Newbie with sad bonsai

[terriergirl]

HI, I'm new here.

I recently bought my first ever bonsai from a shop at the garden centre. It was unlabled, so I don't know the variety. Research leads me to believe it's a Chinese elm.

The instructions say I should soak it in water and fertilize it weekly, and mist it every day. I bought the bonsai food, mister and soaking bowl, and keep it in a well lit place. It's been losing a lot of leaves. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

It occurs to me that maybe it would be better kept outside, but it's been so cold recently. I don't know if I should wait until spring (if it ever arrives)

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Gnome]

terriergirl,

If the soil is in the least bit moist do not water it right now. Can you please post a picture of the tree so that we can try to identify it?

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3724

Norm

[terriergirl]

I'l try to get a picture tomorrow. Thank you.

[kdodds]

Could you define "well lit"? I know that even in my living room, where we have a northish facing floor to ceiling bow 15' wide, light drops of dramatically even just a couple of yards into the room. In this room we keep only low light plants like the cat palm. By contrast, all of my bonsai are located in a south facing greenhouse window that also gets western and some eastern exposure. It's my experience that many plants, houseplants or otherwise, will start dropping a large amount of leaves immediately when they're subjected to lower light levels than they're accustomed to. Some plants (like Ficus benjamina) may drop an alarmingly large number of leaves and bounce back immediately as they grow accustomed to the new light levels. Other plants may not fair so well. I agree, a positive identification is very important here.

[aussietaf]

Terriergirl, if it is a Chinese Elm, then at this time of the year in your climate there shouldn't really be any leaves on it. Chinese Elms are deciduous, so at this time of the year it should be dormant with new growth appearing in spring when your weather warms up a bit. Of course, your tree could have been grown in a climate controlled situation meaning it retained its leaves 'artificially'. With regards to watering and feeding, It appears you may be watering it too much - especially if you are also misting it once a day as well. Deciduous trees don't need feeding during the winter months either - you are just wasting your fertilizer, the tree won't take it up. Personally, I'd hold off on your watering till you see the top of the soil dry out a bit. Overwatering can be just as bad as underwatering - both will result in leaf drop, and too much watering can also cause the roots to rot away. I live in a tropical area (never drops below freezing) - but even here my Elms are losing their leaves as we are now going into our autumn.

[terriergirl]

Sorry, still no picture. I'm a bit technophobic and will have to get my husband to post it. He's not here at the moment. ID will have to wait.

The little tree is in an SW facing kitchen window. I moved it there from the dining room, also SW facing, but not as bright. I'm concerned about the fact that it was almost certainly kept in unnatural conditions at the garden center. I would eventually like to keep this outdoors on my deck area. I didn't want to move it yet, as I was afraid the temperature difference might be too much of a shock for it.

I'm originally from the US, and probably keep my house warmer than most Brits. (the kitchen is unheated though.)

[Gnome]

terriergirl,

If it is indeed a Chinese Elm here are a few things you should know. Ulmus parvifolia is a sub-tropical, it can behave as an evergreen or a deciduous tree depending on exactly where it originated and how it is managed. Don't worry about it coming from a greenhouse situation it is common, some people keep these as indoor trees.

You are correct not to put it out just yet, soon, but if you are not fully into Spring hold it back a little longer. It should go outside when the time is right it will do much better there. I prefer to keep mine as a temperate tree allowing to go dormant for the winter. They should be breaking bud soon.

While you are waiting to post your photos there are few things you can do. Look on Google for images of Chinese Elm to verify what you have. Similarly take a look at the bonsai gallery, I have an Elm posted there. Also you should read the sticky thread concerning general growing tips, pay particular attention to the portion on watering. Watering bonsai is not difficult but it takes a little practice, some people seem to come into this hobby/obsession with bad habits.

Norm

[terriergirl]

At last - here are the pictures of my bonsai. As you can see, the soil is very dry. The whole block of soil lifts easily out of the pot and feels dry all the way through. I did not water the soil today, but placed a damp paper towel over the soil to prevent it drying out too much more.

[img]https://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm62/terrier_girl/bonsai_full.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm62/terrier_girl/bonsai_detail.jpg[/img]

[Gnome]

terriergirl,

Now that I see the tree I think I can say two things with relative certainty. First it is not a Chinese Elm, the leaves on Elms are serrated or toothed.
[url=https://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zelelmzz6.jpg][img]https://img255.imageshack.us/img255/2258/zelelmzz6.th.jpg[/img][/url]
Shoot on the right is Chinese Elm and left is a Zelkova which is a related species.

Secondly, go ahead and water the tree if the soil is that dry. Have you read the sticky threads located at the top of the forums. The one about general growing has tips on basic watering.

I am not sure what species you have, Serissa perhaps? Use Google to search for images to verify this. Can anyone else either refute or verify this ID?

Norm

[terriergirl]

I have read the articles about watering. I don't think I'm over watering, though I have soaked the very dry soil a couple of times.

I'm wondering if I should replace the soil. Although this is my first bonsai, I am a keen gardener. To me that soil looks spent. I think I just assumed that as it was sold as a bonsai, the soil would be the correct stuff.

Having seen the pictures, what did you think of the plant. Does it look unhealthy to you?

[constantstaticx3]

I can say with great confidence that that is a serissa. I had one a long time ago and I had thought I was doing everything correctly but one day I too a look and for some very strange reason, the trunk actually split in half. I was pretty sure it wasn't like that when I bought it. Eventually the leaves dried out and it died for what reason I still don't know. All I can say is that these are, from my experience, very tough trees to grow. Good luck with this one but you may want to try another tree as well, one that is easier to grow.

Tom

[Gnome]

terriergirl,

Now that you have an identification, thanks Tom, you can begin some research into their proper care. As Tom alluded to this species has a reputation as being difficult to manage.
[url]https://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Serissa.html[/url]
Now that I see the tree I'm wondering how certain you are that you are watering it deeply enough to saturate the inner portion of the root ball? It does look rather compacted and I agree that it will need to be re-potted. I would not suggest that you do so right now though, take some time and learn to manage the tree and learn about bonsai soils. There are sticky threads on soils and potting as well.

Norm

[terriergirl]

Thank you for your help. The article was helpful.

Serissa, huh? I just bought it on a whim because I thought it looked pretty and always admired bonsai, but never had the nerve to try it. Leave it to me to choose a difficult one!

Never the less, I have this tree and want to do my best with it. If this isn't a good time to repot, when would be? What signs should I be looking out for? I noticed that it still has some of the wires wrapped around it's thickest branches. Should I meanwhile try to remove those?