Any assistance appreciated

[OGCollard]

So Im new to Bonsai. Old to gardening. I did not have a chance to get my Chinese elm acquired to outside so he has been under grow lights. I have had him since July. I know i should have gotten him acquired but did not realize he should be outside till well, a couple months ago and i live in nebraska......

Anyway. He dropped all his leaves early december. I thought I killed him. I did repot him into a little deeper pot and kept him under lights and watered as needed. He sprouted back!! However, my concern is that a lot of his sprouts die before successfully growing a leaf. You can see that in the picture. I dont water to a schedule and check him every day. I have sprayed him with a 3-1 to make sure he does not have any bugs and i dont see any. What would be causing him to drop the buds?

 

[NateDyk47]

Welcome!

You say you're in Nebraska... I'd suggest adding this to your profile as a lot of advice will be location specific.

Chinese Elms are semi-deciduous trees. They lose their leaves and go dormant during winter. It probably would have been OK left outside all winter, or possibly with slight protection (burying the pot slightly, moving to an unheated garage/shed to protect from wind & coldest temps).

Since it just pushed new foliage, it may be detrimental to be exposed to freezing temps at this point. Since they're semi-deciduous, they can be wintered inside, which I would encourage at this point for this winter. Long term, they seem to do better wintering outside.

 

[OGCollard]

Thank you! Will do. Yes, this spring we will be transitioning it to outside. I just cant figure out why some of the buds seem to be wilting and dying. It does seem to have had a lot of new growth along with the new leaves so Im very happy about that. One thing im learning with Bonsai over outdoor vegetable gardening is PATIENCE.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Greetings and Welcome Aboard Bonsai Nut!
So great to see another member join the forest.

@NateDyk47 is correct that once placed indoors, an outdoor acclimated tree broadleaf tree will commonly drop leaves when placed inside. Or indoors already when the heat goes on during the winter, dropping the humidity. We’ve many posts about elms recently that have done the same. It’s a normal adaptation to a radical change in climate.

Chinese Elms can be both indoor and outdoor trees. The trick is ensuring the tree is provided the proper conditions inside as the tree inside often needs accommodations for light and photo period, (which is being taken care of by the lights) fertilization, humidity and media moisture (these areas seem to be where the issues are, especially the latter two ). Once mastered, likely all will be ok.

For these reasons we keep ours outdoors all winter.

Looking at winter. Likely the tree will need some form of protection if placed outside during the winter.

I used Bennington NE as a baseline and the tree would be borderline in a bonsai pot outside without protection. Especially considering the winds that blow across the state in many areas. So mulched in with drainage in a sturdy cold frame against the north side of the building would be work.

For more on overwintering bonsai check out this resource. (Ignore the references to azaleas and focus on dormancy and case studies)
https://www.bonsainut.com/resources/overwintering-bonsai-–-theory-planning-and-case-studies-azalea-focus.49/

Finally please do add your approximate location and usda zone so we can help answer your questions better. This do so double click your icon, then account details- scroll down and enter the appropriate information.

Good luck with your tree and welcome aboard once again!

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[CarpenterDiaz7]

All great advice given here! I have 4 elms and one I kept inside this year as an experiment, I want to see how they all respond in spring/summer....