Chinese elm dying or seasonal change

[Pigskin Pete]

I am going into my first fall-winter with this elm and not sure if this is going to survive and show new growth in the spring. I didnt get a lot of color change and some of the leaves are crispy. Waa hoping a more enlightened BNutter can take a look and give an opinion. There is still some non-crispy growth, but i dont know if its enough to support the tree until dormancy and onward.

 

[Paradox]

Doesnt look like seasonal change to me.
Either it dried out too much or its a root or fungus problem, imo

 

[Pigskin Pete]

I was afraid of that. The only thing I can think of that I did wrong was let it go too long without watering after what I considered a heavy rain. I'm wondering if I let it dry out too much.

Would you recommend a wait-and-see approach, or is there something more proactive I could or should do?

 

[BonsaiManic]

When was this collected? I recently collected 3, and they look a lot like this one now, but we may have had colder temperatures than you, also.

 

[HardBall]

I have some that look like this. They weren't dormant at all, completely green, and then we got subfreezing temps. I think they'll be fine.

 

[Pigskin Pete]

When was this collected? I recently collected 3, and they look a lot like this one now, but we may have had colder temperatures than you, also.

I bought it from a big box this spring and gave it a hard chop. It responded brilliantly with lush growth.

I'm still learning and I'm afraid I got too lax with watering when the temps dropped a bit. We got a heavy rain and then I didn't water it like I should, thinking it had gotten plenty from the rain and that the lower temps had lowered the water requirements.

It's my second winter as a wannabe bonsai practitioner. I've got a lot to learn, just crushed at the thought that something living died because of me. I will remain as hopeful as I can.

 

[Paradox]

Fortunately Chinese elm are usually pretty tough.
Just go back to proper watering and it will probably recover

 

[Shibui]

Agree.
This looks very much like dehydration. Your suggestion it may have been left a little too long after rain makes that almost certain.
Also that Chinese elms are very resilient. They can come back from far worse.
Depending on temps it may choose to grow new shoots but, trees can often sense the end of the growing season coming so it may choose to go dormant until Spring.