This might explain the whole thing. It seems the mixture was
too
concentrated. Also the watering was done by placing it in a
few
inches of water so the soil never got a chance to wash out.
Lot of
the leaves fell into the plant too and some of the soap residue
might
have gone into the soil because the leaf drop seems to have
accelerated recently. Plant is not robust enough to replant
but we
did replace the soil on the outside. I am wondering if we can
give
the soil a good wash by watering it from the top for a few
minutes.
Will this be too much water?


Repotting seldom hurts a sick plant, especially if roots are the
problem.

I recall you saying you watered every 3-4 days. That sounds
pretty good, but do you check the soil before you water? It
should be barely damp to the touch, or even dry. Your
description of brown-turning-black leaves is typical of a root
problem, and the most common root problem is too much water
and
rotted roots.

I water it after testing the soil by inserting the finger about
1/2"
deep. If it is damp then it is not watered.

What kind of soil is it in? And, oh yes, are there rocks
glued
onto the top of the soil?

It was in soild that came orignially with the plant. I am not
sure
about "rocks glued onto ..." What do you mean by that?

If you can jam your finger into the soil, there aren't any
rocks -- and if they were there, you'd know it. ;-)


As the tree is probably leafless now, it will want less water
since it no longer is transpiring through the leaves.

Noted.

_I_ would lift the tree from its pot and take a close look at
the
roots. They should be yellow-brown and firm, not black and
soggy-crumbly.

The roots seem fine.

Others have already told you that Serissa lose their leaves
when
you even look cross-eyed at them, but this sounds more
serious;
usually the leaves just turn yellow and drop off. Then they
immediately (almost) resprout.

Strange thing is that there is a little bit of growth but when
leaves
get bigger they die out. Also some of the leaves are
disproportionately large but that is because they are close to
the
light source.


Gosh, that STILL sounds like a root problem. Those new leaves
are sprouting from the nutrient reserves the tree has stored up
for the winter. The fact that they're dying right away indicates
to me that there's nothing much _beyond_ those reserves. It
doesn't sound to me like there is a lot of hope, but _I_ would
repot into a shallow, LARGER pot (maybe an azalea pot???), using
a coarse bonsai soil, then would set it aside in a cool spot, but
still where it gets at least 12 hours of good light.

BTW, large leaves usually indicate the light level is too LOW --
the tree is trying its darndest to increase the surface area to
allow at least some photosynthesis.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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