Chinese Elm II

Tue Aug 30, 2005 2:16 am

Hello again, I posted about my rooms temp, lighting and such, wondering if it would be good for a brandy new chinese elm bonsai.

I got it from a local store, complete with an instruction booklet and a big smile :lol:

I took it into my room. Cutting to the chase here, I walked in several minutes later and I noticed some leaves on my dresser were its being kept.The next time I walked in, the drops slowed down but there we still a few there. I though it might be the tempature shock, going from the heat outside (94 Degrees F outside) to inside my room (68-72 Degrees F). Then, as I mentioned before, I saw my cat up there sniffing about, and I had wondered if he had chewed off some of those leaves. Out of curiosity I locked him out of my room, wen back in a few minutes later, and Saw that some leaves hav fallen off. Please tell me if its something to worry about, or if I'm just paranoid.

Another thing, I read and printed out all of your articles on Bonsai Care (Very helpful, by the way) And read what to trim and such, but I still wondered if I should trim, because its losing leaves.

Here it is

There is a picture of it.

Also when wiring later on, should I wire from branch to trunk, or from branch to branch?

(Sorry if my questions get a tad too numerouse, but thanks alot for the help in my last topic, much appreciated.)

-Brendon M.

Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:46 pm

Very nice twisted trunk style!

As for worrying about the leaves dropping, don't. It is just shock from the sudden change of environment. Just keep up proper care and it will adjust and bounce back.

Tue Aug 30, 2005 3:43 pm

It's a response to changes in photoperiod and photo exposure (fancy plant speak for "you changed how much light it gets".

I am always worried to hear that folks are moving their trees indoors now; I leave mine out until frost (and if they'd survive that they'd still be out). Indoors in a house is desert like as far as humidity goes and the available light is not great usually. How is this one being lit? Could be the leaf drop is the start of worse if the light is really bad, or it could just be the regular adjustment Dr. Doog and I are talking about.

It looks good in the image; don't panic, and stay in touch. We're here for you...

HG

Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:55 am

Thanks again, scott.

I was getting a little skiddish, but it must be beginners paranoia. I thinking about trimming the one branch on the right thats a little low, because I'm looking for a design that points Mostly up, Maybe three patches of leaves, Left, right, high? Anyway, I'm still not shure what to do. Im afraid if I take off what I want for my design to look like, Ill have butchered my tree!

One more thing, I was looking at getting "Indoor Bonsai for Beginners," because I've heard It was pretty informative, and the title does fit my ecact situation. Do you have any comments from someone who might have read the book, or a general idea on its usefulness?

Wed Aug 31, 2005 1:14 am

(Sorry, forgot about this part and didnt see an edit button for my post)

It gets light from my window across the room, and I only put on my A/C during the night, daytime I turn it off and let it get all hot and sticky in my room for the plant.

Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:18 pm

Like ten feet across the room?

That's not much light; if you are going to keep it there it will need supplemental light, like a grow bulb (or even a fluorescent). And AC gets humidities into the thirtry percent region; that's drier than the Sahara, so even if you think it's sticky, I bet the tree thinks otherwise...

Outside is outside and you won't fool the tree without a lot of work. If it was a puppy, you wouldn't leave it in a room all the time. Treat it like a puppy...(at LEAST...)...

Scott