名媛直播

My bonsai has lost its leaves ion September, and even with putting it into water for ten minutes as instructed etc, it is been watered fine., it has not recovered more than you can see. it is a Chinese elm and do they do this in winter?

If it is outside as it should be then it is normal, if it is inside then watering like that is not good.

freeflow wrote: and even with putting it into water for ten minutes as instructed ...

It looks sick, or dying.
The soil looks very wet indeed, Elms do not like wet feet.
Is it indoors as the picture suggests? If it is inside, it should not shed so many leaves in the winter.
If it is outside then yes, they drop their leaves in the winter.

Hey
I am also a beginner, I have a Chinese Privet bonsai and I had the exact same problem a month ago. The problem is the soil that was already in the pot when I bought my bonsai from the shop. This soil didn't allow a good drainage and and was suffocating the roots. I cleaned the roots, taking away all the old trashy soil and changed the soil to a non-organic and organic soil mix, repotted to a bigger pot and now it is recovering.
Sorry for eventual language mistakes
All the best and good luck

Clicio wrote:

freeflow wrote: and even with putting it into water for ten minutes as instructed ...

It looks sick, or dying.
The soil looks very wet indeed, Elms do not like wet feet.
Is it indoors as the picture suggests? If it is inside, it should not shed so many leaves in the winter.
If it is outside then yes, they drop their leaves in the winter.

It lost its leaves in September, then I posted for 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, there are many links out there that say to do this to help a tree to recover. yes it is indoors and I like it to recover and it was not to wet when it started to lose leaves. I live in Scotland the weather is mild but we do get a lot of frost at night, so a bit worried to put it out.

freeflow wrote: It lost its leaves in September, then I posted for 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

Have a quick look at the topics at this forum. I think on the fist page alone there are already 5 topics about dying trees. It's a fact of life. Most new people, buying a 'bonsai', end up with a dead tree. The reason is people, not knowing about bonsai, buying plants from people who do not know about bonsai, putting the plants in the wrong environment, giving the wrong care, seeing the tree decline, and then taking advice from people not knowing about bonsai.

It's always a recipe for disaster, and honestly, I very, very rarely see people come back to the forum to show their recovered tree.

Watering is often a cause (apart from the wrong environment/climate). Trees often come in a type of transport-soil (just to prevent it from falling out) or with rocks glued on top (same reason) and watering such trees is a problem. The soil dries out quickly, gets compact, and no longer soaks up water properly. THAT is why you get the advise to soak the plant. It may help the plant survive a bit longer, but it is not a solution - it only fights the symptom, it does not address the cause.

Take the advise from the regulars on this forum. They do know what they are talking about.

Auk wrote:

freeflow wrote: It lost its leaves in September, then I posted for 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

Have a quick look at the topics at this forum. I think on the fist page alone there are already 5 topics about dying trees. It's a fact of life. Most new people, buying a 'bonsai', end up with a dead tree. The reason is people, not knowing about bonsai, buying plants from people who do not know about bonsai, putting the plants in the wrong environment, giving the wrong care, seeing the tree decline, and then taking advice from people not knowing about bonsai.

It's always a recipe for disaster, and honestly, I very, very rarely see people come back to the forum to show their recovered tree.

Watering is often a cause (apart from the wrong environment/climate). Trees often come in a type of transport-soil (just to prevent it from falling out) or with rocks glued on top (same reason) and watering such trees is a problem. The soil dries out quickly, gets compact, and no longer soaks up water properly. THAT is why you get the advise to soak the plant. It may help the plant survive a bit longer, but it is not a solution - it only fights the symptom, it does not address the cause.

Take the advice from the regulars on this forum. They do know what they are talking about.

Very pompous and condescending of you, not much of advice was given, I had the tree for 12 months and was doing fine, also it was bought from a what I class as a UK’s leading supplier of 名媛直播 trees and accessories. Since 2004 we have been supplying customers across the UK with bonsai trees.
So thanks for not very much advice but a lot of arrogance

freeflow wrote: not much of advice was given,

Sorry if you feel not much advice was given. I myself decided not to respond, as this question is asked pretty much every day. It is so easy to just look through the forum and find several posts with extensive answers to it, that I did not feel the need to put in my time to give an answer for a common problem. Especially as very often people do not even bother to give a follow-up whether they managed to solve the issue. I am here to discuss bonsai, not to help people care about plants in general.

- 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.

I just soaked the tree after it shed its leaves and was given advice to do it including a youtube video, should i replant it now as suggested, is it too late for the tree?
Thanks

One could repot, but it is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it will help the plant with a better suited root environment. On the other hand, it is a big hit for a plant to take, and if weak, as yours is, the plant can die from the repot alone.

I am fairly experienced with plants, and would repot. But if you have no experience, I am not sure whether it is a good idea.

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.