I received a Chinese Elm for Father's Day, and was very pleased with it. This is the first Bonsai I have owned, although I have always admired them.

I saw some new leaves sprout about 5-7 days after receiving it, which I took to mean it was quite happy in it's new home.

There are quite a lot of new leaves now, but the problem is that they are a much bigger than the rest of the leaves, and also a lot lighter in colour.

Could someone please offer some advice as to whether this is to be expected, or what the problem could be and how to resolve it?

Thanks in advance.


Paul.

The problem is that it's inside- lack of light causes long leggy growth at first, and your plant will die after a while. So, outside with it, on a nice sunny spot and it will recover fast.
Trees belong outside, they die inside

It looks healthy enough at the moment but it must be outside if you want to keep it that way.

Many thanks for taking the time to reply.

That's a shame to hear, as I do like looking at it indoors, but what you have said about trees indoors makes sense. I guess because of their size, they can tend to be thought of as indoor "plants" by most people, me included to be honest.

Is there anything that can be done with position (window sill) or electric lighting in order to keep it indoors, or does it really have to be natural light and outside in the elements?

The other option I can think of, would it be enough to put it outside during the daytime, and then bring it in overnight?

As for putting it in a sunny spot, I'm in the UK, so it's bang out of luck there.

There are people who succesfully keep these indoors long0term. Unfortunately, statistics dictate the response.. It will die indoors
CAN it be done: Yes. But.. Typically these are green-thumb people that manage it. Outdoors is just soo much easier..

Whichever route you choose: Plants do not adapt to change easily. So moving it every day or even every week is not a good idea.

What many people do is bring a tree indoors for a few days and then put it outside. Now that I am working from home and use video conferencing a lot, I have taken to rotating trees to my office as backdrop. But these stay for 3 days or so, and then another is brought in. (And with my collection I can do this a year before I need to bring the same in again..)

Even in de UK you have dark areas, and darker areas. Used to live in Abingdon and I was able to grow tomatoes.

The UK is a big place, and trees grow in most of them. There is enough sun most places, so outdoors is a good idea right now. Spend some time reading up on requirements for the species w.r.t. climate, look at your local climate and see how it compares. Look at local climate to see what temps really are, and what rainfall really is, then make a plan for winter.
You might be surprised what averages really are, but look at highs and lows, too.

Wow Leatherback, it sounds like you have an amazing collection of Bonsai! Do you have a picture showing a bulk of them?

Thanks for your advice too Ivan.

I have moved it into the garden this afternoon, and it is nice and sunny today.

I'm going to leave the oversized light green leaves on there for maybe a week or so, to let it settle down outside, and then prune just those branches right back. Does that sound like a good plan or not?

The soil in the pot is getting a little bit low, so I wondered if it is ok to just add a small amount of normal fine soil taken from the garden flower beds, or if I should be topping it up with something more specific?

Being in England, just on the outskirts of London, rain can be pretty often and sometimes very heavy.

I will feel more than a bit sorry for the tree when it rains heavily though, as it looks so small and vulnerable outside, but it looked perfect indoors next to my TV.

I really hope it's a hardy Bonsai tree.

I just read that it should be brought into a cold frost free room in the winter, so think the house front porch would be ideal. It has windows on all 3 sides, so can tend to be fairly cold in the winter, but it does get a lot of light and also some sun during the afternoon.

Cheers,


Paul.

Don't know where you are in the UK but we have had no rain to speak of for months, and the last few days it has been wall to wall sunshine and 24C What more do you want? Chinese Elms are hardy and do not need to be frost free, in fat will stand -12C as mine have done.

The person that got this for me provided some information on where they got it from, and it was definitely sold as an indoor Bonsai tree:

"Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia) Beginners Twisty Indoor Bonsai - Standard Size 8 years"

The supplier also recently emailed out the following additional care instructions for during the hot weather:

• Remove any old leaves from the bonsai or soil surface
• Keep the soil damp to the touch (not overly wet)
• Please mist the leaves daily with water as the increased humidity with aid the re-growth of new leaves
• Give the bonsai good daylight but please try to avoid a position with hot and direct sun

Now that I have the supplier details, I have contacted them with the same pictures I put on here, and will see what they say. I will update this topic with what they do say, just in case anyone is interested.

Thanks,


Paul.

Thanks for the info m5eaygeoff.

I am around North West London. We haven't had rain as often as normal, but there have been a couple of days in the last 2 weeks where it has absolutely hammered down for the odd hour. I know we have had some lovely days over the past couple of months, but I'm sure you will agree, it's not the norm.

Glad to hear they are hardy.