine) content and their allelopathic affect on plants as well as autotoxic (to their own seedlings) effects on future generations. Caffeine interferes with root development by impairing protein metabolism. This affects activity of an important bio-compound (PPO) and lignification (the process of becoming woody), crucial steps for root formation.

We also know that the tannins in both coffee and tea are known allelopaths (growth inhibitors). There are ongoing experiments to develop herbicides using extracts from both coffee and tea that cause me to want to say they might serve better as a nonselective herbicide than as a tonic. I would not use either on my plants; nor would I add tea bags/coffee grounds to my container soils.

You should size your pictures before you post because when they are too wide you cannot view the whole thread w/o using the lateral scroll bar.

Al

Sorry about the pics...

Thanks for the advice. I see what you mean about the fungus. However, I'm kind of torn. This plant needs very high humidity, especially when transplanted, and the person I bought the tree from gave me very specific instructions not to remove from the bag for 60 days, even if it gets the spots shown. Basically he said that this is the lesser of two evils since the tree will most likely die if it doesn't very gradually adjust to the humidity change. He said he tried it without a bag and it didn't last long at all. Do you have any experience with these trees? I am noticing maybe 20% of the leaves are afflicted. Maybe I should try and transition it away from the humidity at a fast pace now?

As for the coffee grinds you are right I'm sure. I only added them in an attempt to acidify the soil since my inaccurate hand meter gave a reading around 6.5 I need soil in the 4.5-5 range. I'm thinking about adding a little sulfuric acid to the water I give it since the solution is probably more important than the soil itself. It seems these guys are tough customers. What do you think about leaving it in the rain a few days this week? Is there any spray that can help with whatever is taking over my leaves?

Whoever told you to leave the tree in that bag is full of beans ..... but I have no dog in this fight, so you can do as you wish. ;o)

I don't know all the particulars, but the tree could die or lose all it's foliage IF it was growing at very high humidity and you suddenly transitioned it to 6b indoor unhumidified conditions, but NOTHING justifies that bag. You can see the results for yourself. What difference if the tree loses it's foliage to low humidity or dies from fungal infection? Cut a hole in the bag & make it larger every 3 days.

What's wrong with an ounce or two of white vinegar in the irrigation water to neutralize alkalinity and raise pH?

Read through this thread, and then decide if you would prefer to listen to what I'm telling you or if you'd rather stick with the advice you've been given. ;o)

The ball is in your court, but in the meanwhile, your tree suffers.

Al

I see what you're saying, and it makes sense. I'm going to start to phase out the plastic bag. It's a delicate balance though because it seems many people have had difficulty getting this plant established. Ideally I would have liked to wait for a little bit of new growth. I was using distilled water because I omitted the gypsum which I understand is supposed to counteract salts dissolved in water. It seems that lots of nursery's are using distilled water on this guy because it can be a very tough customer!

Do you have any thoughts on spraying with diluted hydrogen peroxide?

How about acidifying the soil with something like this?
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/chelated-iron.html

It's my understanding usually plants require a low PH in order to better uptake iron, so this would be a good bet.

Also I will try foliar feeding a little I think, because adding fertilizer to a plant in this condition might be more than it can take.

Why would fertilizing a plant be more than it can take? Over fertilizing would be, but the same is true of a healthy plant.

If you had a sick child would you withhold nutrition or ensure that child was getting his/her nutritional needs met while ill?

I think you have become the victim of a number of commonly perpetuated, but completely incorrect notions. If your goal is to get the plant to grow, it needs nutrition or it won't grow in a healthy way.

Foliar sprays may be helpful for specific micronutrient deficiencies, but rarely are they needed if one is fertilizing reasonably.

Adding chelated iron won't acidify the potting mix, it will allow the plant easier access to iron is all. Chelated nutrients aren't subject to the pH issue to the same extent as nonchelated ones.

The above is general information, I know nothing of the specifics of this tree. I rather doubt it breaks any general horticultural rules though. It is, after all, a plant ;)

Good luck with your tree.

I agree - How on earth would you think this plant could survive in nature if it needs such special care - to be handled with kid gloves. It ain't gonna happen. You have a lot of fragments of information and misinformation that you're trying to apply haphazardly w/o the basic knowledge to envision results over the longer term. Believe me when I say you'd be much better off, your bush, too, if you stick to some very basic, tried and true, horticultural practices.

Take care.

Al

Some good points...I'm going to try to transition the plant to outside in the next day or two. I'll mix in a little gypsum and azalea fertilizer into the top 6 inches maybe too I guess since I hear it responds well to that. Hopefully well. Basically I just feel the need to baby it a bit since it is a tropical plant and I am in NJ. Not exactly a tropical paradise lol.