名媛直播

Hello all! Newbie here, help please! First, some backstory:

January 2022: we received a 名媛直播 Planting kit, and started a bunch of seedlings. We anticipated maybe only a couple of the dozen seedlings making it past the first year.
August 2022: started a once-per-month "pinch of fertilizer" program for the remaining seedlings, planted in cheap plastic bonsai pots.
January 2024: 1.5 years later, we have our four remaining grown-up seedlings - two "Elm" trees and two "Pine" trees.

Climate: Mid-Atlantic region, United States. Indoor bonsai.

Given the Pine trees are about six inches tall, and sprouting little nubbins (candles, I guess?), we expect some April pruning might be required, cutting the tops so they're slightly shorter, but not much else. This will eliminate the current candles. I assume this minimal pruning might help them sprout branches this year. Agreed? Does the timing make sense?

The two Elm trees have grown to 8 and 12 inches tall. Some new buds, but no branches. They used to have more leaves, but most leaves have yellowed and fallen recently. In February we plan to repot both, assuming there will be significant root growth to trim back. In April we plan to cut the tops to a significantly shorter height, maybe 6 inches each, though this will cut off the remaining leaves (and some new sprouts) at the top. How risky is this? Does the timing make sense?

Pots: found some nice Wazakura ceramic pots on Amazon, they're all roughly similar sizes to the cheap plastic ones we own, planning to buy them soon. Does it make sense to get nice expensive pots now, or wait until next year to see how they all survive a big pruning and replanting like this?

Any other help would be appreciated.

If it was my trees I would uppot into bigger pots and move outdoors as soon as the risk of frost is over. Once outdoors I would never bring them indoors again. Following years as the pot fills with roots I would uppot to bigger and bigger pots until trunk thickness is in line with my future vision for the tree. How long that is is depending on climate and vision. But 5-10 years is a rough guideline for a medium sized elm and 5 more for a medium sized pine in my conditions.

The only bonsai related tasks I would do during this time is wiering sometime between when they have reached the hight of the final tree and when they are too thick for easy bending. But you will not need to think about that for a few years.

The pine branches can be candle pruned once they are in line with the width of the final vision, but the elms can grow wild without any pruning.

Restraining the seadlings with small containers and frequent pruning will never grow a bonsai, but a stick in a pot. Temperate trees grown indoors will not even survive a few years.