Chinese Elm in shock.

[Craig.a.c]

First off I would like to say that this looks a great forum with a wealth of information.

I have been interested in Bonsai trees for many years but thought they would be to hard to care for. After much reading I have taken the plunge and bought a couple. I currently have a Port Jackson Fig, Juniper, Trident Maple, Japanese Maple and a Chinese Elm.
The Chinese Elm I bought in a normal pot (not Bonsai), I brought it home and cut off the tap root ( have been told by many people it is not need with Bonsai') and pruned some roots off to suit the size of the Bonsai pot it was going in.

The last 2 weeks all of the leaves have since turned brown and started falling off. I made a few small scratches with my finger nails on a few of the branches and it is still showing bright green just under the surface.
It gets all the morning sun and is in shade from midday onwards. I water it every 2-3 days depending on how dry the bonsai soil gets. What can I do to help it pick its self back up?

(Is it ok to use liquid fish emulsion fertilizer, I use it on all my other plants and they love it)


Cheers - Craig.

[bodhidharma]

Hi Craig, first of ,welcome to AusBonsai. You havent let us know if it is indoors or outdoors. If it is taking two or three days to dry out could indicate a multitude of problems. Soil, the tree not drinking etc. Maybe a little more info and a picture would help solve its problems.

[stymie]

Craig Hi.
You seem to have done the root pruning at the wrong time of the year but Elms are tough customers and it should weather the present storm. To give it a better chance, give it some shade from the hottest sun and mist the foliage occasionally when it is shaded. Good luck.

[Jamie]

hi craig

welcome to the forum it does sound like the tree is staying wet to long, 2-3 days before the next water sounds like a soil/watering issues. if we could get a pic that will help and as bodhi stated if it is inside or out could be a factor.

cutting the tap root might have been a bit of a shock to the tree so it might have dropped its leaves in response to this aswell, i wouldnt feed the tree anything but seasol and superthrive for now and keep it in the shade until it starts pushing some new growth.

until we see the tree we cant help to much apart from speculate, so a pic and some more details will be great thanks


jamie

[Craig.a.c]

I would like to thank everyone for the replies and sorry it took so long for me to reply back.

I was watering the Elm every 2-3 days so that I didn't want to over water or let it dry out to much. I have it on a table outside and it receives sunlight from sunrise to midday, after that it is in shade.

I gave it a good water last week with some seasol and have been keeping the soil moist, not allowing it to dry to much.
I just went outside to give all my Bonsai a good soaking before sunrise and the Elm has made a great come back. There is brand new green buds all over it and some are starting to open up already. Looks like it will be fine after all.

Thanks again for the replies and I will post some pics of it along with the others I have as soon as I find my camera.

Cheers - Craig.

PS - Is this hobby very addictive or is it just me?

[Ron]

.... PS - Is this hobby very addictive or is it just me?

Looks like you're a goner, mate, just like me who can tell you the precise starting date of his addiction - 29/12/09 when I first planted some Jacaranda seeds. I haven't watched TV or read a paper since then (my only reading is books on bonsai). But I wouldn't want it any other way ...

[Craig.a.c]

.... PS - Is this hobby very addictive or is it just me?

Looks like you're a goner, mate, just like me who can tell you the precise starting date of his addiction - 29/12/09 when I first planted some Jacaranda seeds. I haven't watched TV or read a paper since then (my only reading is books on bonsai). But I wouldn't want it any other way ...

Bugger. Every time I go into a nursery I head straight to the Bonsai section. Oh well, It's good to have hobbies, right?

[Ron]

... Bugger. Every time I go into a nursery I head straight to the Bonsai section. Oh well, It's good to have hobbies, right?

My first few trees were already bonsai-potted ones and you know how much they cost in Bunnings, nurseries etc. Not that I don't like them (love them?) but with the short experience I now have I wouldn't have bought them.

It didn't take me long to learn that at a bonsai nursery you can get a good tree in a plastic pot for $10-$20 and equally good bonsai pot for the same price. And you get the fun and learning experience of potting and training your own tree as well as saving quite a few dollars.

[Craig.a.c]

... Bugger. Every time I go into a nursery I head straight to the Bonsai section. Oh well, It's good to have hobbies, right?

