Hello there

Sorry if this isn't the right place, but I have already posted this on the bonsai bit, but haven't had any answers.


Last May, I received a Zelkova Scheneidria as a present, and everything was going fine until about mid December, when the leaves started to get fewer and fewer and eventually all fell off.

I decided to wait and see what it would do as I'd heard that some types of Bonsai go into dormancy, and I wasn't too sure about mine (it didn't mention anything like that in the bumf).

Now that it's the start of April again however, I'm beginning to wonder.

There are a few things I have to mention about what's happened to it, or the way I have treated it through my own lack of knowledge, and I now have lots of questions!:

When I first got it, I wasn't too sure exactly where to put it, and it was moved around to different places in the house, until, eventually being placed in a room with a south facing window, where the sun could shine directly at it.
It has now ben moved to a better place, but, how much will that have affected it??

I was away 'down south' a lot last year, and as such, it never got properly clipped back, hence it looked more like a bush at times until I could get it back under control again
Will this have affected it??

It was watered and sprayed it regularly, but could it be watered and sprayed too much??
I say this, becuase I have noticed that white stuff, almost like mould or something can accumulate in small amounts at the bottom of the tree, even now.
On the other hand however, the tree itself seems to be very dry, and there are one or two little cracks at the top of the stump (they look reasonably ok, but I'm curious).
I've started to place a small bowl of water beside it for humidity.
Also, I'm afraid that I tended to forget to feed it at times, so I decided to experiment with adding some feed to the spray, so that it got at least some regularly.
Was this a good idea or not?? and what is the best kind of feed for this tree type??

Due to over zeallous watering at times when I first got it, part of the top soil washed away, leaving bits of the material underneath showing through and the roots slightly more exposed that they otherwise would be.
Now, the tree had seemed ok up until December, so nothing was ever done about and I was/am planning to re - pot it in the spring anyway.
What, if any, will that have affected it??

Should I re - pot it soon, or should I leave it until the leaves start growing back again??

Lastly, if it is just in Dormancy, how exactly should I treat it??
I have continued watering it regularly, and it's still in it's current, warm, brightly lit location in the living room with the small bowl of water beside it.
Should it be in a cool or/and dark place??

If it isn't supposed to be in domancy, then, what is it, is it jsut simply it's surroundings and it's bumbling owner, or is it some kind of disease?? (and if it is, then what do I do?)

I'm sorry to ramble on there, but I'm tired here and just want to ask it all in one big message.


Talking of which, if this is the part of the group/forum where I cannot see many people's replies, then how do I go about sorting that??


Anyway, thanks.

Douglas, in sunny West Central Scotland.

"Douglas" wrote in message
news
Hello there

Sorry if this isn't the right place, but I have already posted
this
on the bonsai bit, but haven't had any answers.


Last May, I received a Zelkova Scheneidria as a present, and
everything was going fine until about mid December, when the
leaves
started to get fewer and fewer and eventually all fell off.

I decided to wait and see what it would do as I'd heard that
some
types of Bonsai go into dormancy, and I wasn't too sure about
mine
(it didn't mention anything like that in the bumf).

Now that it's the start of April again however, I'm beginning
to
wonder.

There are a few things I have to mention about what's happened
to
it, or the way I have treated it through my own lack of
knowledge,
and I now have lots of questions!:

When I first got it, I wasn't too sure exactly where to put it,
and
it was moved around to different places in the house, until,
eventually being placed in a room with a south facing window,
where
the sun could shine directly at it.
It has now ben moved to a better place, but, how much will that
have
affected it??

snip

Trees are not houseplants not even Bonsai. One cannot go away
and expect them to live. Your tree is in all probability dead.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5

[quote=Travis M.]"Douglas" wrote in message

Trees are not houseplants not even Bonsai. One cannot go away
and expect them to live. Your tree is in all probability dead.

Nice to know someone out there is encouraging!
- I'm sure it's still alive as it does occasionally show a few signs of life.
Why would it be dead??
It was looked after/watered by various other people when I wasn't there, and like I said, it only stopped doing anything in December - well into winter, and when I was there!

All I was wanting to know if anyone knew how to deal with a situation like this, but going on the complete lack of answers from anywhere on this site, except for the one above, it's clear that no one has a clue, or at least, if they do, then they sure as heck aren't telling me about it.

P.s. It's meant to be in the temperatures we have inside here - if it was outside, it wouldn't have lasted 5 seconds in the sunny Scottish climate.....