Hi,

I'm new to bonsai care having bought a tree at Christmas. The tree has been doing really quite well until approximately 3 weeks ago. I've followed instructions found online pretty much to the letter however have now run into problems and could do with your expert opinions

Individual leaves have started turning yellow (young and old leaves), then brown and then dropping off. The tree was situated on a south facing windowsill during the winter to maximise light however I have now moved it out of direct sunlight to see if this helps (debunk as required). Some leaves look as if they've been munched on however I can see no visible evidence of flys / mites.

I have attached a couple of pics - would really appreciate some help.

You need to put this tree outside

yep, time for sunshine and cool rains.

Carmona is a bit of a tricky plant. Contrary to common believe plants do not like the climate we have in our house. Especially plants like carmona who prefer a much higher humidity. If you look online you will find that very few keep this species alive for very long outside regular tropics.

Ensure you do not drown the roots, but that you water through and through with a watering can and then let the soil drie up a little before watering again. This is a tricky thing because the soil should not really dry out.

Notice: This is a tropical plant. Unless your nights are consistently well over 10C (~50F) do not place it outside. It needs the warmth.

leatherback wrote: Carmona is a bit of a tricky plant. Contrary to common believe plants do not like the climate we have in our house. Especially plants like carmona who prefer a much higher humidity. If you look online you will find that very few keep this species alive for very long outside regular tropics.

Ensure you do not drown the roots, but that you water through and through with a watering can and then let the soil drie up a little before watering again. This is a tricky thing because the soil should not really dry out.

Notice: This is a tropical plant. Unless your nights are consistently well over 10C (~50F) do not place it outside. It needs the warmth.

Thanks for this comment Leatherback.
I recently acquired a Carmona for my wife as she wanted a little project she could learn on but inside. Our temps are nowhere near 10C at night at the moment. We have it on a south facing window in the kitchen with no radiator heat near. We changed the substrate it was transported in to some Akadama/Lava rock mix and left it alone. Seems happy enough.