My first few trees were already bonsai-potted ones and you know how much they cost in Bunnings, nurseries etc. Not that I don't like them (love them?) but with the short experience I now have I wouldn't have bought them.

It didn't take me long to learn that at a bonsai nursery you can get a good tree in a plastic pot for $10-$20 and equally good bonsai pot for the same price. And you get the fun and learning experience of potting and training your own tree as well as saving quite a few dollars.

The first 2 I bought were already in Bonsai pots (Trident Maple and Juniper), but then I went looking in the tree stock area for some small trees that I thought I could use. Thats where I got the Chinese Elm and Japanese Maple from. Then I bought some Bonsai pots to put them in.

I was going to start a new thread asking wether or not people buy them in bonsai pots already or do you just look in the tree section of nurseries and repot them later on?

[Ron]

...I was going to start a new thread asking wether or not people buy them in bonsai pots already or do you just look in the tree section of nurseries and repot them later on?

As a beginner I think it's good to have some properly potted & trained (hopefully on both accounts) trees.

Probably the biggest mistake I made from lack of experience was buying those little $6 seedlings labelled as Bonsai starters. For just $4 more you can buy young more mature trees that are years older.

[Jamie]

Ron has given some good advice, it is good to have a couple of trees to admire while working and waiting for others, the thing i have found is it is much better to be able to buy from a bonsai nursery as you will get specific trees and species that are commonly used as bosai and you know the care has been put in to them, you will also find that some are pre trained and are in need of some minor work to get a pleasing tree. you can look in normal nurseries for more advanced trees but ithelps to knowwhat to look for, or have an idea in mind of what you are after, most commonly movement low on the trunk, in a bonsai nursery this is generally a given.

the prices paid for B#%^%**&GS "bonsai" is absolutly rediculous bu a common thing for new people to get and it generally pushes them away as the tree is generally in poor health and not cared for properly and no one to tell you how to look after it.

my advice- read as much as you can, learn as much as you can and join a club if possible. here is a good start and you should be able to find a local club near your locale.


good luck and i look forward to seeing more of ya

good to hear the elm has pulled through. they are tough buggers most of the time

jamie

[MattA]

.... PS - Is this hobby very addictive or is it just me?

Looks like you're a goner, mate, just like me who can tell you the precise starting date of his addiction - 29/12/09 when I first planted some Jacaranda seeds. I haven't watched TV or read a paper since then (my only reading is books on bonsai). But I wouldn't want it any other way ...

I cant tell you the exact date but know i have been an addict since the Australian Bonsai Society show 1986, bonsai consume me more than any other pursuit. Read as much as you can, experiment as much as you can and kill as many as you can As someones signature line says if you are not killing trees you are not learning (i think thats it) Anyways welcome to bonsaiholics anonymous, sorry but there is generally no known cure.

Matt

[Jamie]

welcome to bonsaiholics anonymous, sorry but there is generally no known cure.

....there is no cure to this addiction mate, it just keeps sucking you in further and further until you are consumed by bonsai and that is all you think about, even when your wife is talking to you, you will picture trees and imagine her saying go buy them then... oh thats me

you wont be to far behind though mate, but it is such a rewarding art it is definately worth all the time it takes


jamie

[Josh7]

Chinese Elms are the toughest trees out there. I was working in a new housing estate one day, and I came across a 3m tree sticking out of a skip bin. It had no foliage on it, roots were dry and pot bound etc. But i gently bent a branch to test the flexibility, and it didn't break. I threw it on the back of the truck, took it home and potted it. Within a week it had new buds on it, and has never looked back. I put it in the garden as a feature tree and it is now well over 4m tall and never been healthier. Like i said, the toughest trees!

[Jamie]

Chinese Elms are the toughest trees out there. I was working in a new housing estate one day, and I came across a 3m tree sticking out of a skip bin. It had no foliage on it, roots were dry and pot bound etc. But i gently bent a branch to test the flexibility, and it didn't break. I threw it on the back of the truck, took it home and potted it. Within a week it had new buds on it, and has never looked back. I put it in the garden as a feature tree and it is now well over 4m tall and never been healthier. Like i said, the toughest trees!

yes tough trees, and now since you have put it in your yard you will never get rid of it either elms are notorious trees and will throw suckers up all over the joint and no matter how much ya dig, you will still have a chinese elm pop up somwhere


jamie