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Newbie To Bonsai...

Ben M

Ben M

Member
Joined
1 Sep 2009
Messages
662
Hi, last week i bought a bonsai tree. it was only cheap at £8. i have been watering it with tank water (i thought the EI fertz might do it some good) and all seems to be well. however, i'd like to know how to properly care for it, and i've noticed there are some bonsai growers on here. it is 4years old according to the container i got it in. it is in normal compost, not akadama (is this ok?) and that's all i know really. :oops:

what i'd like to know is whether there is something i should be doing that i'm not (should i get some fertz for it, or will the fertz in the tank water be ok)?

also, i'm not sure what type of tree it is, could you ID it please?
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cheers :D
 
Compost isn't usually any good for Bonsai, I'd suggest you took a look at Kaizen Bonsai for some new stuff. I found with my old bonsai I had lots of yellowing and dropping leaves until I changed to their stuff.
 
50 points to Nelson :) yup, it's a Chinese Elm.

Very nice trees to work with. The only thing you have to watch with them is that they tend to be grown in clay where they are grown (usually china way) and this clay can go rock solid like concrete when it dries. I usually plant mine in an equal thirds mix of multi purpose compost, horticultural grit and acamdama or cat litter.

Are you keeping it indoors? If you are this does make it harder to keep as centrally heated houses and trees dont tend to mix but you may get away with it depending on where its sited. Not anywhere too hot or too dark. Filling the drip tray underneath with gravel and water will help as the water will evaporate. You dont want it too wet or too dry hence why they are hard to keep indoors plus misting the leaves will help.

If you have a graden you could also keep it outdoors for the winter, just dont forget to water it now and again as the wind can dry them in their pots even when raining in the winter.

As it happens I was out taking some pictures of my trees this morning after we had heavy fog then a frost. this is one of my chinese elms, outside for the winter :)

5238933063_825ed1b495_o.jpg
bonsai in the frost (Chinese Elm) by Stu Worrall, on Flickr

And a larch ive recently been wiring

5238933351_9a9c76b299_o.jpg
bonsai in the frost (Larch) by Stu Worrall, on Flickr

PS, EI water will be great for it.
 
it looks like it is growing ok, so i wouldnt worry about the soil it is in too much. you can improve it when you repot it.

it could do with some shaping, elms are good for the traditional triangular tree shape or the broom shape like stu's little tree.

also, most bonsai trees, especially ones that dont come from tropical climates, like your elm, are outdoor plants. they are trees, not house plants. they wont get burned by the sun, they can live outside all through winter and the bright sun will help you develop smaller leaves. this is one of the worst mistakes made by newbie bonsai growers, is wanting to display their trees indoors. if you want to do that, get a couple of trees, and rotate them, three weeks outside, one week inside...

there is loads of overlap between scaping and growing bonsai trees, so you will end up getting better at both :)
 
Hi

Looks like I made misteake with keeping my bonsai indoor now I need Your help as my tree lost all leawes what can I do now is already to late or can be done something with it ?
 
Hi all,
Don't know anything about bonsai, but the tree is definitely an "Elm", either Ulmus parvifolia or a Zelkova sp. I don't think it is - Zelkova serrata (this has a "pointier" leaf), but I think your tree might be Z. carpinifolia, if that is used as a bonsai? They are all very similar and extremely frost hardy so you don't need to worry about them outside. From what I remember Z. carpinifolia is deciduous, but U. parvifolia will retain it's leaves, unless it is very cold.

I've seen Serrisa foetida sold as a bonsai, but I don't know how easy it is to keep inside as a house plant, it is an easy cutting to root.

cheers Darrel
 
my chinese elms all lost their leaves in winter, regardless of whether it was extremely cold or not, so your has probably just shed its leaves. reduce watering, the soil should be damp not moist, you dont want to rot the roots.

there are a couple of good indoor bonsai candidates including ficus, serrisa foetida, camelia, azalea, jade plants and others, there are also a couple of books dedicated to these:

indoor bonsai

but as i said as long as it spends most of its time outside, any tree can be brought inside for short display periods...
 
Here is one of my elms as it is now (this morning), not looking its best at this time of year but, this one is up for a new pot & fresh substrate next month.
I use 70% cat litter aristocrat pink & 30% soil mix, all my trees are watered from overhead sprinkler system using water from my tank.
I change about 20 gals a week from the tank & this goes into my 50 storage tank but in the summer I can use 10 gals a day for my trees so I have a rain water butt too.

bonsia.jpg
 
Never could get them to grow in my tank :)
I bought that elm in 1985 as a very small tree but sold as a bonsai, the trunk is just coming together now.
I bought most of my trees from garden centers, not as bonsai but, as seedling that had been neglected or forgotten & left to grow in its pot!
I have a couple of evergreens, I can post some pics if anyone is interested...
 
Hi all,
I bought most of my trees from garden centers, not as bonsai but, as seedling that had been neglected or forgotten.
Click to expand...
Zelkova suckers, so if you could find a tree, you could dig up some of the suckers. You can find Birch, Holly and Yew seedlings without too much trouble in gravel paths, so that might be a good starting point. Cotoneaster horizontalis (or C. "microphyllus") is another one that might do as a bonsai and are easy to find seedlings. The conifers are nice as well. Thuja or Chamaecyparis will also grow from cuttings, but Pines, Larch and most Spruces are more difficult, and really need to be grown from seed. I've got Cryptomeria japonica ( both forms) and little Podocarpus (probably P. lawrencei) that are reasonably easy cuttings as well, if you would like to try them?
loving the hydrocotyle
Click to expand...
I think that this is Wall Pennywort Umbillicus rupestris, which likes dry conditions and often grows in walls <http://www.wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/N/Navelwort/Navelwort.htm>.

cheers Darrel
 
Cheers, I got that one from a friends garden, it was a large mature shrub that was in the way of some new foundations that were being dug for a conservatory.
The shrub was at least 4' tall & 6' across & had been dug up by a digger days before I saw it!
I cut off some of the long spindly wood & replanted it in my garden, I trimmed it back each year until I potted the tree about 5 years ago, still needs loads of work but, I am getting there!
The twin trunk tree has a history as well, I got it from a free tree scheme that runs in my area. You can fill out a form to show you have the land & you get free tree hedging delivered to your house, this was about 20 years ago after our Island lost 80% of our indigenous tree population due to Dutch elm disease. In other word about 60% of Guernseys tree died!
Anyhow this little tree was left over in the stocking nursery & for at least 10 year was left in a small plastic pot, there were dozens of similar trees but, I saw this twin trunk & asked if i could have it...
I haven't wired it at all just been trimming, feeding & re potting for about 10 years, it need a lot of work to get the lower foliage to grow but, I have the time....
 
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