Jaboticaba

[rickyricardo]

First let me introduce myself, my name is Rick and I have been browsing this forum for quite some time and have enjoyed the informative threads I have read. Here is my dilemma:

I bought a new tree yesterday at a reputable Bonsai Nursery. It is a Jaboticaba, popular fruit tree from Brazil (Myrciaria cauliflora). Heres the deal, at least 60-70% of the leaves on this tree were browning at the ends. I only purchased it because of its beautiful branch structure, and oh yeah it was 50% off along with many other trees. When I asked the owner about the leaves he really didn't convince me that he knew what was causing it. He thought maybe overwatering, but I not buying that. Anyway when I looked up the tree in one of my books, (Bonsai in Your Home, Paul Lesniewicz pg. 144), the picture of the tree had the same identical browning of the leaves. Does anyone have any knowledge as to what this might be?

[Gadiel]

This is very common problem with the Jaboticaba. The caus of this brown area at the tip of the leaves is caused because the tree needs water on the soil. This is very common when the leaveas are new and very fragiles.

My recomendation is defoliage the tree and transplant the bonsai on a mix that have a 50% river sand 25% peatmoss and 25% humus(organic material)
This tree needs a lot of water and lot of food to look on good shape.

Gadiel

[rickyricardo]

Thanks Gadiel. The first thing I did when I got it home, after referring to my books, was to prune off all the browning leaves. That was about 40% of them. The rest of the leaves are new and look very healthy. Repotting will be done next week when I can get the pot I want. I want to plant it in a very shallow pot. Any problems with that?

Thanks...............................Rick