Chinese Elm suddenly looking ill, any advice?

BenTaylor

Hello,

Sorry to make my second post another request for help, but I'm a little concerned about my Chinese Elm. I also realise questions about yellowing leaves must get posted all the time, but I couldn't find what I was looking for.

Up until about two weeks ago it was healthy, putting out new shoots and generally doing very well. My tree is kept indoors, but I have a good spot for it where it seems to have thrived.

However over the past couple of weeks the new shoots have stopped (the small ones have withered up and crumbled), and the leaves have started yellowing and dropping. The leaves have been going patchy yellow, then dropping (but with not black spots or anything like that).

I've not changed anything about how I've been looking after this tree, so I'm a bit mystified. I wouldn't be so worried if we were closer to autumn and the tree was going to start shedding it's leaves anyway.

It has been very hot here recently, so I've had the tree in shade, and made sure it's not drying out too much - but nothing out of the ordinary.

I've attached a couple of photos incase they'd be any help in diagnosing the problem.

Does anyone have any advice? Should I keep the tree in the shade, or is it lacking sunlight? Do I need to change my watering technique, and if so any advice on how?

Many thanks in advance.

Ben

Attached Images

	bonsai1.jpg (50.9 KB, 64 views)
	bonsai2.jpg (65.6 KB, 107 views)

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sauce

Hi Ben, You don't mention how long your tree has been in the indoor environment but I would guess that your problem is not enough sunlight and maybe the soil is staying too wet for too long i.e. overwatering. Elms like sun and in my experience their leaves will turn yellow when they stay too wet. If possible put it outside where it receives some morning sun and water only when the soil is a bit dry about an inch or so below the surface. Also with all of the moss on top of your soil it may hinder your watering regimen. Could you explain what type of soil is under the moss? Is it free draining? You should see water coming out of the pots drainholes within seconds of top watering the soil, if not your soil mixture may be too thick and compact thereby not allowing the roots to breathe. These statements seem to contradict each other Either way it sounds as though you should evaluate your soil and your watering regimen. Good Luck!

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Joanie

As always, excellent advice from Sauce. Yellowing leaves are often a sign of overwatering. The moss is another clue. The moss looks very lush and green for the middle of summer.

If you can place it so that it receives morning sun (outside) and then dappled afternoon shade, that would be best. It can survive indoors, but will never really thrive there unless you set up very special conditions for it.

Good luck!

Joanie

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BenTaylor

Hello,

Thank you for your replies and suggestions.

My tree has been indoors for about a year, it has always seemed healthy and well in the environment I set up for it. I live in a city center, my front garden is usually the only place that gets any sun - unfortunately my tree would be stolen in minutes if I was to put it there.

However, taking your advice of finding somewhere outside where it will receive morning sun, I believe there's a place I can try it in my back garden for a while. I'll give it a go and see how it gets on.

As for the soil, it does drain well and it doesn't seem too tightly packed. But from what you say it does sound like I'm over watering my tree, I'll ease off and keep an eye on it for a while.

Regarding the moss, I had assumed it was normal to get a covering of green moss across the top of the soil. Will it be causing any harm, if so should I remove it?

Many thanks again,

Ben.

rockm

"My tree has been indoors for about a year, it has always seemed healthy and well in the environment I set up for it."

It has seemed so--up until now. Stress in plants often takes a very long time to show up. It can be cumulative and growth can continue for a time--until it can't. It seems you may have reached that point here.

Too much water, too little light, not enough air circulation and a long hot winter indoors with no rest period have probably sapped the plant of its strength. Get it outside into a partially shady location.

Thomas_J.

I too used to think that whenever my ch. elms started looking ragged with their yellow and falling leaves, that it was an overwatering problem. Not anymore though. For ch. elms, unless you truly have a bad draining soil to blame the dampness on, it's usually an insect problem, and usually the microscopic kind. I usually get hit at least once a year when I let my guard down. I wrote this article last year after my success with an awful aphid problem. The Article

This past Spring I encountered a nasty problem on all of my ch. elms that were sited on the same bench. This time no aphids were involved. In fact I never did see what the insect was, but after doing what I mentioned in the article, all was well in a short few weeks. Hope this helps.

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BenTaylor

This is what I was afraid might be the case. I'm going to construct a place for it outside this evening. Hopefully it wont be too late and my tree will have chance to recover.

Ben

Alasdair

I'm guessing that as the tree is inside it has not gone into dormancy and dropped its leaves since you've had it? It is entirely possible there is nothing too wrong with the tree, it may just be shedding the older leaves.

Construct a place for it outside? You won't need anything special. Just something to keep it off the ground; positions it where it gets some shade from the worst of the sun (in my experience this is from about 13:00-16:00).

Good luck.

Al

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ElGringo

I've had the same problem when i began bonsai- from keeping it indoors. Ch elms need to be outside really, as everyone has said. And poor air circulation restricts the ability of a tree to absorb moisture from the soil, leading to waterlogging which isn't good. I would like to add that yellowig leaves (esp at the edges) can indicate a lack of certain nutriants i.e. iron, magnesium which are used for chlorophyll synthesis- hence the yellowing.In this case though it's just the indoor environment, otherwise it looks healthy. It just needs to go outside as nature intended.


I'm sure it'll pull through, good luck.

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