Hi,

I have a 17 year old "root over rock" elm (I own it now for 1.5
yr)
that is showing some problems recently: the leaves become
yellow
(first some stains, then progressively yellow until they fall
off).
The entire "look" of the bonsai is that it's not feeling happy:
the
leaves are pale and it has stopped developing new shoots.

snip

It may have suffered from taking it
in the car when I took it with me on holidays (some people take
their
dog, I took my bonsai).


snip

I may have overwatered it, but I'm not sure whether or not it
could
be a fungus problem or insects.

Bonsai in cars is BAD NEWS. It takes about 10 minutes for the
temperature in a parked car to reach 120 degrees F. You may have
cooked it. THEN, you may have overwatered it when the symptoms
appeared.

Either cooking or overwatering could cause the symptoms you
describe. Throwing both into the mix ain't good.

Keep it in shade (morning sun is OK). DO NOT WATER UNTIL THE
SOIL FEELS DRY. That's DRY!

If symptoms continue, repot. Use a HARD spray of water to wash
all soil from the roots. This will wash away all the rotten, bad
roots, too. Put it into a larger pot, then water ONLY when the
soil feels dry. Keep out of full afternoon sun.

Luckily, these are tough trees -- though you may need to think
about a complete redesign when the tree recovers.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman

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