Chinese elm soil help!

[MatthewStarr]

Hi, I just received a chinese elm (shohin) but i'm not very pleased with the soil it is in. It doesn't drain well, the roots are also completely root bound. Is it possible to change the tree to another pot and change out the soil to a more bonsai special soil that drains better? Seeing that it is June/July can I do any pruning and cutting of the roots or will I risk killing the tree? It is indoors under compact fluorescent lighting. I live in west texas so the weather is hot in the summer and dry.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Can't comment on repotting, but it shouldn't be indoors. It needs to be outdoors, in the shade for a while. It will eventually die indoors.

Oh, and welcome!

 

[0soyoung]

You can lift it, roots and all, to another pot that you bottom- and back-fill with decent soil (new root growth will be in the new stuff). Don't mess with the present root 'ball' - do your best to keep in tact. This should get it safely to next spring when you can bare root it and get it properly potted.

IMHO, getting outside isn't a big worry right now. What is essential is that it be outside to have its necessary winter down time. Meanwhile, it will likely be okay if it gets enough light through your window(s).

 

[MatthewStarr]

You can lift it, roots and all, to another pot that you bottom- and back-fill with decent soil (new root growth will be in the new stuff). Don't mess with the present root 'ball' - do your best to keep in tact. This should get it safely to next spring when you can bare root it and get it properly potted.

IMHO, getting outside isn't a big worry right now. What is essential is that it be outside to have its necessary winter down time. Meanwhile, it will likely be okay if it gets enough light through your window(s).

Well i'll use the small rake tool to undo the bottom portion of the roots and put whats intact into the new pot. The lighting doesn't worry me because I leave the tree under daylight fluorescent lighting for 10 hours a day. It should be sufficient lighting for the tree. I have to wait until next spring to bare root it or can I do it in the fall? I had read elms can be wired and repotted in early fall also.

 

[0soyoung]

I have to wait until next spring to bare root it or can I do it in the fall? I had read elms can be wired and repotted in early fall also.

The issue with fall repotting seems to be that the root growth is susceptible to cold damage. After reading Brent Walston's account, I decided to avoid fall repotting. I will say, however, that I do repot Mugo pine's in August.

 

[MatthewStarr]

The issue with fall repotting seems to be that the root growth is susceptible to cold damage. After reading Brent Walston's account, I decided to avoid fall repotting. I will say, however, that I do repot Mugo pine's in August.

Susceptible to cold damage even thought I have it indoors though?

 

[Poink88]

Sorry but elm is not an indoor plant. Note they need more than water and light (i.e. wind/air movement, humidity, etc.). Keep it indoor and you might as well forget about the pot bound roots and bad soil...it will die anyway. Sorry.

Moving it out and up potting as suggested is your best bet for now, the least root disturbance, the better. Depending on where you are, fall can be a good time to repot...gives the tree time to grow new roots before spring.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Fall could be a good time to repot depending on where you live, but remember that if the tree is indoors you might as well forget about it knowing which season it is. That is why it should go outdoors or it will die slowly inside.

 

[Baldemotions]

I am going to assume that most of these people are replying and giving advise from personal experience or at least with very good knowledge of what they are talking about, because it backs up my personal experience.

I purchased an "indoor" Chinese Elm once. had it in pretty decent soil, and under a 4 foot 2 tube fluorescent light for hours and hours of the day on a timer.
3 months (maybe sooner as I don't really remember) later I had a leafless Elm. Thought maybe for some reason it was shocked and dropped its leafs. It never leafed out again.

As I never give up on a tree that appears dead until the following spring. I watered this tree carefully and kept it under lights, as I did buy this tree advertised as an indoor tree. This tree never survived indoors.

Now, my elms go outside with the rest of my trees and are loving it.

 

[JudyB]

I am going to assume that most of these people are replying and giving advise from personal experience or at least with very good knowledge of what they are talking about, because it backs up my personal experience.


Now, my elms go outside with the rest of my trees and are loving it.

Thanks Jeramiah, for the firsthand account. All (or at least most) of us have had the same basic experience. That is why it's like a broken record for the new folks who want to try an inside tree... And honestly, sometimes you can only learn it the hard way, even though we keep trying to save them from our fate...

Matthew, you should slip pot it, and keep it outside...
listen to the voices of reason.