Lighthouse Kerry Blues wrote:
Hi,

We recently purchased a very large Hackberry bonsai tree. It must be
very old because it's trunk has a 2 inch diameter. It has been doing
fine outside, receiving early morning sun, then getting indirect sun
the rest of the day. Recently here in Phoenix it went up 107 degrees.
We've been keeping it watered but noticed yesterday that the leaves
have dried up and sort of shriveled up. Is this due to the heat? We've
since brought it inside and are furiously talking to it telling it that
it can not die! lol Is there anything else we can do for it, is it past
the point of no return, was the heat too much for it?

Thanks,

If it is your native hackberry, Celtis reticulata, it MUST
be outside. In fact, none of the hackberries are indoor
trees, but I don't think any of the other Celtis species
will survive at all in Phoenix. It is a riparian tree
(stream banks) and lives under the canopies of cottonwood
and large willows, etc. so it should be kept in the shade in
the summer. It likes moist soil, but like most trees does
not like perpetually WET soil.

There is a Phoenix Bonsai Society, and it has a website but
I don't have the address. Google should find it. Go there,
find a member and get local help -- and do it quickly.
There's not much margin of safety when temps reach 100 degrees.

But it WILL NOT SURVIVE INDOORS.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - When we
see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to
use it with love and respect - Aldo Leopold - A Sand County
Almanac

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++