repotting texas ebony

I just bought a pre bonsai texas ebony and repotted it. It's only 6-8 inches tall. some of the leaves are falling off. Is this normal and should trim at this point?

I am not sure if the yellowing is due to your repot or due to its leaf cycle. Mine just went through leaf "replacement" recently and most old leaves went yellow then dropped. How much root did you remove?

To be safe, place it under partial shade the next week or so before slowly exposing it to full sun.

Yes, I would trim it now BUT if it is a young 6"-8" plant, don't, just let it grow.

I trimmed just a little root. i just trimmed the foliage. living in naples is ideal for this tree. humid which makes my trees really come back quickly. I have a fukian tea, brazilian raintree which is hard to maintain, ficus and a really small bouganvilla, which i rescued from home depot. I think you are right to put it in the shade for awhile. All of my trees are about 6 years old. The top of the texas ebony has been chopped by wigerts bonsai where I bought it. Do you think it can still be wired later on?

I just wired one of my young TX Ebony and it went well (from upright to cascade) but it is just 3/8" diameter. It really depends on the size & hardness of the branch you will wire and only you can determine that.

If you just trimmed the roots a bit, then maybe it is just replacing old foliage.

Good luck!

Texas Ebony is native to the DRY areas of south Texas, the soil must be well drained and can't be soggy.

I have it in a 4x6" 3" deep pot. the soil is 70% bonsai mix and 30% potting soil. Is this sufficient enough for this tree? It dries out in a couple of days.

s.jones wrote:I have it in a 4x6" 3" deep pot. the soil is 70% bonsai mix and 30% potting soil. Is this sufficient enough for this tree? It dries out in a couple of days.

Please describe the make up of the "Bonsai Mix" and the "Potting Soil."

Some "Potting Soils" can be very heavy and retain a lot of moisture.

Texas ebonies will easily shed leaves if the canopy is not receiving sufficient water. It is a defense mechanism against the drought prone environment of its native South Texas. If you repotted, even with a little bit of root pruning, you may have a tree going into defensive mode. It should leaf out again as it accommodates itself to its available water.

A more difficult challenge for you may be that Texas ebonies prefer an alkaline soil of pH 7.5-8.5. If your soil mix is high in acidic components (e.g., sphagnum peat moss or other acidic amendments) so that the pH dips below 7.0, your tree will react negatively. Unlike Brazilian raintrees and some other acacia relatives, Texas ebonies are very finicky about pH.

If your tree is in a acidic soil, watch it carefully. You may need to mix in a little lime or other alkaline amendment to get the pH up over 7.0, and then repot it again next season. I almost killed my Texas ebony once by applying Miracid.

With naturally alkaline water (around pH 8.0), I use an inorganic soil mix of 50% akadama/ 50% baked clay on my Texas ebony and it does wonderfully. I have had the tree for about fifteen years and it is still healthy and beautiful.

Here is a photo of my Texas ebony taken a week after repotting. I will wait before new growth before rewiring



Tim Ahlen
Dallas TX
Zone 8a

Hello to All,

my Texas ebony has been with me since the early 80s, and came from the San Antonio nursery. It will drop leaves if under watered, and I have never been able to overwater it. The soil is my general soil mix, crushed sifted red brick, sifted builder's sand, and compost / coco-peat.

If you look here, just further down the page of this forum, this is the latest image of my tree -

https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t4207p30-texas-ebony-future-styling-suggestions

Placement has always been full sun.
S.Jones, I hope the one you have goes onto a long and healthy life.
Khaimraj

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t4207p30-texas-ebony-future-styling-suggestions

The fellow that had this post up to start with, NOT Khaimraj, has three photos of trees under my name. Only one, still in a nursery pot, is Texas Ebony. The other two are Black Olive. I know the difference and I have asked this person to take down my pictures.