Hi all,

We are having real issues with our chinese elm and I fear it's on its last legs! The tree lost its leaves and then we have struggled to help it get them back. There are plenty of green buds but they never develop and if any leaves do it's not long before they lose their colour, curl and drop off.

We repotted it to see if that would help and have kept it watered. Not sure if we are under/over doing it?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Paul

A picture would help, but an educated guess tells me you bought a mallsai, that you keep indoors on a windowsill?

I recently inherited a zelcova from my sister in law, she said if I could reive it I could keep it. It had dropped all of its leaves. I checked the cambium layer and it was green, so I kept it indoors and misted it atleast 4 times a day. After a month it developed maybe ten buds. They sat there for a month, doing nothing I continued misting and finally after about two months of misting last weekend it exploded Back into life. Just a week later it is thriving and back outside

Carter81 wrote:

I recently inherited a zelcova from my sister in law, she said if I could reive it I could keep it. It had dropped all of its leaves. I checked the cambium layer and it was green, so I kept it indoors and misted it atleast 4 times a day. After a month it developed maybe ten buds. They sat there for a month, doing nothing I continued misting and finally after about two months of misting last weekend it exploded Back into life. Just a week later it is thriving and back outside

Looks happy now.
Wondering though.. You sure it is zelkova? I would have said Ulmus, Ulmus Parviflora.
For next time, please create your own thread so we do not get mixed discussions in one thread!

Misting does next to nothing for the tree. Pour water on the soil, soaking it well, enough that water pours out of the holes in the bottom of the pot. Then let it sit in the sun until it is dry and needs water again, probably a day or so.

I'm pretty certain the cause of the trouble with this tree was overwatering, once the leaves had dropped I can hardly see how excessive water and moreso direct sunlight would of helped. A leafless tree loses its ability to cool itself so surely sunlisgt would of further comprmised the health and dried it further. I really feel that the misting and the shade was what kept it going for a couple of months through recovery. Either way it worked.

Leather back.... I am not sure if it's a zelcova or as you suggested possibly a Ulmus Parviflora. I am interested to know what you think. I'll attach some close up pics of the foliage tomorrow. I posted my experience here as I thought it would be relevant for the original poster.

Carter81 wrote:

Leather back.... I am not sure if it's a zelcova or as you suggested possibly a Ulmus Parviflora.

At a festival, at a workshop, I got such a tree for free. It was labeled 'Zelkova Parviflora'. When I asked the owner of the shop that organized the workshop why it was labeled like that, as Zelkova Parviflora does not exist, he explained that elms are often called Zelkova due to import regulations - elms are prone to diseases that Zelkova's are not, so that's why they were renamed Zelkova. Zelkova's were easier to import and the difference is not so easy to see for most people.

Not sure if that's still a thing though, elms are abundant so importing them does not seem such a big issue.

Auk wrote:

he explained that elms are often called Zelkova due to import regulations - elms are prone to diseases.

In fact they were forbidden to be imported into Europe for the Elm's disease, so the vendors labeled it "zelkova" and kept importing Ulmus Parvifolia.

Any thoughts? Chinese elm or zelkova?

Carter81 wrote:

Any thoughts? Chinese elm or zelkova?

I guess it's a Chinese Elm.