Serious root issues...I think?!?!

Nikkijaz · White Belt Joined: 20 Mar 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Kent

Hi there, I am a new member and am also new to keeping bonsai. I have always been fascinated and bought one off the shelf in a woolworths of all places. That chinese elm is pride of place on my desk at work and is thriving. I then decided to buy some more for home. After investigating I bought a Orange Jessamine and a Serrisa Foetida (excuse the spelling) from an online supplier. The mock orange seems quite stable and apart from the trauma of travel seems to be well. The serrisa is another story.

When it turned up, the base was wrapped in clingfilm and when I unwrapped it I discovered the soil was very dry and quite sandy so I gave it a soak for a few minutes and then gave the trunk a gentle wiggle to discover that it is really unstable! It feels like there is no root system at all!

I don't want to re-pot it without getting some advice first and after reading one of the posts about them now realise that I could be in for some trouble!

I am keeping it in the kitchen, plenty of light and warm but not overlly but now am terrified to touch it! It's about 15 cm tall from the top of the pot and quite an established 'S' shape trunk with two bends that seem to be wire scarred!

Sorry for the long post! Help please???

Stymie

There's a bit about Serissa at the top of this forum Nj. They do prefer a humid atmosphere which it should get in a kitchen but don't ignore the need for the best natural light source. Whereabouts are you and which direction does the kitchen window face?
The Elm would be much better outside if you want it to last. When you say that it is thriving, it may be putting on long growth in an attempt to reach for light. This will weaken it, it will become straggly with oversized leaves and eventually become quite sick. Regardless of what you may have been told elsewhere, Elms don't grow well inside because they are temperate natives not sub-tropical..

Nikkijaz · White Belt Joined: 20 Mar 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Kent

The window faces west and has full sunlight from about midday. I have a humidity tray with wet gravel in it to provide extra humidity. My main concern is that the seems to be no stability in the roots! It was supposedly repotted last year so I would have thought that it would be well established in its roots Confused

I did read the sticky at the top and am prepared to do battle for this beautiful tree but also prepared to lose it if the 'luck' doesn't swing my way!

The elm sits outside my window at work in the daytime and so is exposed to the elements and good light source too. Its leaf production seems to be quite dense and as yet I haven't experienced 'leggy' growth but I will be keeping an eye on it!

Thanks for your reply!

Stymie

I see now, that you're in the garden of England where no excuses are admissable Laughing

You are doing the right things and I'm sure that any catastrscopes will not be your fault. Keep talking to us.

Nikkijaz · White Belt Joined: 20 Mar 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Kent

Hi

Took the bull by the horns and lifted the tree...to find an infestation of ants and a worm AND seriously heavy clay soil, which I assume is probably not the right medium for this delicate little tree!

I will get the bank holiday weekend over and done with and attempt to re-pot Confused

oooh errr...slightly nervous but fortune favours the brave so they say!

Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Surrey John

Nikki - one really important thing to remember is to make the planting medium extremely coarse and open. The absolutely essential thing when potting a bonsai is to ensure very free drainage - your elm will thrive if you give it such a soil medium and, of course, keep the elm outside. If you open the "Articles" tab at the top of the page you will find two about planting mediums, also the following link will help:

http://www.bonsaihelp.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1561

Good luck with it! You really don't want any particles much less than 2mm in diameter in your soil medium.

Kind regards, (and welcome to BH), Smile

SJ