My Tiger Bark Ficus (from a workshop by Jerry Meislik) is now compost.
I had decided that I didn't like the base, so this summer I air-layered
it. I separated the layer in August, and the tree seemed to be doing
fine. In September we had a cold snap, so I brought all of my tropicals
inside. It remained apparently healthy until about a week ago. Last
weekend I was gone for a couple of days, and when I returned, the soil
was still rather wet, and it had lost a lot of leaves. Obviously a root
problem. I put it in my ICU, a large terrarium, but it continued to lose
foliage. Probing of the cambium revealed that there was no living tissue
anywhere on the trunk, and black mold was forming on the bark. The
post-mortem revealed dead roots (of course) but they did not appear to
have rotted. Neither did they seem to have grown much since I separated
the layer.

I'm puzzled by this. I've never had a tree go from apparently healthy to
dead so rapidly. Any idea what happened?

Jay


--
Whenever one comes to close grips with so-called idealism, as in war
time, one is shocked by its rascality.

H. L. Mencken

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AHA! Another case for CSI MIAMI!!
Sorry to hear Jay.
Watch over that Green Island. I don't think it'll need an air layer. It WAS
ONE!
Regards,
Dale Cochoy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jay Sinclair"
Subject: [IBC] Dead Ficus :-(


My Tiger Bark Ficus (from a workshop by Jerry Meislik) is now compost.
I had decided that I didn't like the base, so this summer I air-layered
it. I separated the layer in August, and the tree seemed to be doing
fine. In September we had a cold snap, so I brought all of my tropicals
inside. It remained apparently healthy until about a week ago. Last
weekend I was gone for a couple of days, and when I returned, the soil
was still rather wet, and it had lost a lot of leaves. Obviously a root
problem. I put it in my ICU, a large terrarium, but it continued to lose
foliage. Probing of the cambium revealed that there was no living tissue
anywhere on the trunk, and black mold was forming on the bark. The
post-mortem revealed dead roots (of course) but they did not appear to
have rotted. Neither did they seem to have grown much since I separated
the layer.

I'm puzzled by this. I've never had a tree go from apparently healthy to
dead so rapidly. Any idea what happened?

Jay

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

Jay,
Sorry you lost the tree. Its hard to know what went wrong but the cold may
have shut the tree down, and with a wet soil around the roots this may have
doomed the tree. My experience is that figs may not look like they are
having a problem after chilling them down but they often almost go dormant
and show no growth. A wet soil under those conditions is not good.
Jerry Meislik
Whitefish Montana USA
Zone 4-5
http://www.bonsaihunk.8m.com/

My Tiger Bark Ficus (from a workshop by Jerry Meislik) is now compost.
I had decided that I didn't like the base, so this summer I air-layered
it. I separated the layer in August, and the tree seemed to be doing
fine. In September we had a cold snap, so I brought all of my tropicals
inside. It remained apparently healthy until about a week ago. Last
weekend I was gone for a couple of days, and when I returned, the soil
was still rather wet, and it had lost a lot of leaves. Obviously a root
problem. I put it in my ICU, a large terrarium, but it continued to lose
foliage. Probing of the cambium revealed that there was no living tissue
anywhere on the trunk, and black mold was forming on the bark. The
post-mortem revealed dead roots (of course) but they did not appear to
have rotted. Neither did they seem to have grown much since I separated
the layer.

I'm puzzled by this. I've never had a tree go from apparently healthy to
dead so rapidly. Any idea what happened?

Jay

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

Jerry Meislik wrote:

Its hard to know what went wrong but the cold may
have shut the tree down, and with a wet soil around the roots this may have
doomed the tree. My experience is that figs may not look like they are
having a problem after chilling them down but they often almost go dormant
and show no growth. A wet soil under those conditions is not good.

Thanks, Jerry -

Heeding your previous advice about this, I got my trees in before it got cold.
My practice has been to bring them in if night time temperatures are expected
to drop below 50 F. Is this too cold? All of my other trees are fine (knock
wood). Maybe the stress of this, or the transition to the much drier indoor
environment, or both, was more than a recently layered tree could survive. I
think that the wet soil was a consequence of non-functioning roots. I had been
watering it normally, and had not noticed a problem, although thinking back it
seems that it had not dried out as much as usual in the day or two before I
left for the weekend.

shrug...

Jay

--
Whenever one comes to close grips with so-called idealism, as in war time, one
is shocked by its rascality.

H. L. Mencken

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

Jay:
Going along with Jerry's diagnosis, is it possible that you took the air
layer a little too soon and that there was not enough roots to support
the tree's foliage? That might account for the soil staying wet if you
were watering it as you had previously when it was outside?

Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7
http://bmee.net/rosner
http://www.jamesbaird.com/cgi-bin/Ja...d=00000068 48


Jerry Meislik wrote:



Its hard to know what went wrong but the cold may
have shut the tree down, and with a wet soil around the roots this may have
doomed the tree. My experience is that figs may not look like they are
having a problem after chilling them down but they often almost go dormant
and show no growth. A wet soil under those conditions is not good.



Thanks, Jerry -

Heeding your previous advice about this, I got my trees in before it got cold.
My practice has been to bring them in if night time temperatures are expected
to drop below 50 F. Is this too cold? All of my other trees are fine (knock
wood). Maybe the stress of this, or the transition to the much drier indoor
environment, or both, was more than a recently layered tree could survive. I
think that the wet soil was a consequence of non-functioning roots. I had been
watering it normally, and had not noticed a problem, although thinking back it
seems that it had not dried out as much as usual in the day or two before I
left for the weekend.

shrug...

Jay




************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Lisa Kanis++++
************************************************** ******************************
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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Carl L Rosner wrote:

Jay:
Going along with Jerry's diagnosis, is it possible that you took the air
layer a little too soon and that there was not enough roots to support
the tree's foliage? That might account for the soil staying wet if you
were watering it as you had previously when it was outside?


This is a possibility - I've worked with cuttings quite a bit, but have very little
experience with air layering. I did cut back the foliage quite a bit when I took the
layer, so as not to overtax the new roots. I suspect that all of the factors mentioned
by you and Jerry weakened the tree. I may have been lulled into complacency by the tough
nature of ficus.

Jay

Jerry Meislik wrote:

Its hard to know what went wrong but the cold may
have shut the tree down, and with a wet soil around the roots this may have
doomed the tree. My experience is that figs may not look like they are
having a problem after chilling them down but they often almost go dormant
and show no growth. A wet soil under those conditions is not good.



Thanks, Jerry -

Heeding your previous advice about this, I got my trees in before it got cold.
My practice has been to bring them in if night time temperatures are expected
to drop below 50 F. Is this too cold? All of my other trees are fine (knock
wood). Maybe the stress of this, or the transition to the much drier indoor
environment, or both, was more than a recently layered tree could survive. I
think that the wet soil was a consequence of non-functioning roots. I had been
watering it normally, and had not noticed a problem, although thinking back it
seems that it had not dried out as much as usual in the day or two before I
left for the weekend.

--
Whenever one comes to close grips with so-called idealism, as in war time, one is shocked
by its rascality.

H. L. Mencken

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

Jay 50 is not normally a terribly low temperature but for a stressed tree it
may have been enough.
Jerry Meislik
Whitefish Montana USA
Zone 4-5
http://www.bonsaihunk.8m.com/
Jerry Meislik wrote:

Its hard to know what went wrong but the cold may
have shut the tree down, and with a wet soil around the roots this may have
doomed the tree. My experience is that figs may not look like they are
having a problem after chilling them down but they often almost go dormant
and show no growth. A wet soil under those conditions is not good.

Thanks, Jerry -

Heeding your previous advice about this, I got my trees in before it got cold.
My practice has been to bring them in if night time temperatures are expected
to drop below 50 F. Is this too cold? All of my other trees are fine (knock
wood). Maybe the stress of this, or the transition to the much drier indoor
environment, or both, was more than a recently layered tree could survive. I
think that the wet soil was a consequence of non-functioning roots. I had been
watering it normally, and had not noticed a problem, although thinking back it
seems that it had not dried out as much as usual in the day or two before I
left for the weekend.

shrug...

Jay

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

I guess the lesson here is to _really_ pamper a recently layered tree, even if it
appears to be doing well.

Thanks,

Jay

Jerry Meislik wrote:

Jay 50 is not normally a terribly low temperature but for a stressed tree it
may have been enough.

Jerry Meislik wrote:

Its hard to know what went wrong but the cold may
have shut the tree down, and with a wet soil around the roots this may have
doomed the tree. My experience is that figs may not look like they are
having a problem after chilling them down but they often almost go dormant
and show no growth. A wet soil under those conditions is not good.

Thanks, Jerry -

Heeding your previous advice about this, I got my trees in before it got cold.
My practice has been to bring them in if night time temperatures are expected
to drop below 50 F. Is this too cold? All of my other trees are fine (knock
wood). Maybe the stress of this, or the transition to the much drier indoor
environment, or both, was more than a recently layered tree could survive. I
think that the wet soil was a consequence of non-functioning roots. I had been
watering it normally, and had not noticed a problem, although thinking back it
seems that it had not dried out as much as usual in the day or two before I
left for the weekend.

--
Whenever one comes to close grips with so-called idealism, as in war time, one is
shocked by its rascality.

H. L. Mencken

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