chinese elm with pictures

What causes the stupid leaves to turn yellow , then when you touch it they fall off ??? I really like the looks of chinese elms but they are a pain for me to grow !!! thanks john

Right there with ya... What's the deal anyway? Some fungus I guess, but how much Daconil will it take to cure once and for all?

Hometeamrocker,, I just don,t know ! is that what you spray on yours?? the trees look nice with small leaves ect but this happens every year.. also the new growth turning black... give me a answer please..thanks john

I've had this happen as well. This year, no problems yet, but I think this is the time of year it usually starts for me. I have used daconil a couple of times - once when the buds were swelling, and about a week ago. Will probably continue with this every couple of weeks and see what happens this season.

More sun, less water, better air circulation.
Iris

bonsaisr wrote:More sun, less water, better air circulation.
Iris

100% spot on Iris -

immeadiate repot when you get it if it hasn't been done since coming in (if its an import tree) - the pots usually have more big roots than dirt squeezed in. i never use 'modern' bonsai soil for them and always use a well draining loam/compost mix - its the only bonsai i put in this type of soil rather than granular mixes

indoors is much harder than outdoors too due to the quoted points - poorer light, no wind and a tendancy to over dry then overwater.

this year i had one day of very strong cold winds curl all the new leaves on the smaller shop sales trees, then they yellowed and dropped off - never had the black fungal attack though. luckily the tree buds out again and again

cheers Marcus

I have had these 4 years now.. they have been repotted 2 tim es.. one is 30 years old acording to brussels.the other 8 years.. i sprayed them with danicol again this evening.. Mrs Iris they get as much sun as possible outside all the time except winter .. don,t know any thing to do... thank you all for posting any thing else please let me know.. take care john

Maybe your winter location is the problem. Do you remove all the dead leaves & clean up the soil surface?
Iris

John . . . How many leaves are turning yellow and falling? In my somewhat limited experience with Chinese elms, there's almost always a few yellow leaves. I just flick a fingernail at them and let them fall.

But if you have entire branches turning yellow, you've got a problem. Remember, "evergreen" doesn't mean FORevergreen.

JIM,,Yesterday they were about 20 leaves yellow, not in the same place,,today only 6 or so but the black is still on the new growth.. Mrs Iris,all my trees stay in a 6 by 8 greenhouse for winter with 1 of the red heat lights in the the top middle of the house.. they freeze but the snow and wind is why they are protected .. thanks take care john

WELL, My friends both are starting with the yelllow leaves again !! I pruned them back last week to 2 or 4 leave..s bepending to the branch.do not know what to do with them now... should i spray again with fungus spray?? IF there is another type elm i can get please let me know and also where to get it.. thanks take care john

Maybe that greenhouse environment is predisposing them to fungus infection.

Thank you Mrs. Iris,, my question is,, what to do now ?? i always heard chinese elm was a good tree for someone to start with !! i have not just started bonsai .. that is why i can not understand haveing the problems with these.. thanks for your help take care john

For now:
Figure out how to get them in full sun, even if you have to cut down a tree.
Allow the soil to dry out more between waterings.
Next fall, try a different wintering location.
Iris.

Thank you Mrs Iris for your help.. i will move them somewhere !! john

Some pictures would be good - both of the tree(s) and the area in which they are located in the garden.

Just out of interest, is vine weevil an issue in your garden and do you do any sort of protection from it -soil drench or whatever?

SORRY,About the pic.quality but this is all i can get.. maybe someone can see much better than i can !!! thank you take care john

could anyone tell anything from pics. ??  Thanks john

I'm seeing leaves that don't look particularly different in terms of colour to those on my own Chinese Elms. In my climate leaves yellow and fall off regularly especially at the beginning of the growing season.  What I am wondering though is why you seem to have so few leaves as I'd have expected the trees to be a lot more dense in growth by now.  This of course assumes that those pics are recent. 

Unless anyone comes on with a suggestion for a disease or pest, I'd be tempted to feed the tree a bit more aggressively and try to encourage a flush of growth.  Then just let it grow for a season without much pruning intervention.  

Caveat- all that based on what I can see in those pics. They (the pics) may not be yielding the full truth though.

I'm not seeing any pics.  Other threads are OK.

John added two pics to the original post on the thread.  

Linked here; https://servimg.com/view/15309039/150

Agree with Fiona, the trees look weak to me. My Chinese elm has produced significant growth extension and is full of leaves. I think we need some more history and information here. When were these trees acquired, were they recently repotted and/or heavily pruned? Can you get some photos that show the yellow leaves better (i.e. close up)?

Edit to add - I just saw in an earlier post you said you've had them for 4 years and they've been repotted twice. How did the roots look at the last repotting? What soil was used? And, how have the trees been doing over that 4 year period? Are they maintaining themselves or slowly declining?

Thank you very much Fiona, Jim, Chris  for looking and your reply.. I hard pruned the big tree this year when it was repotted .. The roots looked fine on them both.. I use the same soil i always do this year..  I think Fiona is right fertilize some more and let them alone the rest of the season ??? thanks much  take care  john