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bonsai tree help?

we bought a serissa foetida in winter and have noticed it has had a recurring problem whereby mould is growing on the soil. sure that we were over watering it we changed the watering habits, and have changed our methods of emersing it. we scrape the soil regularly to remove the mould, but it reappears after a day or so. we assume the only thing we can do is to re-pot the tree, but are unsure of how to do this without damaging it in any way?

I’ve grown hundreds of serissas. The mold is certainly from it staying too wet. Best thing to do would be re-pot it. Serissas are very durable plants – probably the easiest of the tropicals. Even though it does have a tendency to drop leaves, it almost always recovers. You won’t hurt it at all if you just don’t force anything. Once you get it out of the pot & clear off most of the old soil, check the roots to see if any have rotted from being too wet. If so, prune them off.
Don’t water it from the bottom, That will encourage root rot, water from the top just like any other plant. Serissas like to stay a little moist, but not wet. If you water from the top, you’ll be able to tell when it needs water again easier by the dryness of the soil top.

Here’s a link to Flori-data that will give you growing requirements.
http://www.floridata.com/ref/S/seri_foe.cfm

Another…from Bonsai Clubs International
http://www.bonsai-bci.com/species/serissa.html

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