Bonsai - Carmona microphylla - Fukien Tea Tree
Sprouts of BristolScientific Name
Carmona microphylla (Associated with Carmona, Spain; plant with small leaves)
Common Name
Fukien Tea Tree, Fujian, Fukien Bonsai, Carmona Bonsai
Origin
Originates in the Fujian province of China, also native to other parts of Asia and even Australia
Description
Bonsai trees are not naturally tiny; they are cultivated, pruned and trained to grow in these minute proportions. The Fukien Tea Tree grows up to 3m in the wild, in fact! It has dark green leaves with tiny white hairs, can bloom with white, star-shaped flowers at any time of year and produces fruit which ripens to a deep red. In the UK, it is grown as an indoor bonsai as it would be far too cold for it outside for most of the year!
Light
The Fukien Tea Tree needs a lot of light, so place it in a bright window, ideally south facing. In winter it would benefit from a grow light too, to make up for the shorter daylight hours. Make sure it is not too close to a radiator or sat in a draught!
Water
Water when the top of the soil dries out, but make sure it drains and is not sat in a puddle as it will suffer if left with soggy roots!
Humidity
Bonsais like average to high humidity, and like it to be stable. Make sure they are not close to a radiator which would dry them out; they will benefit from misting or hosing down their leaves regularly or the introduction of a humidity tray.
Soil
Use a well-draining, moisture-retentive mix, for example, one with added pumice. Repot every couple of years in early spring. Its root system is sensitive, so if you are pruning it (which is done to keep the tree small), be careful!
Food
Feed every four waters in the growing season, and reduce to every six in autumn and winter. Pre-water the soil if using liquid fertiliser to protect the sensitive roots.
Temperature
Temperatures of 20°C are perfect- make sure it doesn't drop much below this, and take special care in winter.
Pet-safe
No, this plant is toxic to pets and small humans.
Sprouts Top Tips
Bonsai trees don't naturally grow this small- if you want to keep it miniature, you'll need to prune regularly. The Fukien tree will respond well to pruning the branches, becoming bushier, but take care when pruning its sensitive roots! If you want your tree to grow in interesting shapes, it may be worth doing further research into bonsai wiring. Lots of time and care go into making these plants look so incredible!
Important Information
If you have any questions, please check out the below or get in touch via our contact formWe're devoted to sending our customers quality plants with the best service around. Every plant is backed by our 7-day guarantee, so they arrive in good health.
Our team takes extra steps when prepping plants for transportation, but they're still sensitive to changes, so there may be minor cosmetic issues. We always aim to photograph and disclose any flaws before shipping, but a living creature travelling across the country in a box can take a hot minute to adjust to its new life.
If you have any issues within 7 days of receiving your order, holler at our customer support team on our contact form with your order details and some pics of the issue. After the guarantee has expired, though, we can't refund as we can't guarantee care and environmental factors. If you repot the plant during the 7 days, the guarantee is void.
We have been sending plants up and down the country for many year now and we like to think we have our way down to an art.
We protect the plant from falling out of the soil with tissue paper and tape if needed, then we wrap the plant in corrugated cardboard, and sometimes we protect the leaves with extra tissue paper if required. This is then placed into a box and if there is any empty space, we fill this with void fill to stop the plants moving around inside the box. Sometimes we will write a note on your packing slip to water the plant on arrival, so please look out for this. This is due a freshly watered plant going in a box will not only be soggy, but as the plant is in darkness this can sometimes make the plant unhappy when just freshly watered.
If your plant arrives to you unhappy, please send us a photo of the plant and packaging if relevant straight away, so we can advise you.
Online orders are packed and dispatched within a few days. Usually depending on volumes, we aim to get your order dispatched within 1 working day. We have collections from Royal Mail 6 days a week so deliveries tend to be speedy.
Our standard parcel delivery service is £4.99 for Royal Mail Tracked48, you can upgrade to Tracked24 for £2.50.
We do offer a Tracked48 Large Letter option for £2.99, and Tracked24 for £1 extra, but this only applies to products less than 2.5cm thick.
*Deliveries 7 days a week only included Tracked24 parcels.
Link to your shipping policy
We get a lot of boxes, packaging and whatnot at Sprouts from all our various supplier's deliveries. We re-use this packaging material where possible, plus we take in donations from local businesses and customers to our shop to avoid excess packaging going to landfill. Sometimes your delivery might look a little different, or come in a branded box from another company, but rest assured the items inside are carefully packed with love and attention inside. We use paper tape and all our branded materials included are fully recyclable. Sometimes we use polystyrene, bubble wrap or plastic wrap in the packaging, all these items are not new and where possible, please use them again.
We have partnered with Zedify to offer low-carbon deliveries in Central Bristol for £6.99.
Zedify collect and deliver orders from us Monday - Friday and will usually deliver your order the same day its collected. If you place your order before 11am, we will aim to get it collected the same day but this isnt always possible. When you have received your dispatch email, Zedify should be delivering your order the same day, anytime before 6pm.
We cannot give an idea of time, but if you would prefer delivery on a certain date (Monday - Friday) please get in touch or leave a note at check out with your preferred delivery date and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
Zedify deliver to the following postcodes BS1, BS2, BS3, BS4, BS5, BS6, BS7, BS8 (1, 2, 3A - 3N, 4), BS9 (1,3,4).
Select click and collect at checkout to collect your order from our Bristol shop.
You will get an email when your order is ready to collect, where possible please come and collect your order the same day as we have limited space. If you are going to collect your order at a later date, please let us know in the message box at check out so we know when to expect you. Some items such as gift sets, kits and pre-order items may not be ready to collect the same day, again please let us know what day you would like to collect and we will let you know if there's any issues.
We do not offer free returns, but if you are unhappy with your delivery, please get in touch. If your parcel or order has been damaged, please take photos and send these over to our team so we can look into this for you.
If you have ordered an item and you would like to exchange it, we should be able to do this for you. There may be an extra charge for delivery, but get in touch to discuss. For plants there is a 7 day return policy and 30 days for everything else, apart from sale items which are none returnable.
You can return or exchange in our Bristol shop for free.
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