Need some help with my New Zelkova.

[smokingxaces]

Hi, I am new to the forums. Ive had several bonsai over the years but unfortunately the local seller brings em in very bad conditions so most of the time they only last a couple of months .

Now this time round I have managed to get quite a good zelkova, its about 5 years old and its trunk and leaves look good too. However when I got it home I noticed it had a bad infestation of mites in its soil. After searching the net for some time I found that re-potting the tree and cleaning its root system worked best at sorting this problem out so I went ahead and found a vid online on how to do it to my zelkova.

Now I have had this tree for about a month now and I have kept it away from direct sunlight for two weeks since i re-potted it. Its getting to the time of the month now when new growth should start and I can clearly see some new buds in some places, I also know that these bonsai tend to drop some leaves, but most if not all are starting to turn yellow/brown, some wrinkle too and eventually fall off. This has been happening for a week and still is.

Is this because I have done it wrong? I live in Gibraltar (southern end of spain) the temp here is usually between 14 Celsius - 25celsius now in winter and the tree is never in direct sunlight its on my window and i always have the shutters half open to it gets some sunlight.

I can post some pics if needed, just ask. Some help would be gr8ly appreciated since I am fairly new to this and would love it as a relaxing hobby.

 

[JudyB]

Welcome to the forum.
I have a question about your previous trees, did you try to keep them all inside? If so were they all zelkovas, and elms? These kinds of trees are difficult to keep healthy and alive indoors. There are a few types of trees that can do well indoors, but zelkova is not one of them. As soon as is possible, you should try to get this plant outside. If it's below freezing, and it has come from a greenhouse environment, then you may need to wait until those colder temps. have passed for this year. But come spring, this tree will need to go outside and stay there. It'll be ready to stay outside for winter after this summer.

But I see by your temps stated, that it really doesn't freeze where you are. So get that plant outside!

 

[Poink88]

Welcome to B-Nut!

I will put it out now if I were you. The temps are perfect for growth and you want the new growth to be exposed to the proper environment before they open. Else they might get shocked...even burned.

If you plan on keeping this tree inside, it will be much more difficult for you and the tree.

As for the old leaves dying, do not worry about them especially since you have buds growing. Do not over water by the way.

Good luck!

 

[smokingxaces]

Thanks for the welcome's and quick reply. Yes all my previous trees were Zelkovas and Elm's. I had one that was doing gr8 but I went on holiday and the person I left to take care of it for me didn't so when i came back two months later it was too late .

Unfortunately I live in a flat so I do not have any space outdoors to plant it. However I will try to find some place to plant it if I can, but how will it react to that after having cut back some roots and re-potted it two weeks ago?

And if I do plant it outdoors which areas would it benefit most from soil wise, or should i get quite a large pot and plant it in there and place it outdoors like a back yard ect?

 

[Poink88]

Bonsai means potted plants. You can plant it in the yard if you wish but that is not bonsai. People do that to bulk up the tree as part of the training.

After repotting, root is usually reduced that is why you have to put them under shade...to help reduce water loss through transpiration to compensate for the reduced intake. If you lost all or most of the leaves anyway, I will put it out but still provide some shade at the hottest part of the day.

Soil wise...good draining soil. It is a major topic you have to research on. We can help but cannot cram everything in posts. Do a search here then maybe ask more specific questions after.

Good luck!

 

[smokingxaces]

Sorry about that xD when you spoke about outdoors I understood plant it outside as I was just seeing a vid about a guy explaining that doing that is commonly done to make the trunk thicker.

Ok so I have a place in mind were I can keep it, its not totally outside tho its like a green house my m8 has, however he currently has a white apple tree potted there which has recently gotten a bad infestation of blister mites. Think its a bad idea to pot it there right?

Also forgot to mention that I lightly water the tree with a spray bottle every three or four days when the soil is dry to the touch, and I do not apply lots of water just a couple of sprays all around.

 

[Poink88]

That is too little water, you will slowly weaken then eventually kill the tree that way. Try submerging the entire pot under water after it has reached semi-dry (NOT dry) state. That will be better IMHO.

Putting a tree near an infested tree is inviting trouble. I won't do it.

 

[smokingxaces]

Ok thanks I will wait a day or two and stick a chop stick into the soil once its dry Ill do that.

I will not plant it there then. Will placing it outside my window work in the same way, instead of having it inside my room, and leaving the shutters open so it will be exposed to the outside more often?

Also uploading some pics so you can see how it was to how it currently is.

 

[Poink88]

Looks much better than I imagined. Congrats you chose a nice tree.

Put the chopstick now and leave it there. It is used to see if the soil is wet and it shows much better and more accurately after it normalized against the soil moisture. Your soil maybe more organic than ideal but seems okay. You might have to water less frequently.

Putting it outside the window is okay BUT make sure the heat radiating or reflected by the glass & wall is not too hot (depends on your orientation vs the sun).

 

[smokingxaces]

Thank you, I usually leave the window open for that reason, direct sun here is pretty strong and having double glazed windows would magnify it too much.

But as you can see in the pics, is that amount of leaf loss normal at this time of year?

This is what it looks now from the front compared to the photo i took when I bought it, you can clearly see that there is a difference in the center of the tree, used to be much more bulk there.

 

[Poink88]

It is because it is indoors. Plants need more than water and light to thrive. Proper humidity, wind, temperature, etc. plays a major role too.

The fact that it was under pest infestation and just repotted are also contributing factors.

You do what you think is best but I encourage you to learn more about horticulture now or before you buy another tree.

Good luck!

 

[smokingxaces]

Thank you very much for all your help .

 

[Adair M]

To my eye, that looks more like a Chinese Elm than a Zelkova Serratta. Unfortunately, many commercial growers will mis-label Chinese Elms and call them zelkova. (Rarely seems to happen the other way around.)

That aside, it appears that the shutter outside your window blocks a lot of light.

Do you have a patio or balcony that you could use? The tree really could use 1/2 day of direct sunlight.

Otherwise, something like a ficus might be more suitable for your growing conditions.

 

[smokingxaces]

Oh, thank you for pointing that out. I have a ledge on my window on the outside of the shutter Ill put it there for half of the day then place it inside the shutter for the night and see how the tree reacts to that.

 

[Poink88]

Oh, thank you for pointing that out. I have a ledge on my window on the outside of the shutter Ill put it there for half of the day then place it inside the shutter for the night and see how the tree reacts to that.

Remember my post about humidity, wind, etc.? The plant will thank you if you leave it out at night. What you want to avoid is the intense afternoon heat/sun.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

To my eye, that looks more like a Chinese Elm than a Zelkova Serratta. Unfortunately, many commercial growers will mis-label Chinese Elms and call them zelkova. (Rarely seems to happen the other way around.)

That aside, it appears that the shutter outside your window blocks a lot of light.

Do you have a patio or balcony that you could use? The tree really could use 1/2 day of direct sunlight.

Otherwise, something like a ficus might be more suitable for your growing conditions.

+1 on that...

 

[smokingxaces]

Permanently placed it outside now. But there is bad weather here now and its been forecast for the rest of the weekend, you think the strong winds will hurt too much since its recently been re potted and all?

 

[JudyB]

Do protect it from the wind. Temps in your area don't ever look low enough to do any cold protection. If you didn't wire it into the pot, place it on the ground in a very wind sheltered area until the strong winds pass. If you wired it into the pot, then you just have to make sure that the pot won't fall off of wherever you placed it.