My new Seiju: Advice/Tips appreciated

yeksi

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midwestbonsai

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Repotter

Hello Yeksi, Your tree looks nice and healthy. Seiju Elms grow long branches quickly and need frequent trimming.

I have had one for over 15 years as a bonsai and it is now in the ground here in Michigan.
They are hardy from zone 3 to zone 10 so not to worry about a little frost.
I took mine to Florida to zone 10 for approx. 5 years. There it never lost all of it's leaves, sort of a semi-dormancy. My tree is now 54" tall with a trunk of 2" dia.

I have airlayered branches from it several times with ease.

Here in Michigan however it loses all the leaves and then regrows with much vigor in spring.
I trim the long leggy growth several times during the summer. Always leave at least one set of leaves on a branch when pruning.

And yes you can prune the hanging branches as well as the others. Top down pruning only meant to start at the top I am sure. However it makes no difference where you start. Thinning your tree out is important so to allow light to the inner branching. This will allow you to see the branching so as to better "style" your tree.

Prune in early spring before bud break. and then again as the tree needs it after all leaves are open.
Seiju can have many branches going in many directions, so prune to keep them from looking tangled. Use good bonsai practice as to pruning, taking out crossing branches especially.

As for watering, the need of the tree is solely dependent on the amount of light and wind it is exposed to. So checking as you are doing is fine.

Be sure to pot it into a well draining soil.
Your tree does not need as much sun as you are giving it at present, mine gets only about 3 hours direct sun and indirect light from the north for the remainder of the day.

Good luck and enjoy your tree, Hector

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The original Four Seasons Bonsai Club of Michigan.
Our guest master in August is Pedro Morales.
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007

Repotter has offered some sound advice . . . he has quite a bit of experience with this cultivar.

As for telling when the tree needs water, your "finger method" will work just fine, but for me, I get tired of sticking my finger in the dirt. What I do instead is stick a chopstick, or bamboo skewer into the soil, push it to the bottom, and let it sit there. When i want to see how much moisture is in, I just pull out the chopstick and feel for moisture. I water my seiju when about the top half of the soil is dry.

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Joanie

And you can fertilize more than twice a year. Generally, you can fertilize every month or even every two weeks with a weaker solution. That gives the tree more access to the ferts. Everyone has a different fertilizer... some like organic, some like powders. The important thing is that the tree is able to use it, that you don't give the tree so much that it burns the roots, and that it is what the tree needs in that particular season. (Although some say you can give a balanced fert all year long, and others say you need to use lower nitrogen in the fall/winter, I have no opinion yet, not having done this long enough)

Joanie

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yeksi

007

Spiders can be a good thing in some situations. They eat the other "bad" bugs . . .

The white furry thing sounds maybe like a mealy bug?

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