Need Help

WADDY82

Please help i have had a Chinese Elm (Ulmus Parvifolia) which i bought online from a reputable shop. The first 3 months went great but the last few weeks it has been losing leaves most have been turning yellow but there are a number of leaves which are still green and falling off as the new buds grow and turn to leaves (about 3 - 5 millometers) they fall off I'm worried now as my tree only has about 5 green leaves which are starting to turn yellow. I water the tree every 3 days with about a leter or water which has stood for atlease a day to cut down on clorine, I Feed the tree every 2 weeks with about 5ml of CHRYSAL plant and bonsai food mix with 1 leter of water.

Any Ideas will be much appreseated

Thanks in advance.
Lee.

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mkonig

HI Lee

Where do you keep the tree? is it inside or out in the garden?

Mike

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gustavomduarte

It should be interisting to know how are the general aspect of the roots now and the condition of the soil. By what You say in relation to how You water Your bonsai, i think it's not the best way to get involve in a systematic watering (3 days) like You do and instead go for the needs of the tree. You can check this by various ways, one of them it would be just to water the bonsai when the surface of the soil is slightly dry.

Gustavo

bwaynef

Never water by the calendar. Go out and dirty up your fingernails. Check the soil for moisture. If you stick your finger down an inch and its bone dry, you've needed to water your tree already. You'll get the hang of it. Watering is the most difficult.

WF

ps. Yellow leaves are usually a sign of over watering. You might want to check to make sure your soil is free draining.

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WADDY82

The tree is kept on my window ledge and sometimes weather permiting i put it in the garden for a few hours. I have tried using a lollyice stick to check deeper for moisture but didn't know if i was doing it right. I have left it out the last few days (bringing it in at night). to dry out incase i was over watering. I was also told to scratch a little of the bark (couple of mm) to see what was under neath i did so and it was green looked like the inside of the tree was healthy.

mkonig

Hi again

Although Chinese Elms are often sold as indoor trees, they are far happier outside. Find a sunny spot (i know this is difficult in our british summer ) in the garden and leave it outside. There should be no need to bring it in overnight. My Elms stay outside all year round (except for the few days when we get heavy frost (below -7C) when they go in to an unheated greenhouse) and they show no ill effects.

I would also advise to stop fertilising. Fertilising a tree that is stressed will do more harm than good.

Follow the advise that others have given here.
Check that your soil drains freely (water should soak in almost imediately and any excess should run out of the drainage holes).
Water only if the soil feels dry, keep the soil moist, not wet.
If you have to keep it inside, mist spray the tree to maintain moisture in the athmosphere.
Don't stand the tree in direct sunlight if you keep it on the window sill.

Chinese Elms are hard as nails! Follow everyones advise and leave the tree alone. I am sure it will recover.
In the meantime you can read up on this forum and increase your knowledge for when you buy your next one.

Hope this helps

Mike

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WADDY82

Thanks everyone will put out side and keep an eye on the soils condition stop fertilising and see how it goes.

Thanks again hopefuly i will be back on in a coupe of days/weeks thanking you all for saving my trees life .

Lee.

WADDY82

Just a quick update. My Tree has been outside now day and night since Thursday, The worrying thing is that it now has no leaves (but thats to be expected as they were all nearly dead anyway). but also there is marks on the base of the trunk which rubs off with the bark, Underneath this the tree looks ok and also noticed a white resin around the pot edges where it meets the soil. The resin does wipe off just dont know what it is.

Any one have any ideas??

Cheers.
Lee.

Aaron_K

Hi Lee,

Really a picture would come in most useful here of the tree and particularly the soil. Just out of interest, where did you buy this tree from and what is the soil like? Does it contain grit/gravel, does it look like clay and have lots of dust like particles or does it look like garden compost? As Mike rightly says, the soil needs to drain freely. Within seconds of watering it should come running out the bottom of the pot.

A great deal of the online stores that I am aware of in the UK including ebay, carry the run of the mill, mass produced "S" shaped bonsai (usually Chinese elms, Ligustrums, Serrisa, Sageritia and Carmona), shipped over from places like China, Taiwan, Korea etc. These trees often have a heavy clay soil directly around or in the centre of the root mass, which helps stop them drying out whilst in transportation. The trouble is, when these trees arrive with the end user, 9 times out of 10 they are still in the same soil they were shipped in from the far east, and so it is very easy to overwater them. Equally, if the clay dries out, it can be difficult to rehydrate the soil again. The soil (combined with the watering) is most likely the cause of your trees demise.

With regard to the white resin, I would hazard a guess that is simply limescale/calcium deposits left from watering or even lichen, but without a picture I can't say for certain.

All the best,

Aaron

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