Hey yall, my Chinese elm was rootbound after I received it as a gift on Christmas, so I repotted it around February and trimmed some roots. I began fertilizing in early March. Since then, the leaves have all fallen off and I am finding these purple/black shells growing from the tree, as well as bright orange sap(?) on occasion. I pick them off when I see them but I keep finding new ones hiding on the base of its branches. I believe it is a fungus but could be very wrong. Does anyone know what this is and how I can get my tree growing again? Pics attached. Thanks!

this is a dead plant. You cannot save it

Yep very dead.

Looks like a fungus that lives on dead wood. Looks like this tree has been dead for quite some time already.

These replies are painfully pessimistic lol I really don't want it to be dead! I scratched off a bit of bark with my fingernail both near the base of the trunk and on one of the higher branch bases and am seeing green, so I think it is still salvageable. However, I don't quite know what my next steps should be if I wanted to save it. Should I trim back the dead smaller branches? Is it necessary to invest in a fungicide? Any help would be appreciated!

benj_bonz wrote:

These replies are painfully pessimistic lol I really don't want it to be dead! I scratched off a bit of bark with my fingernail both near the base of the trunk and on one of the higher branch bases and am seeing green, so I think it is still salvageable. However, I don't quite know what my next steps should be if I wanted to save it. Should I trim back the dead smaller branches? Is it necessary to invest in a fungicide? Any help would be appreciated!

The trunk and branches look shrivelled, indicating that the sap flow has stopped long ago.
The plant has no more leaves.
There is a fungus on the tree that lives on dead wood.
The scratch test does not prove a tree is recoverable.
Looking at the tree I think the fungus is not the only issue, I see what looks like a scale bug too.

Give it up. It's passed on. This plant is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. It's a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If it wasn't strapped to the pot, it would be pushing up the daisies. Its metabolic processes are now history. It has kicked the bucket, it has shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible! This is an ex-tree.

I could be wrong of course. You can continue trying to give it proper care and wait and see what happens. Keep it away from other plants though. A fungicide will probably not help, seems this infection has gotten the whole tree - so it's not just on the surface. You can try though if you think it is useful. Personally, I'd invest in a new tree - and/or a bonsai course. There's a good one on this site.