I should be grateful that I'm not just getting crispy juniper questions at the "Bonsai Doctor" page. One thing I've noticed over the last year: I almost get as many queries from England as the US now, almost all from newbies.

Anyway, someone in England has an indoor tea tree with dropping leaves. I have never even SEEN a tea tree, and all I know from you guys is to be very careful repotting them. How do they behave when kept indoors in Northern climes?


Nina Shishkoff


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Nina wrote:

Anyway, someone in England has an indoor tea tree with dropping leaves. I
have never even SEEN a tea tree, and all I know from you guys is to be very
careful repotting them. How do they behave when kept indoors in Northern
climes?

Wow....I think this is seriously a case of knowing which "tea tree" is
which.... I have seen Camellia sinensis grow happily in the wetter western
valleys in Oregon, but it is a struggle to do anything with one in this
dryer area. I had a pair that languished and died over about a year. Of
course the people who are asking the question might be referring to New
Zealand Tea Tree, or ???. Too many "tea" trees!

Sam Crowell
Klamath Falls, Oregon

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Learn how to choose, serve, and enjoy wine at Wine @ MSN.
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Wow....I think this is seriously a case of knowing which "tea tree" is
which.... I have seen Camellia sinensis grow happily in the wetter western
valleys in Oregon,


D'oh! I never even thought of camellia! I assumed it was new Zealand tea tree (Leptospermum). Well, I can answer the question if it's camellia. Since I started working at the USDA, I've been caring for six species of them. One of these days I'll summa
rize my thoughts on their bonsai-ability, but at the moment I can do it in two words: C. sinensis.


Nina Shishkoff


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I'm assuming you are talking about Fukien Tea...at least that is the only
"Tea" tree I've seen commonly for sale to the general public as Bonsai.
They are pretty forgiving, so long as the "Persiano Pick" methodology is
used for watering, they get good light and DO NOT get cold. I've killed
quite a few Junipers, but still have the first Fukien Tea I bought. It will
periodically lose some leaves, but I've never seen it drop them wholesale.
The leaves will start yellowing and dropping with too little or too much
water or too intense sunlight (I'm talking direct outdoor sun in the summer,
though). That shouldn't be a problem in "Northern climes" right now though
;-)

Jeff Isom
Cleveland, OH (pretty much a Northern clime, I would think!)

-----Original Message-----
From: Nina Shishkoff ]
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 3:24 PM
To:
Subject: [IBC] Tea tree


I should be grateful that I'm not just getting crispy juniper questions at
the "Bonsai Doctor" page. One thing I've noticed over the last year: I
almost get as many queries from England as the US now, almost all from
newbies.

Anyway, someone in England has an indoor tea tree with dropping leaves. I
have never even SEEN a tea tree, and all I know from you guys is to be very
careful repotting them. How do they behave when kept indoors in Northern
climes?


Nina Shishkoff


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

Hi Nina:
If you find out that the Tea tree is a Fukien Tea, I find that if the
leaves are not thinned out occasionally, the Fukien Tea will start to
drop leaves that are not getting enough light. Sometimes they will also
develop (brownish) dark spots (I suspect a sort of fungus) and leaves
will drop. Fukien Teas are a fickle tree, but even dropping leaves for
no reason, will recover; when I have put them in a closed plastic area
(my infamous ICU), and they will totally recover in about a month.
This, of course, is when they are indoors.

Best regards,

Carl L. Rosner


Nina Shishkoff wrote:

I should be grateful that I'm not just getting crispy juniper questions at the "Bonsai Doctor" page. One thing I've noticed over the last year: I almost get as many queries from England as the US now, almost all from newbies.

Anyway, someone in England has an indoor tea tree with dropping leaves. I have never even SEEN a tea tree, and all I know from you guys is to be very careful repotting them. How do they behave when kept indoors in Northern climes?


Nina Shishkoff


************************************************* *******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Mark Zimmerman++++
************************************************* *******************************


-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --


+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++




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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Could it be a leptosperma?
Kitsune Miko
--- Nina Shishkoff wrote:
I should be grateful that I'm not just getting
crispy juniper questions at the "Bonsai Doctor"
page. One thing I've noticed over the last year: I
almost get as many queries from England as the US
now, almost all from newbies.

Anyway, someone in England has an indoor tea tree
with dropping leaves. I have never even SEEN a tea
tree, and all I know from you guys is to be very
careful repotting them. How do they behave when
kept indoors in Northern climes?


Nina Shishkoff



************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Mark
Zimmerman++++

************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ:
http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail
+++++

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