I'm a new owner and making lots of mistakes as my pictures can show you. There is white stuff on my tree, tiny looking mites, and these strange millipede looking insects that are tiny. I water only when the soil is dry, so once every 1-3 days.

I read on the instruction card that came with this bonsai that I should fertilize it every 6 months. I'm hearing now that for an indoor bonsai, I should fertilize year round. I bought Uncle Bill's Bonsai Brew (3-3-3) and used it once last Sunday and per it's instructions I plan to use it once every 2 weeks.

I also bought some Natria Neem Oil that I just applied to the tree and the soil to possibly address the bugs and white stuff.

I want to see if I can save this tree but I don't know if what I'm doing is going to help or hurt the tree. I'm open to thoughts and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Its probabiliteit dead...
Carmona is not the easiest plant to start with, mainly because plants/trees belong outside. There is no such thing as an indoor bonsai....
The climate these so-called indoor trees require is very difficult to achieve in our homes: air is too dry, draft, temp is not right, just not enough sunlight ( behind a window is not enough) , etc etc.
Most bonsai enthusiasts stay away from these mallsai ( take the time to google the expression), and certainly the "indoor" kind.
If you want to start doing bonsai, read up ( this forum is a good start) , get a nice start plant that is native to the part of the world you live in, and enjoy that outside!

You were right. The tree was dead. To anyone that finds this thread, one way to find out if your tree is on its way out is a scratch test. Cut back just a bit on a branch to see if you find any green. If it's not and the branch is rather brittle, the branch is likely dead. You can check at the trunk as well. There are videos online that you can view for examples, just be sure you aren't greviously wounding your tree in the process. Maybe have some wound treatment handy just in case. Just a little bit past the outer bark should be enough to tell if there is life still in the tree... Anywho, maybe I'll try again once I actually have a balcony or porch to put a bonsai outside... The poor tree only lasted 5 months with me.

Walkingwill wrote: wrote:

You were right. The tree was dead. To anyone that finds this thread, one way to find out if your tree is on its way out is a scratch test. Cut back just a bit on a branch to see if you find any green. If it's not and the branch is rather brittle, the branch is likely dead. You can check at the trunk as well.

I do not advice to use this method. First, because not all trees have a green cambium. Second, because it will nbot tell you wether a tree is alive: Also dead plants can have a gren layer for weeks after dying. Thirdly, because it is very similar to me taking a knife to a comateuse patient to see whether blood comes out when stabbed. Do not wound an already sick plant more. Any wound can result in infections, and it leads to blemishes on the bark.

Walkingwill wrote: wrote:

...one way to find out if your tree is on its way out is a scratch test.

I also have mixed feelings about the scratch test. Twice I got fooled by it, once a very alive quince in autumn that I thought it was dead (and abandoned it, but it sprouted), and then a conifer called here "holland thuja" (Cupressus macrocarpa), that was green inside, but dead for some weeks.