We have had a small bonsai sat at the kitchen window since 2003, we water it every two days and have done since the day we got it. Recently when I was working away my wife stupidly cut down the leaves and some of the branched and she has yet to givr me a solid reason for doing so. It's been about two weeks now maybe more and theres no leaves. No new branch growth. Two leaves did grow and quickly shrivvled up and withered away. We thought it may need more water but upon research it seems thst it should get normal watering as per our usual steps.

My panic is that I love the bonsai, it's pretty small and always shines through and has never been sick before. Recently there has been more moss growth further up the trunk thsn usual. Moss has always grown atop the soil since we got it and has never caused any problems. Today I checked the bark and a piece pulled off. The under side is brown. Is this normal? There is also some specks of white mold.

To summarise -

Wife cut bonsai down to almost nothing.
No leaf growth for weeks.
We live in Ireland - bonsai has been healthy going on 15.5 years.
It has never been re potted.
Mold growth.
Water is still being taken through the roots i believe unless it's going directly to the moss.


In review; is my bonsai dead or dying?

Thanks.

Hello
Picture might help, could you please upload some to this forum? (No external links)

This one is dead.

Trimming is needed to create a desne crown. But is done on healthy trees only. I would venture a guess that the tree was not healthy, or it would have burst back with life.

Where do you keep it normally when not taking a pipcture? It could have been burnt; Although ficus should be in full sun in summer, after trimming away the canopy, it is sensitive to sunburn as the trunk is not used to direct sun.

leatherback wrote: This one is dead.

Trimming is needed to create a desne crown. But is done on healthy trees only. I would venture a guess that the tree was not healthy, or it would have burst back with life.

Where do you keep it normally when not taking a pipcture? It could have been burnt; Although ficus should be in full sun in summer, after trimming away the canopy, it is sensitive to sunburn as the trunk is not used to direct sun.

It stays in the window and has been there since we got it. It doesnt go outaide due to the wet nature of our countries climate. It was a happy tree up until the she cut the branches off. There was a good amount of green foliage atop the bonsai so it is only at this time when it has become poorly.

Thanks for your response. I appreciate it

It's a Ficus.
Wait a little longer, don't give up hope.

I´d guess this was more a chinese elm than ficus, wasn´t it guys?
I am surprised it lived so long indoors.
If you say it was a healthy tree, I would wait another 2-3 weeks and new buds might appear.
Although it look pretty dead to me too.
And by MOLD you meant MOSS didn´t you? (Judging by the photo)

keeping watering when there are no leaves is not a good idea, either way it does look dead. I would be surprised that it has been healthy for 15 years if it has never been repotted! It has probably struggled on in spite of the abuse.

Clicio wrote: It's a Ficus.
Wait a little longer, don't give up hope.

Yes, the OP never said it was a Ficus.
If indeed it was an Elm, the chances are lower.
And I agree, 15 years with no repotting is stretching the rope.

Thanks all for the responses. Someone mentioned thst I may have mistook moss for mould but no I really did mean white specks of mould which appeared on the lower area of the trunk.

I may also note that there has been more growth around the soil covering since we got it and has done no harm. it has always produced a great amount of leaves and has never been sick to this point. I will await for a few weeks as suggested and see if it is well enough before letting it go.

Quick question if anyone can help. If it decides to grow more leaves, given that it's currently 11degrees in a rainy wet Ireland, should it be okay to let it go some time without water?

I may add that the tree has looked like that in the past without leaves when it has been pruned back but she cut it shorter than usual this time around.

Hope for the sake of my daughter that it gives back some life. She wanted it for her Wendy house in 2003 and now that she's 24 it would be disappointing to know that it's completely dead.


I cant quite take on the information that it is dead with seeing other replies hinting that it could brighten up again. Had no idea on its type or variety so thanks for that information and its really much appreciated from what I can see is some very well educated bonsai enthusiasts.