Does anybody know why my bonsai has lost its leaves?

[freeflow]

My bonsai has lost its leaves ion September, and even with putting it into water for ten minutes as instructed after advice on Facebook and was told that it was not getting enough water because the pot is to shallow and was told once a week to put in water just under the rim of the pot for ten minutes let drain etc, it recovered for a while but then shed its leaves again, it is been watered fine., it has not recovered more than you can see. it is a Chinese elm and now I am thinking do they do this in winter?

 

[Shibui]

There are many possible reasons.
Looks like you keep it indoors. It is quite difficult to keep Chinese elm inside a home as there's just not really enough light or fresh air to keep the tree healthy.
Too wet or too dry both have similar results - no leaves and dead trees. It is possible you have gone from one extreme to the other and the roots are now compromised.
Chinese elms do lose leaves in winter so this state might just be completely normal. You won't really know until spring.

 

[leatherback]

- Do not soak a pot unless you really have to. Proper watering (Watering when the soil is just not dried out) should be enough
- The more you soak, the compacter the soil get, less air, less ventilation, less water uptake.. All bad for the roots
- The substrate it is in is not the main problem. Most store bought plants have well developed rootballs in the substrate. It is the wrong care, especially when it comes to watering a tree. (As the japanese say, "the first five years you are learning how to water your bonsai". I personally do not think it is all that hard to do well, but.. I have grown plants all my life.

At the moment it still has a few branches that show the wish to live. Give it loads of light. Be carefull not to overwater again and do not let the pot go completely dry. If you do not get any frost anymore, consider putting it in a spot, sheltered from wind and rain, outside.

 

[Cypress187]

the first five years you are learning how to water your bonsai

This was true for me.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Good advice above. As for watering. Brian made a really good resource. On how one knows when to water. Here is a link that will take you there. https://www.bonsainut.com/resources/watering-bonsai-trees.10/

 

[Forsoothe!]

The most important thing you didn't say is where you are. If you are in Yellowknife, the advice is different than if in Savannah or Brisbane.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

If kept outside, Chinese elms are deciduous and will drop their leaves in the Fall. Even in southern California, my Chinese elms will drop their leaves - if just for two months.

Kept indoors, Chinese elms are usually treated as tropicals, and will typically keep their leaves throughout the year. However you have to provide them with bright light. I am not aware that you can provide an indoor elm with TOO MUCH light - heck they live outside here in SoCal in full sun - but you can certainly give them too little. Too little light and you start to see weak, leggy growth.

It is never a good sign if your tree pushes new growth that dies back, and then it pushes a 2nd round of new growth (weaker than the first) that also dies back. There are many possible causes... but looking at your tree I immediately wonder if the roots are dying / dead. If you let the soil dry out, but catch it in the nick of time, many of the roots will die, and the tree foliage will start to die back because the tree no longer has enough roots to sustain its foliage mass. Almost the exact same thing can happen if you keep the soil TOO wet and the roots die from being in a swamp. Often once a tree goes through this initial shock, it is tough to bring it back because it is in such a weakened condition. If it is a question of forgetting to water it, you simply have to start up your watering cycle and hope for the best. If the soil is swampy, you HAVE to address soil drainage or your tree is going to die. And while you are doing all of this, you have to give the tree enough light because light = food and energy.

If you need to soak your tree in a pot of water in order to get water to penetrate throughout the root ball, you have to repot the tree. If your soil is so compact/bad that water can't penetrate, soaking your tree in a pool of water is just going to kill it. Your tree needs to be in a good soil mix with good drainage. When you water your tree (from above) the water should instantly soak in and then drain out the bottom of the pot, leaving wet (but not saturated like a sponge) soil behind.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I have never seen a good-looking Chinese elm that has been kept indoors. The only reason someone would keep them or Junipers indoors is that's what sellers sell to passers-by. You don't graduate from wannabe to gonnabe until you keep hardy outdoor trees outdoors and buy easy tropicals for houseplants. Buy a fig.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Yeah ..Blah...

Time to play Contraband hide and seek.

What are or is the things with the hearts?

And.

Is that a decorated toilet paper roll?
I got a few of those!

Sorce