Dude,

Yes it needs to go dormant. The other trees you mention are tropical or sub-tropical (not sure about the Fukien). Bringing it inside as you did you interrupted its normal cycle. It has expended its energy reserves now on what should happen next spring. Not good.

I take it you don't have any other "outdoor" trees. If it hasn't been inside too long I would probably try to find a semi-sheltered spot for it outside and hope for the best.

An unheated garage is good, or perhaps under a porch. You could also remove it from the pot and plant it out until spring. Elms are pretty tough and you might be alright. Don't forget to water it as needed, which will be greatly reduced, throughout the Winter.

By the way, if this is a Chinese Elm many state that they can be grown indoors but I feel that they benefit greatly from a rest period and I treat mine the same as all my other temperate trees

Norm

Norm

Thanks for the advice. I have moved it out to an unheated garage. I will monitor it there and see what happens with it . Hopefully I didn't kill it.

The place I bought it at had it with the ficus and fukien (indoors) so I assumed it was ok to winter indoors with them. Another lesson on the Bonsai learning curve.

Thanks again for the help.

Joe

You don't say specifically what type of elm it is. If it is a chinese elm, it is a subtropical, and the leaf-dropping can vary from tree to tree. You have to take a cue from the tree whether it will drop leaves or not.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sashi-eda Bonsai

If it's an imported Chinese Elm, it probably came from a subtropical climate and should be treated as such, but for the most part they are very cold hardy.

Chinese Elms or Lacebark Elms have become a very popular landscape tree that can be grown up into zone 5. There are some very nice specimen landscape trees here in Norman.

randy

Yea get it outside!
It will be fine.. water to keep it moist.. these trees need to be outside all year, other wise if they are brought indoors every year, they become leggy and sick and eventually die..
outside is the place for them, hope this helps, lance.

We have harsh hot summers here in Texas and I have an import Chinese Elm otw to me from CA. I am curious of whether to leave it in morning SUN and outside in the 100 deg summer temps or bring it inside. From what I have read, I need to leave it outside to overwinter. Plus I read this is the time to repot when it goes dormant. Our winters usually consist of just a handfull of freezes. Thanks for help.

SAPolice

SAPolice

i've never had my tree in temps above 100 deg. yet it does get into the high 90's here in ohio at least a few times each year. My suggestion would be to keep the tree out of mid day sun as this is the worst part of the day. i kept mine under an awning where it recieved morning and evening sun. they also benefit from humidity which depending upon which part of texas you are in can be sparse if you are not in a humid area i would suggest investing in a humidity tray or two. hope i could be of some help.

Thanks. The Elm is beautiful and so is the very tiny pot it came in but no margin for error here (dry out issues). We are usually very dry here in the summers also so yes, there will be some water near the plant in the summer.

I have to wait til fall now for repotting but will go to a bigger pot for sure then (watering tough to get right despite what soil mix is used). We really have to watch all the pots/soil here in the summer. We are usually in the 80s already for this time of year but its been milder so far.

I did not want to risk the ELM drying out in the tiny pot. I know its not the right time but since it was rainy today and temp in 70s, I lightly removed the entire rootball with its soil from the pot and put it in a larger pot with better soil. I did not comb out, prune the roots or upset the soil of the ELM, just basically placed the intact soil ball into a larger pot with my own mix.

I cannot remember reading someone who does this with out of season ELM repots but please can anyone comment who has repotted while the ELM was in leaf. I felt it was a better gamble then risking letting the soil dry out this summer.

Thanks!

SA