Dear friends,

After several years of growing different cactii
indoors, I have decided to test my luck with a Bonsai
tree.
Today I bought a Serissa Seroides and immidiately i
logged onto the net to find out info about its care
etc...

I have to mention that I found only 2-3 sites that
actually talk about this particular species of
Serissa. Many others talk about Serissa Foetida and a
few others Serissa species but very few about the
Seroides.

However, I downloaded information on Serissa care and
on general Bonsai care, but I would like to ask you a
few Serissa Seroides specific questions (I have read
the FAQ).

Q1. I live in Greece and there is plenty of sunshine
from April until October, although I would prefer to
grow my Bonsai indoors using artificial light. Or is
it better to leave the tree outside in the shade to
absorb more light ?
I could even leave it outside under strong sunlight
but I guess this would eventually burn the tree.

Q2. AFter reading all the texts I downloaded, I
decided (as with most Bonsai's) to water the tree as
often as to keep the soil moist throughout. Am I right
on this ?
It is better to place the Serissa in a tray of water
until the tree is watered throught and then remove the
tray and leave any excess water to drain through,
right ?

Q3. I plan to repot it to a slightly larger pot.
However I do not want to prune any roots because my
lack of experience my damage the tree. Is it ok to
repot it as it is without pruning any roots and
without removing the attached soil ?
Or shall I remove the old soil from around the roots ?

Please let me know your thoughts. Any other Seroides
tips are welcome.

best regards,
D.



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Dear friends,

After several years of growing different cactii
indoors, I have decided to test my luck with a Bonsai
tree.
Today I bought a Serissa Seroides and immidiately i
logged onto the net to find out info about its care
etc...

I have to mention that I found only 2-3 sites that
actually talk about this particular species of
Serissa. Many others talk about Serissa Foetida and a
few others Serissa species but very few about the
Seroides.

There is only ONE species of Serissa and that is S. foetida. All
other names are bogus or obsolete (or both).


However, I downloaded information on Serissa care and
on general Bonsai care, but I would like to ask you a
few Serissa Seroides specific questions (I have read
the FAQ).

You've probably got what there is. The care and feeding of a
Serissa can be a terrifying experience (or so I'm told). ;-)


Q1. I live in Greece and there is plenty of sunshine
from April until October, although I would prefer to
grow my Bonsai indoors using artificial light. Or is
it better to leave the tree outside in the shade to
absorb more light ?

ALL plants prefer being outdoors. Some will grow OK indoors, and
Serissa foetida is one of those. It will ALWAYS do better
outdoors when temperatures are above freezing.

I could even leave it outside under strong sunlight
but I guess this would eventually burn the tree.

Not at all. Even in Greece, one of my favorite places
(especially Rhodos).


Q2. AFter reading all the texts I downloaded, I
decided (as with most Bonsai's) to water the tree as
often as to keep the soil moist throughout. Am I right
on this ?

Yes. Moist. NOT wet.

It is better to place the Serissa in a tray of water
until the tree is watered throught and then remove the
tray and leave any excess water to drain through,
right ?

That's OK, but it is best to use a sprinkler can and water from
the top -- like rain -- the natural way.

Q3. I plan to repot it to a slightly larger pot.
However I do not want to prune any roots because my
lack of experience my damage the tree. Is it ok to
repot it as it is without pruning any roots and
without removing the attached soil ?

Oh my. The answer is yes -- IF the tree has been in its present
pot for a while. This means if there are roots filling the whole
pot. If you can lift it out of its pot without a lot of soil
crumbling away from the rootball, it's OK. If it is loose in the
pot, however, and if it looks like a lot of soil will fall away
when you lift it out of the pot, this means (probably) that it
was just recently put into that pot. Moving it again --
especially if all or most of the soil falls away from the
roots -- could be dangerous.

(And, of course, testing to see whether soil is loose or not
could be dangerous; it's hard to put the soil back around the
roots if it falls away.)

So, frankly, I'd leave it in its current pot for this summer,
fall and winter and then repot late next spring.

Or shall I remove the old soil from around the roots ?

NO

jim lewis - Tallahassee, FL

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Lately, Jim and I have been agreeing to often. It's not healthy. So:


Q2. AFter reading all the texts I downloaded, I
decided (as with most Bonsai's) to water the tree as
often as to keep the soil moist throughout. Am I right
on this ?

Yes. Moist. NOT wet.


I prefer the "Knuckles" Vrooman method of poking a finger into the
soil (up to the first joint) and checking if the soil is *barely*
moist at that depth. If a Serissa is moist on the surface, I'm
thinking it's being over-watered, and it will do that
drop-all-its-leaves thing that Jim so tactfully did not mention.

As a general rule, underwatering is better than overwatering, but not
to the point of the plant wilting. A person has to learn what the
soil looks like just before it gets dry enough to wilt the plant.
Unfortunately, the way to learn this is usually by making a mistake.

I think there should be "master indoor gardener" courses where people
are given indicator plants that function as canaries in a coal mine.
I'd give everyone two plants potted in the same mix: a Clivia to
teach them not to over-water (Clivias that are overwatered get
unsightly scabs called Oedema), and a Maranta (prayer plant) to teach
them not to underwater (Maranta leaves roll up when under-watered,
but tend to recover). An added bonus is that both of these are very
attractive houseplants, much prettier than Serissas.

JUST JOKING,
--
Nina Shishkoff

Frederick, MD

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While you guys are mentioning Serissas I have a question. I have two of them
in training pots. Both were healthy when I removed them from their nursery
pots. I did minimal root work on both of them, ( untangled and trimmed back
some overly long roots ), both went in to the same soil mix, both are next
to each other and recieve the same amount of sunlight, and both were healthy
all through last year. This past winter one of them dropped all its leaves
and hasn't regrown any of them while the other is sending out new growth
even with the crazy fluctuations in weather we are having in Northern CA. I
scraped a bit of the bark off the unruly one and the cambium is still green
but it isn't producing any new growth or budding. Any ideas or should I
compost it?

--I crucified my hate and
held the world within my hands--
Neal Ross-Marysville CA


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At 6:14 AM -0500 5/8/03, Neal Ross wrote:
I have two of them in training pots.

I can't even imagine a training pot for a Serissa.

This past winter one of them dropped all its leaves
and hasn't regrown any of them while the other is sending out new growth

This is called "Good Serissa, Bad Serissa". It's a technique they
have for manipulating you. Perhaps they want real pots.

Any ideas or should I
compost it?

Don't tempt me. Possibly you did a little more root-trimming on the
one than the other. I don't know exactly what triggers a "Serissa
Snit". Just cut back on water (without leaves it doesn't need much)
until it puts out new growth.
--
Nina Shishkoff

Frederick, MD

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Just cut back on water (without leaves it doesn't need much)
until it puts out new growth.


Or doesn't . . . as the case may be. ;-)

Jim Lewis, IHSC - - Tallahassee, FL - Our
life is frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. --
Henry David Thoreau - Walden

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