Hi.

I recently got a new Chinese elm bonsai and I have a question about pruning.

I'm just wondering if I should prune when the shoots are still green? Or should I wait until they have turned into proper wood? I heard I should cut back to just above the 2nd node when it gets to about 4/5 nodes long. By that point its still green though and I wasn't sure if this was ok.

Thanks


The first is how soon should I prune a new shoot? Is it ok to do it when its green? I've seen lots of advice that just says to prune a new shoot back to 2 pairs of leaves when it grows to

You could wait until it's 7 nodes long, by then you can prune back to 2 nodes.

I would wait and let the foilage grow long enough for the stem to harden off and turn brown. This would indicate the stem is now woody and should be firm and not green. Cut back to 2-4 leaves depending on location and desired shape. In general 2 leaves for the top of the tree as the growth is usually the most vigorous, and for lower branches 4 leaves might do. This is subjective of course, maybe you want a longer or thicker branch... In that case do not cut back just let it grow until it reaches desired length of thickness. Then you prune back to some internode with leaves and the repeat the process. It gets a little more complex as you can apply wire to shape the growth or just clip and grow using directional pruning. Good luck with your tree!

you must wait a month or two

NatedavB0175A1 gives you doog ifo. It depends indeed on what you want to achieve. So first decide: Wghat do you want to achieve with your tree. There is a big difference between maintaining your tree and growing out young material.

Note: I do NOT prune my trees when they have 6 leaves. I let the plants grow strong and healthy and then trim back. This could for some species mean they grow a foot or more. My chinese elm I let grow pretty much all season last year: www.bonsaiempire.com/forum/progressions/...ught-an-ulmus-bonsai

Thanks for your responses guys.


I have attached some photos. I think I over fertilised it because it's going like crazy loads of new shoots and shedding quite a few older leaves? Is it still advisable to wait until all the new shoots grow wooden and then prune? My aim.is to maintain the current shape and have nice small leaves.


What does pruning green shoots do? My fear is if I leave all the new shoots to grow, all the older (dark green) leaves below them that I currently have will fall off? Will this not happen? I'm not basing this in anything obviously and have no idea what I'm doing.


There's some shoots that are growing super super long, as you can see from the photos. Should I just leave them too?

Your plant is placed in too dark a location. If you look at the original branches you will see that the space between leaves is very short. Your young growth has a lot of space between them: Too little light for the temperature it is at.

I would not trim it now. I would let it go, and in spring when it is outside where it belongs, trim it back. More leaves = more energy = better health. The tree was not optimally healthy before it started growing.

I would agree that your tree isn't getting enough light based on how stretched out the leaves are. The same thing happens with succulents. They stretch out between leaves to allow more light to reach each individual leaf. I can't advise on the pruning as I'm still fairly new to bonsai myself, but I would suggest finding a well lit location out of direct sunlight if you want your bonsai to be happier. I keep mine on the window sill at work which has dappled sunlight all day. I even have a little desk fan for it to help fight fungal problems. If a window position isn't an option you can buy a grow light like www.gardentimeaustralia.com.au to imitate outdoor conditions.

Thank you both for your responses. So I have just placed it next to the window, is this fine even though its next to the radiator and the temperature fluctuates more than where it was in the middle of the room? (this is why i didn't have it next to the window in the first place).

I have three small (final) questions
Would it help the tree if I either turned the radiator down slightly so it doesnt get so hot and so the temp didn't change so much when it turns off?
Would it prefer it if the window was maybe abit open? (it does get pretty cold here where I am - UK)
and, final question, should I turn the tree so different faces of the tree are facing the outside different times?

Many thanks in advance. I didnt realise these were really outdoor bonsais (although I know every bonsai is sort of an outdoor bonsai), the guy at the shop said they would be great indoors.

thanks

Again, I'm new to this but I feel like close to the radiator isn't ideal. Bonsai seem to tolerate the cold much better than heat. Is there another window location that doesn't have a radiator? If not then I would suggest:

- lowering the radiator temperature so it's not going to bake your bonsai (maybe place a thermometer near your bonsai to find the sweet spot?);
- placing a tray of pebbles filled with water underneath your bonsai pot to increase moisture in the air and stop your bonsai from drying out;
- leaving the window slightly open so there is fresh air circulating and the heat has somewhere to escape;
- definitely rotate the tree (I do mine every week or so) to prevent the new shoots 'stretching' towards the light and growing in all weird directions.

I have a Chinese Elm (far less developed than yours) and it's been happily living on the windowsill beside my work desk for over a year now so absolutely they can survive indoors. It's a lot more effort but I enjoy looking at it throughout the work day. If it was outside I'd probably never see the thing, and you know what they say... out of sight out of mind!