Chinese Elm Leaves Are Yellow??

I have a Chinese Elm, it is old I was told 20 years and in a bonsai pot. When I got it a month or so ago it was fine growing new shoots and looked healthy. Quickly over the past week or so lots of leaves are turning yellow and brittle enough to fall off. Its probably root bound and I was thinking of repotting but then this happened. Also i'm wondering if its possible that because we have been getting heavy rain showers every day could be a reason. An unusual amount of rain too all my plants are wet all day now.

Root rot from too much water could be a real problem, get some well drained soil and repot, cut damaged roots and remove all the old soil. You "might" save it. But this must be done quickly.

Josh S. wrote:all my pants are wet all day now.

That could be embarrassing.

fiona wrote:

Josh S. wrote:all my pants are wet all day now.

That could be embarrassing.

lol!

I agree with Billy that a repot is probably a good idea, or at least a slip pot if the roots appear to be healthy. Have you ruled out leaf sucking pests, as my elm leaves did much the same this year after my garden was attacked by a swarm of leaf hoppers and aphids, just a thought. Either way best of luck.

Every time my Chinese Elm yellows out a leaf, it's his way of telling me he's getting too much water. Crispy leaf usually means the root feeding that leaf has died, put the two together and as Billy mentions, I'd suspect root rot. These guts can be prone to it.

Luckily Chi-Elms are Half hardy and could take a late season repot into good free draining soil without too much drama. Follow Billy's recommendation, and be sure to settle the new soil in well with a chopstick.
-Jay

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:Root rot from too much water could be a real problem, get some well drained soil and repot, cut damaged roots and remove all the old soil. You "might" save it. But this must be done quickly.

I would treat roots after cleaning with systemic fungicide [follow the label for %] Work for me

yamasuri wrote:

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:Root rot from too much water could be a real problem, get some well drained soil and repot, cut damaged roots and remove all the old soil. You "might" save it. But this must be done quickly.

I would treat roots after cleaning with systemic fungicide [follow the label for %] Work for me

The systemic fungicide will make the chances of survival greater.

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:
The systemic fungicide will make the chances of survival greater.

I have read in several sources that systemics (both insecticide and fungicides) applied to Chinese Elm will cause defoliation, further weakening the tree. Colin Lewis even mentions it in the Bonsai Survival Manual.

I've never needed to treat mine in that way so I have no idea experientially if that is true.

-Jay

Fiona
You don't miss a trick......lol

Mitch

I have used a granular product called Subdue without negative results.

Oh man sorry, I guess I need to spell check a little better. We've had so much rain here my pants are wet too.

Thanks everyone for advice, i'm relieved a little that there's a chance I won't loose the tree. I might look into doing fungicides or insecticides, but am reluctant because the tree was so overgrown that I could barely find the branch structure. I pruned a good bit off to let it breath and chemicals might stress it out even more. Some leaves turned into a gooey paste because it wasn't drying out well enough.

Steven wrote:
Have you ruled out leaf sucking pests

I haven't totally ruled out leaf sucking pests but there are no tares or holes in the leaves, so I think thats good.
But, I do have another question that relates to pests I've noticed tiny ants in the soil they run out when I water the tree. From what I've researched, I've seen none of the aphids or beetles any where.

Are the ants, if that's what they are, bad? My other plants also have those tiny ants running around in the soil, but no signs of stress to the plants and they all do real well. I've seen small worms too, are they a problem?

But, I do have another question that relates to pests I've noticed tiny ants in the soil they run out when I water the tree. From what I've researched, I've seen none of the aphids or beetles any where.

Are the ants, if that's what they are, bad? My other plants also have those tiny ants running around in the soil, but no signs of stress to the plants and they all do real well. I've seen small worms too, are they a problem?


Another sign your soil is too wet.

Way too late to be telling you this, but at least others will know for future reference:

• Chinese elms are susceptible to blackspot fungus; it causes leaves to yellow and fall off.
  
• Treat with systemic fungicide; the oft repeated myth of damage to Chinese elms is just that, a myth. There WAS an ingredient well over 20 years ago in a systemic fungicide which had caused a problem - but that ingredient is no longer used any more.
  

Source: I have treated over 50 Chinese elms and common European Elms (plus Wych elms) for blackspot over the last 2 years by spraying them every 10 days for the entire season and the only one that lost leaves wasn't sprayed! I use this from Bayer: Fungus Fighter