Monkey Puzzle sadness

[paul oberman]

I am in california and ordered this Monkey Puzzle online. 

It was very small but grew quite well. 

After it got to about half this size, I moved it outside. It continued to grow well.

At one point I began to see small webs on it. I think they were spider mites. I washed it in dish soap.

Then it began to get hot, which in california is pretty serious. There was some brown, but it didn't look serious.  I did see more webs.  I got some neem oil.

I noticed that after some rain, the dirt didn't seem to dry and it was looking much worse. When it got almost this bad, I unpotted it and replaced the soil with fresh potting mix. There has always been drainage rocks on bottom.

Yesterday I moved it inside. I topped off the dead top, but didn't want to make any more cuts, until i had a path forward.

I am pretty sure it is too late, but what steps would you take in a last effort?

Also, what conditions should i try to maintain. eg. sun, soil moisture, etc....

i should have done this much sooner.... kicking myself

 

 

[paul oberman]

no ideas?

[Stubby]

3 minutes ago, paul oberman said:

no ideas?

Its not dead yet .  Have a look on google to see what are  the best conditions for MP and try to emulate those .

Edited August 28, 2019 by Stubby

[paul oberman]

5 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Its not dead yet .  Have a look on google to see what are  the best conditions for MP and try to emulate those .

Thanks so much.  I cut off the horizontal branch, but have brought it inside to get it out of the heat.  I wonder how long it will take to come out of shock

 

[forestboy1978]

The neem oil in the sunshine has burnt it. If you're feeding it, reduce feed. Just give water for the next week or 2. Wash off the neem oil with detergent. Use horticultural soap, (not fairly liquid) with water from now on to keep on top of mites but don't put out in sunlight until it has dried out. When soil needs water, do it in the evening. 

 

It'll be fine. No where near dead... yet.   

[paul oberman]

9 minutes ago, forestboy1978 said:

The neem oil in the sunshine has burnt it. If you're feeding it, reduce feed. Just give water for the next week or 2. Wash off the neem oil with detergent. Use horticultural soap, (not fairly liquid) with water from now on to keep on top of mites but don't put out in sunlight until it has dried out. When soil needs water, do it in the evening. 

 

It'll be fine. No where near dead... yet.   

My thought was to switch the soil out for cactus potting soil, to maximize drainage.  I am also looking at getting a ph meter to make sure i am not too high

 

[forestboy1978]

I know about general care of plants. Not monkey puzzles so couldn't say but if it's been out in bright sun, neem oil would have burnt it. Also, a plant that small.. easy to over fertilise, especially when it's getting burnt, it'll lockout nutrients and cells will go into embolism. 

 

Over fertilization will affect the ph so you wont really know if it's soil ph problems or nutrient build up problems.

 

I would not change soil unless soil is showing to be way too alkaline or acidic. Just adds another stress. 

 

It's not growing now. It's surviving. Water only. Indirect sunlight. Time. 

[nepia]

I'm not sure how big your plant is but MP seedlings are extremely susceptible to damping off; from reading online instructions on germinating seed and developing plants it seems that most of the effort goes into avoiding it.

Could that be the explanation?