AusBonsai

Hi all,
My wife was nice enough to come home with this seiju elm for my birthday
Can anyone tell me roughly how old this tree may be ?
I can post additional photos if needed.

Thanks Ross

Anywhere between 4 and 15 years old. I see the label says it is from Ray who does know what he is doing so probably at the lower end of the estimate.

Does not really matter how old really as it already has the mature bark on the lower section.
they are quite slow growers tho.

I have one with a similar sized trunk but with much smaller branching on it.
with yours i would be selecting the upper trunk from one of those branches and removing all the others. they will create reverse taper and the whorl.
cut back hard and it will shoot out all along the trunk and give plenty of choices for new branches to grow and develop

Ken

Actually on second look, I will keep the upper trunk as the branch / trunk on the front, and keep one branch at each junction. Cut them all back and then regrow the ends of the branching to keep short and ramify

Ken

kcpoole wrote: they are quite slow growers tho.
Ken

Ken, you sure you don't mean Hokaiddo? From what I understand seiju is extremely fast and Hokaiddo are quite slow. I have a seiju and personally, preventing ugly knobs from too vigorous growth is difficult. I've recently had to trunk chop and start again because of reverse taper from too quick growth... Could be wrong though, you've got plenty more experience than me.

I have no input on the age of the elm, but Happy Birthday!

Ray will be able to tell you exactly how old it is Ross. He knows his stock.
I would say around 8 - 10, but there is nothing like knowing the details. As Ken said it has very good maturity.

Nice Birthday pressie mate

Tony

Thanks for your reply's

lackhand wrote:I have no input on the age of the elm, but Happy Birthday!

Haha thanks I've got a feeling that tree is gonna cost me SEVERAL pairs of shoes in the following weeks

Tony Bebb wrote:Ray will be able to tell you exactly how old it is Ross. He knows his stock.
I would say around 8 - 10, but there is nothing like knowing the details. As Ken said it has very good maturity.

Nice Birthday pressie mate

Tony

Would be nice to know more details... I'm in Melbourne and my wife bought it from Bonsai Orient Bonsai Nursery in reservoir.

Not sure why they have rays stock there ? It's a huge nursery got plenty of beautiful stuff

stocaz wrote:
Would be nice to know more details... I'm in Melbourne and my wife bought it from Bonsai Orient Bonsai Nursery in reservoir.

Not sure why they have rays stock there ? It's a huge nursery got plenty of beautiful stuff

Simon at Orient Bonsai doesn't grow a lot of his own stock, he generally gets trees from other nurseries, Ray Nesci is one of those.

Cheers,
Mojo

Just my luck noticed the tree has mealybugs
Ive squashed any I could see....
Can you use confidor on Chinese elms ?
Or maybe pestoil ?

You can certainly use confidor on Chinese elms. if it is mealy bugs this would be best because it is systemic so will kill the ones that are probably living on the roots as well. Pestoil should be safe for the tree but is a contact pesticide. It will only kill the ones it touches.

shibui wrote:You can certainly use confidor on Chinese elms. if it is mealy bugs this would be best because it is systemic so will kill the ones that are probably living on the roots as well. Pestoil should be safe for the tree but is a contact pesticide. It will only kill the ones it touches.

Thanks for your reply
I thought I read somewhere that elms don't like systemic pesticides ?
Ill hit it with some confidor tommorow night

Cheers Ross

DustyRusty wrote:

kcpoole wrote: they are quite slow growers tho.
Ken

Ken, you sure you don't mean Hokaiddo? .

Sorry you are correct, Just went and checked the label and it is Hokkaido. Thought it was Seiju cos the bark loos almost identical to this one

Ken