Almost all the leaves are gone,cold?

Hello!
so for the past 3 - 4 weeks the bonsai's leaves have been falling off just by simply touching it.now, since i live way out in the north (Estonia), could this come from the cold?Its currently 7 Celsius/44.6 Fahrenheit out here.There's barely any sun out.

2 Pictures below
https://picasaweb.google.com/101566097457003118666/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCJC3xLDr-83YlwE#5668555485561834514

https://picasaweb.google.com/101566097457003118666/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCJC3xLDr-83YlwE#5668555440189377666

Maybe. However, in the second picture, that soil looks like solid clay. That would hold too much water.

You might consider lifting it from this pot, washing away all of that soil, then replanting in a slightly larger pot with a more granular soil, trying to damage the roots as little as possible.

Good luck.

i'v concidered this, but everyone keep telling me, that i should do this in the Spring

My Chinese Elm starts dropping its leaves around the end of september also, and just a light touch will make them fall. You and I are in similar temperatures right now. I also think A wash off of the roots with a hose and re-settling them into a good free draining bonsai mix at this point in the season wouldn't be a bad idea. If your not going to prune away roots, then you can often gently re-pot a tree in fall as dormancy sets in, when we root prune for Bonsai THAT procedure is often best off done in spring.
-Jay

I see you've posted a number of threads about this tree. Probably would have been better to repot it back in July, so it had time to grow new roots before winter. Repotting this late in the season is allways a difficult call. Chinese Elms are pretty tough, so you could probably make it work either way, but I'd think it would need much more winter protection if you do repot. Why not just lift it out of the pot and take a look at the roots? Most likely it's got a solid root mass that won't fall apart. If you're still unsure, take a photo of the roots when you've got it out of the pot and post that, then just put it back in the pot. Of course, if the root ball falls apart then you'll have to repot now.

And of course, if you leave it potted as is - now that most or all of the leaves have fallen, give it much less water.

Chris

I think the leaf-drop is natural for this time of year. Chinese elms seem to be a bit variable in how deciduous they are, but in your climate the behaviour seems normal.
I'd just keep it sheltered and not too wet over the winter, then when new buds start pushing in the spring repot into a more open, free draining mix. There's little point in repotting now as the roots won't be doing much until spring, just make sure they don't stay too wet as that would cause damage.

The Risky wrote:i'v concidered this, but everyone keep telling me, that i should do this in the Spring

Under normal circumstance, repotting in the spring is right. However, you are experiencing a problem cause by your potting medium, so normal repotting does not fit your situation. I would repot it now and keep an close eye on it, just don't do any root prunning and you should be fine.

Question--- If he has root rot now, should he cut those off and hope for the best?
Or leave them there, repot in decent soil, and get rid of the bad stuff in the spring?

Libby

bumblebee wrote:Question--- If he has root rot now, should he cut those off and hope for the best?
Or leave them there, repot in decent soil, and get rid of the bad stuff in the spring?

Libby

Always cut the rot part before you repot. At this time of the year, it's goona be tough to over-winter, just keep an close eye on the tree and control the temp carefully.

Yeah, I just had to do that with a couple of elms. I've got my fingers crossed, but I had to do it or they'd die anyway.

Libby

bumblebee wrote:Yeah, I just had to do that with a couple of elms. I've got my fingers crossed, but I had to do it or they'd die anyway.

Libby

Wait for a day for the wounds to dry out before you water after you cut off the rot roots. Elms are different from other trees.

Too late, but they"ll dry out pretty quickly. How do you mean, elms are different from other trees?

Libby

bumblebee wrote:Too late, but they"ll dry out pretty quickly. How do you mean, elms are different from other trees?

Libby

Elms have juciy roots and branchs so if you water before the wounds dry out, they tend to lose alot of fluid and rot again. But best wishes to your trees.

Robert