White Lead Tree No.3

Tree species : White Lead Tree (Leucaena Leucocephala / Su-babul)
Collected on : Aug 13, 2015

I found a few trees of this weedy species, uprooted and discarded by the gardeners of our residential complex. I cut down the almost 6 ft high trunk with a hacksaw blade. 

 

I would not have bothered digging up such a tall and straight tree for bonsai but this literally fell into my lap. And the other 2 trees were split vertically along the trunk. Perfect for a damaged bonsai tree ! I planted all 3 into one pot in some unfiltered sand (bad, poor drainage) collected from roadside. 

 

Things looked promising in the first month. But after 2 months, the tree hadn't grown at all except for the leaves turning dark green. The leaves of this tree close at night and open at daytime. When I saw them closed during day, I suspected root rot and pulled it out, only to be proven right. Over-watering was the culprit.

 

Oct 8, 2015 

After scraping away the rot on one side & letting it dry, it was planted into pure cocopeat and seemed to be doing well for a while. 

 

 

Nov 12, 2015  

But soon, the leaves remained closed even during day, confirming a root rot again. And new roots had not formed, despite applying rooting hormone powder. This time I chose to cut off the lower half completely, in an attempt to save it. Now its just a thick hardwood cutting.

 

Since cocopeat was too moist for my needs, I planted the cutting into filtered coarse sand. And just a day later, the plant looked healthy again. It has now rooted and growing happily. 

Dec 23 : I added a thin layer of moist cow manure (dry at collection time) above the sand and covered it with a thin layer of my soil mixture. Had I not done this, the leaves would have turned yellowish soon due to malnutrition & I would have to repot it, replacing sand with my soil mixture and risk damaging the tender roots in the process. Now, I can let it grow for few months and transplant only when roots are stronger. This tree has been stressed enough.