Starter Tree Chinese Elm 4 years old

Hello,
I bought a bonsai kit and I got a starter tree with it a 4 year old chinese elm. It doesn't have a very thick trunk and I would like to plant it in a large pot for awhile so it will get bigger. should I still use bonsai soil or what. I plan to get some books but haven't hit payday yet. Also the pot they sent with it is very small I am thinking that If I plant it in a larger pot for awhile it will be to big for this pot when the time comes. I have 2 grow rooms that I use for other plants one has a metal haylaid (I don't think I spelled haylaid right) and the other has several floresent grow lights which would be best for this little tree. How long should it stay under the light I mean how many hours a day. any other input would be great as well. Right now it is still in the container it came in and under the floresents seems alright I have been giving it about 6 hours of light a day.

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TreeBay

Hi There, Robin,

1. Yes bonsai soil would do well in pot sizes up to 1 gallon for small trees. If you go larger, you can get into a growing box (see Tips & Techniques board for the article on growing boxes)

2) It's "metal halide" but we knew what you meant

The type of light (incandescent, flourescent and metal halide) wattage of the light, the distance to the plant and the number of hours each day all add up to a certain amount of energy.

You want the lamp pretty close to the tree, but those metal halide lights are bright, but they can get pretty warm. Light intensity drops off as the square of the distance, so the distance makes a big difference. So you want to be as close to the lamp as you can without burning foliage.

Jerry Meislik has an article over at www.bonsaienthusiast.com in the subscription section that's a good read, but it's available only as part of the $20/year subscription.

I can tell you he recommends starting out at 10 hours a day and working up from there if you're limited by lamp intensity or distance.

3) The tree would do quite well outdoors (probably better) in most areas. Trees appreciate a lot of ventilation.

Regards,

Matt

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