Hi there. I’m hoping you can help me.

I bought a Chinese Elm bonsai online about 3-4 months ago. The tree arrived in very good condition. The tree was sold as an INDOOR plant and indicated that I needed to keep it in a South or West facing window. My window faces West.

I watered the tree a few times a week. After about 6-8 weeks all the leaves shriveled up, dried and fell off.

I called the company and they said the tree would probably have done ‘better’ outdoors (which I was not happy to hear since they sold the tree as an ‘indoor’ plant). Nonetheless, they told me to put the plant outside (which I’ve done), continue to water every other day (which I’ve done) and that leaves should return. That was almost two months ago.

I scraped off some of the bark on the tree DOES still appear alive. Instead of dry brown under the bark, it is smooth and slippery and a yellowish green color.

So…what do you think? Could my tree still be viable, but yet still no signs of leaves two months after the other leaves all fell off?

Thank you very much.

your tree is dead sorry to say. most likely from root rot caused from too much watering and not enough light.
in my expieriance green under bark doesnt mean its alive it just means it hasnt totaly dried up yet

hmmm.....it's just very surprising that it would die like that. I am very good with plants in general...plants don't generally die on me. And I don't see how it could have had 'root rot' since the water always drained very very quickly whenever I watered it...almost like the water would run right through the soil and not be retained. And while I've had plants that didn't do 'optimally' due to insufficient light, i've never had a plant DIE because of it. Unless in this instance the plant truly needed to be OUTDOORS in FULL sun and so indoors even in a window, it wasn't getting anywhere near the light it needed....

My Chinese Elms are always outside in mainly full sun. They don't have to be, some shade is fine. Buying a tree without seeing it is not a good idea, try to go to a nursery to choose it. It does seem that you did just about everything right, but they are difficult to keep indoors because of the low light and humidity conditions. Usually, dropping leaves is fine, as they are deciduous, however in this instance it was for another reason. Watering must be done when the tree needs it, not to a schedule, it could have become very dry at some point without you noticing. I would not give up hope just yet, put it outside in a shady spot and keep it watered. The cross your fingers and hope. I had an azalea once that was missed when watering, dropped all leaves and was left for dead. I did not need the pot so I left it where it was it got some water over it when I was watering other trees, and 18 months later it produced new leaves, so there is hope.

ok sounds good...i'll just wait and see then! tx

basically the plant didnt have enough light to move fluids trough the tree. roots die back becuase lack of use, they begin to rot and the problem cascades until the plant dies.i have had garden and house plants for years and havent killed any of them. when it comes to bonsai i have killed as many if not more than own (60 +).having a green thumb helps when growing bonsai but there is alot to learn and i mean alot. dont let one tree discourage you tho