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Ulmus Parvifolia help 8 years 6 months ago #16964

  • JeffL
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Hello,

I live in Columbus Ohio, zone 5b, and I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on my Chinese Elm? It was about 5 years old when I received it last December and it's been doing great until now. I currently keep it outdoors in a spot that gets sunlight almost all day. For the past couple weeks the leaves have been turning yellow and falling off, and some small branches/twigs look like they have broken off. There's also a patch on the trunk that looks strange in comparison to the rest of the bark. I usually water it once a day unless the soil looks wet, I try checking with a chopstick. I thought the damage might be from some kind of disease or pest so I starting spraying the tree with a neem oil spray, once a day for about 5 days now, but the tree doesn't look any better, in fact the majority of the leaves have fallen off and many of the remaining leaves are turning yellow. The tree is still producing more leaves, theres many buds forming on it now, but I'm afraid they're all going to turn yellow and fall off as well. A lot of the new growth is turning yellow, not just the old leaves. I haven't seen any black spots, so I don't think its black spot disease, but I don't know, I'm new to this all. Not sure if it should be repotted, I was planning on waiting until the spring to do that, I'm not sure if September is a good time to repot? Anyways, I was hoping I could get some advice from those of you far more experienced than myself. Thanks!

P.S. The pictures are from a couple days ago, it basically looks like same, just more bare, I think they get the point across.

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Ulmus Parvifolia help 8 years 6 months ago #16965

  • Auk
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For the past couple weeks the leaves have been turning yellow and falling off


It's autumn ?

Ulmus parvifolia is a bit different from other deciduous trees. Check the info under the species guide.
Broken twigs would indicate mechanical damage - birds, maybe.

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Last edit: Post by Auk.

Ulmus Parvifolia help 8 years 6 months ago #16979

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From what I've read Chinese Elms are semi-evergreen and don't normally lose their leaves until December, plus new leaves appear to be budding, which I don't think would happen if the tree was going dorment? The temperature here has remained pretty steadily around 80 degrees during the day and 60-70s at night. I would like to think the tree was losing leaves because of the season, but I feel like its not the case.

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Ulmus Parvifolia help 8 years 6 months ago #16980

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Did you keep it outside since you got it? Did it have yellow leaves last december, when you got it?
Where did it come from, and was it kept outside?

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Ulmus Parvifolia help 8 years 6 months ago #16981

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I kept it inside when I got and only moved it outside in May. I believe it came from New York if I remember correctly, I think it was ordered through the Bonsai Boy website. When I received it, it was completely green so I would guess it was grown indoors, it went into shock after a couple days and shed its leaves but it came back strong. I haven't seen much yellow, especially like this since I've owned it.

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Ulmus Parvifolia help 8 years 6 months ago #16983

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broken branches tell you that it either fell down, or an animal has been into the plant. This may have damaged foliage and or sap-flow.

Treating something with a spray without knowing what you are treating is, in my view, odd. Just adding a coating of oil onto foliage may hamper gass exchange, weakening foliage. My recommendation would be to monitor which branches are yellowing. Track whether they have been damaged. And leave the tree alone for a while. Only when you have a clear cause you can treat.

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Ulmus Parvifolia help 8 years 6 months ago #16987

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Trying to treat it without knowing the cause was definitely a rookie mistake. The entire tree seems to be effected however, not just certain branches. I'm starting to wonder if it could be root rot? I suppose I'll wait and see if things get better, hopefully it doesn't die in the mean time.

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