Chinese Elm Beginner

[Kass]

After buying my first Bonsai I have realized I went about this all wrong. I bought my tree on a whim from the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in St. Paul, Minnesota a little over 3 weeks ago. I have always wanted a Bonsai but purely on its aesthetic look; to have a miniature tree growing indoors has been very appealing to me since I was little but I had not intended on buying one at the moment. Well after my dad helped talk me into buying this beautiful 6 year old Chinese Elm which neither of us had the slightest clue how to take care of. (I was going to buy a 3 year old Juniper but the lady who was working there said it would need a dormancy period so I went with my second choice this elm which she said did not need the dormancy period so would be a better beginner tree for me).

Well I did start off knowing some of the obvious points of Bonsai; I already had a great place for it in my south facing room, I would water it as often as it needed it and treat it as a ‘child’ so that I could learn this art form and keep my tree in top condition. After I got the tree home I immediately went online and realized how much work my 50 dollar tree would take.

Soon after my first watering I found out my tree had fungus gnats and what appeared to be shore flies. I switched my water routine up and have managed to go a week and a half without seeing any of the little pests and have a insecticidal soap on hand in case they come back. After closer inspection there were old wounds in some leaves where insects had chewed them but I couldn't find anything still causing the damage. I have managed to catch 4 clear little eggs on the back of a leaf before they hatched which made me feel like I was doing something right. I am still battling what I assume is stress since my tree keeps dropping leaves, although it seems to be slowing down on how many it drops a day which seems like a good sign!

I have been doing more and more research online and I can now see that a Chinese Elm is not a good indoor Bonsai which I am rather bummed about and wish I would have known earlier. But now that I have my tree I'm dedicated to giving it the best chance possible. I live in northern Minnesota where we are use to many -10 degrees F (or much more!) days in a row and I'm not sure how to over winter my tree. While I would love to keep it in my room and keep it green all year round I know how detrimental this would be for the tree’s health in the future. So I am willing to do what I can to help my elm survive. I have read several articles that were linked to other posts and websites but have not really found a seemingly best way bring my tree into dormancy. It is already hitting 50 degrees F days and below freezing nights and I'm afraid to put my tree outside because it has not had anytime to acclimate to this weather and the tree is still under stress now from its move here. If I could acclimate it, I have an unheated garage attached to my house which seems to be the best place to let it go into dormancy but I'm still afraid it will get too cold in the winter for it.

Any advice on what would be the best course of action is much appreciated!

[kdodds]

Put it outside. The chances of its long term survival indoors are extraordinarily slim. Outdoors it will have a better chance. Once its leaves have dropped, into the garage it goes. I think you already know this, from your post, but just don't want to bite that bullet quite yet. Is there a chance it won't make it? Sure. But there's a far greater chance that this will happen if it is not allowed to go dormant.

[linlaoboo]

The elm is meant to be outdoors, just leave it out and protect it from wind. It's not that cold right now yet. To give u an idea my elm didn't enter dormancy until Dec. Giving the roots protection during dormancy is important. Last winter I left mine out on my plant rack outside and we had a pretty harsh winter. This spring only the bottom half of the tree survived and top half went dead so this year I will definitely give it more protection.

[Kass]

Thank you for your replies!

The rest of the week looks pretty warm here so I'm moving it outdoors. Eventually it will make it into my garage for the winter, I will keep it on the side closest to the house so it will be a little warmer and I'm thinking about putting it in a cardboard box so that my outdoor cat wont have a chance to claw it up. I will do my best to bring it into my basement on very cold days to help it out a bit more. I am in a zone three so any tips on the best way to insulate it while in the garage?

[kdodds]

Once it has dropped all of its leaves (it will need to be outside for that), put it in a black garbage bag, cover it in mulch, and leave it there. It should be just fine as long as it's safe from wind/rain/ice/snow.