We bought a Fukien Tea from Wal-Mart. After one month we knew it could not stay in the pot. It was tightly packed into a metal pot, with glued stones on top. We bought all the necessary tools to re-pot it carefully. We viewed a video on how to re-pot it first before proceeding. The soil we used was a succulent mix we purchased from Amazon because we could not find Acadama anywhere locally, and we could not import it either. We followed all the instructions step by step.
But now it is wilting.
Please tell us what to do before we lose it entirely.

Walmart does not sell bonsai. Bonsai do not come in metal pots and with stones glued on top.
What you have is a decorative plant sold as bonsai - but essentislly it is a young, low quality plant in low quality soil and the survival rate of such plant is very, very low.

You do not need akadama, anyt good, properly draining potting soil will do.

All you can do is give itt proper care - look up the.care guidelinesv- wait, and hope for tthe best.

You did not post a picture but that will not be needed - I already knowv what it will look like.

Unfortunately, ther is a lot of junk on the internet, and not all step by step advice is correct. Especially for the plant you bought, it may not be correct.

You probably have something we prefer to refer to as a mallsai, rather than bonsai. A mass-produced little tree. The species you have is VERY iffy. Not many people manage to keep them alive for more than a year or so. They really are species for moist tropics. If you keep them inside they will eventually succumb, I am afraid.

Keep moist, do not let the soil dry out. Avoid keeping the roots overly wet (Yeah, I know, now what, wet or dry!) and do not expose to dry air. Then just wait. The tree needs to get settled. And this is a process of weeks. Not days. Weeks during which the tree is really weak.

Thank you for replying. I have attached 3 pictures. The first two is how it looks now. The third one is how it looked when we bought it. It even had a handful of the tiny white flowers.

We found this link with someone who describes what we meant when we said it was packed with glued rocks on top. www.houzz.com/discussions/1369921/walmart-bonzai

Are you suggesting that we should open up the succulent mix and blend in some moist soil?

Bells wrote: . The third one is how it looked when we bought it. It even had a handful of the tiny white flowers.

Why would you make this up? This not a picture of how the tree looked. Ever. Not is it not your tree, it is even a different species.

Bells wrote: Are you suggesting that we should open up the succulent mix and blend in some moist soil?

I think i was suggesting to leave it alone.

We said the third picture was how it "looked" when we bought it, because we didn't have a pic to show how it was. Ours had a handful of tiny flowers (natural to the Fukien Tea) - the third picture does not. Please do not misunderstand. However, having said this, the origin of the tree we bought at Wal-Mart was from Costa Farms.

You can then see the exact tree on their webpage featured as "Fukien Tea - Carmona retusa."
www.costafarms.com/plants/bonsai

If you say it is a "different species," then you'll have to discuss that difference with Costa Farms.

Nevertheless, your reply and all other replies have been appreciated. Thank you.

It does take guts to call this bonsai and sell it as such.


Makes me want to cry as much as that movie that was posted by Clicio, of someone demonstrating how to [strike]mutilate and instantly kill[/strike] create an instant bonsai...

Awful. I now need to Google images of real bonsai for a while.

Well, at least they have one good advise:
"Note: Bonsai is not intended for human or animal consumption."

Just noticed their 'care' instructions:
"Most trees and shrubs grown as bonsai prefer a bright spot indoors"

Now I need to throw up too. And I didn't even eat a bonsai.

Guys, I just want to mention that I noticed the really thin wire coiled up almost parallel on the trunk. I cannot see from the photo, but what I’ve learned it could give the pression or even cutting in the bark and stops the flow from the roots to up. Am I right, or close to it?

Yes Felidae, there's a wire. It doesn't seem however tight enough to stop sap from flowing but it has definitely left scars on the bark.
Tipical of S-bend mallsais... I also have a couple.. (we all need something to start from... )

I have just attached another pic. It is getting worse by the day.
Felidea mentioned a wire...the thin wire is very loose...it is just barely holding up the tree.

I was wondering if we shouldn't clip off all the dead leaves?
I think one of you also mentioned something about leaving it alone to recover on its own (hopefully!), and just making sure it doesn't dry out.

Maybe Costa Farms should put out some sort of disclaimer besides the one mentioned.

Thanks guys, for all your comments.