Chinese Elm, Indoor?

Naomanos said:
Are you absolutely positive?

I picked up a book by Peter Warren called Bonsai. In the book it has a section on deciduous trees and lists the Chinese Elm as a very tough deciduous bonsai that can be grown indoor or out, that it is tolerant of a wide range of climates and that it needs plenty of sun which the window where I would put it has a lux measurement that goes beyond my phone's meter limit of 10,000 lux.
Click to expand...

Trust me, many, many people like you come to the forum with the plans on growing an outdoor tree indoors. It won't last long, trust me when I say that. A window would not be anywhere near sufficient enough to keep it happy. A lot of people will say that elms can be grown indoors, but don't mention long-term health. The trees eventually tire of non-stop growing and die.

Believe me when I say this, I'm an indoor grower of Ficus with lots and lots invested to keep my trees happy.
 
http://www.bonsaihunk.us/

Chinese elm rests most probably by shortening of days. Florida, is listed as zone 8a to 11 a
[http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/# ]

So just open the window.
The tree will follow the cycle. Start with a cheap on, order on-line if you have to.

The elm grows down here in the Tropics all year long [ for over 25 years ] lowest temp - 66 deg.F at night.
Good Day
Anthony
 
If you cant grow anything outside and still want to try to do bonsai, you are going to have to invest in some sort of lighting setup. It doenst have to be expensive. I have a setup of a couple of 4 foot flourescent daylight fixtures from Home Depot that I use for my tropicals in the winter and it works fine. Your trees will be alot happier. A window is not adequate.

As to species, there are no northern species that can be grown indoors, they need outside during the summer and dormancy in cold during the winter.

Take a look at brazilian rain trees. They are a very nice tropical with the appearance of small leaves and dont seem to mind being indoors with proper lighting and humidity. They prefer outdoors, but can do fine indoors.
 
Chinese elm is SEMI-deciduous and requires NO dormancy. It is very much an oddity in the bonsai world.

Depending on the provenance of the tree, it takes a period of several years in a temperate zone (like mine, 8a) for them to adapt from being almost fully evergreen to fully deciduous. I have trees at all stages of the cycle. I currently own over 50 Chinese elms and have owned over 100.

I am in complete agreement, no trees do well indoors, they merely survive and all are better off outside for as long as your weather permits.
 
Ulmus Parvifolia won't thrive long term with no rest but Ryan you may wish to travel to Phoenix where they stay green and grow year round. They are what you might call semi-deciduous and don't need extended dormancy every year. Decreasing the light duration and intensity will induce a short rest which is sufficient.
 
DougB said:
Your local club is your best bet for advice and instructions. You also should consider visiting Wigert's Bonsai in For Myers. They have dozens if not hundreds of different species all for bonsai. And they welcome newcomers.
Click to expand...

I feel I should reply again to this particular post as my first reply said that Wigert's bonsai was not a possibility. Well, my wife and I just got back from Wigert's. Andrea stock with me for an hour and forty-five minutes answering questions and giving me advice until I made my decision.

I did get a Chinese Elm after all. She too said that she has heard no on them being indoors, but I should give it a shot anyway. I have also spoken with another bonsai person since I started this thread and she says that I should have no trouble keeping one indoors. Especially since the light coming into my south-southwest facing window pins my phone's light meter at 10,000 lux, which means that the reading is higher than that.

I did Look into other bonsai, such as a fukien tea and retusa, but they were all pre-bonsai and I don't feel comfortable trying to repot one into a bonsai pot. I have already retired that with my retusa that I have and think I might have killed it by taking too much of the root off or something as all the leaves are dropping.

So I wanted one already in a bonsai pot to give me time to get comfortable repotting it. Plus, I want sure when I would ever be able to get back down there again.

Andrea sent me off letting me know that I can email or call anytime with questions.

I will post a picture soon.
 
milehigh_7 said:
Ulmus Parvifolia won't thrive long term with no rest but Ryan you may wish to travel to Phoenix where they stay green and grow year round. They are what you might call semi-deciduous and don't need extended dormancy every year. Decreasing the light duration and intensity will induce a short rest which is sufficient.
Click to expand...

Would the natural shortening of daylight be sufficient for that when kept at a window?

I'm not sure if it matters but they are grown outside at Wigert's, which is southern Florida in Ft. Myers. It actually stays warmer there than it does where we live 104 miles away in central Florida between Orlando and Tampa.

They were all coming out of dormancy there with varying degrees of new growth.

If it's just duration and intensity I can always move it during the day to a different area of the apartment where is not so bright at set times during the day or all day for a set amount of days.
 
Looking forward to seeing the picture. Keep us posted regarding how well it does for you!

Chris
 
Here are a few photos:

410905135.jpg


410905134.jpg


410905133.jpg
 
Naomanos said:
Would the natural shortening of daylight be sufficient for that when kept at a window?

I'm not sure if it matters but they are grown outside at Wigert's, which is southern Florida in Ft. Myers. It actually stays warmer there than it does where we live 104 miles away in central Florida between Orlando and Tampa.

They were all coming out of dormancy there with varying degrees of new growth.

If it's just duration and intensity I can always move it during the day to a different area of the apartment where is not so bright at set times during the day or all day for a set amount of days.
Click to expand...
They simply don't need dormancy.

There is no purpose behind moving them.

You SHOULD rotate the tree on a weekly basis.
 
You see those containers on the microwave ?

Nice training container !

My wife would have already been looking for those!

Good luck with your elm!

Sorce
 
sorce said:
You see those containers on the microwave ?

Nice training container !

My wife would have already been looking for those!

Good luck with your elm!

Sorce
Click to expand...

They are actually microwave lids. You put them on top of parts and bowls when heating up leftovers.
 
IMO that's a bit over priced for your typical S curved elm.
 
Redwood Ryan said:
IMO that's a bit over priced for your typical S curved elm.
Click to expand...

I could have gotten one from bonsai boy for $29, but I would have no clue what it is I would be getting.

I already went down that route with a bonsai from Brussels bonsai through Walmart.com. I ordered it Thursday expecting a typical informal upright and what I received was only branches at the top of the tree and minimal branches at that. Looked nothing like a picture.

When I called to see if they had any that looked like the picture I was told that what I received was representative of the current stock.

So I chose to go to a nursery to see what they had. I don't mind paying the extra money to do so and it was a wonderful day trip for my wife and I. Cannot put a price tag on that.
 
So what do you all think of the tree itself?

Looking at the tree, how would you all style it? I don't have a particular style in mind, so let me see what you guys/gals would do?
 
Last edited:
Naomanos,

can you do a front on shot instead of the slight over heads?
Thanks in advance if possible.
Good Day
Anthony
 
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