Hello there
Sorry if this isn't the right place, but I have already posted this o the bonsai bit, but haven't had any answers.
Last May, I received a Zelkova Scheneidria as a present, and everythin was going fine until about mid December, when the leaves started to ge fewer and fewer and eventually all fell off.
I decided to wait and see what it would do as I'd heard that some type of Bonsai go into dormancy, and I wasn't too sure about mine (it didn' mention anything like that in the bumf).
Now that it's the start of April again however, I'm beginning t 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 now have lots of questions!:
When I first got it, I wasn't too sure exactly where to put it, and i was moved around to different places in the house, until, eventuall being placed in a room with a south facing window, where the sun coul shine directly at it. It has now ben moved to a better place, but, how much will that hav affected it??
I was away 'down south' a lot last year, and as such, it never go properly clipped back, hence it looked more like a bush at times unti 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 an sprayed too much?? I say this, becuase I have noticed that white stuff, almost like moul 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, an there are one or two little cracks at the top of the stump (they loo 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 decided to experiment with adding some feed to the spray, so that i got at least some regularly. Was this a good idea or not?? and what is the best kind of feed fo this tree type??
Due to over zeallous watering at times when I first got it, part of th top soil washed away, leaving bits of the material underneath showin through and the roots slightly more exposed that they otherwise woul be. Now, the tree had seemed ok up until December, so nothing was ever don 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 star 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 o 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 jsu simply it's surroundings and it's bumbling owner, or is it some kind o 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 as it all in one big message.
Talking of which, if this is the part of the group/forum where I canno see many people's replies, then how do I go about sorting that??
Anyway, thanks.
Douglas, in sunny West Central Scotland
-- Douglas