Chinese elm is sick

[Justadude]

Hi guys,
I recently brought my chinese elm back in from outside because of how it looks. I am living in Massachusetts, USA and it’s fall season so I originally thought my tree was shedding leaves due to the season. However, when I saw it last week I had to bring it in. Lately it’s been cold at night times and the temp drops to 50F(10C). It’s been getting adequate amount of water because of how rainy this season has been. What I want to know is: Is my tree alright or dying? What can I do to help it get better?

I have also noticed a buildup of white mold on the dirt below it. I read that it’s because I’ve been using tap water instead of distilled/filtered water and because of the cool/moist environment of the room. It’s been pretty rainy in Mass lately so that would also affect the humidity of my house. Is there something else I can do other than switching to filtered water?

 

[Shibui]

You are correct that it does not look good.

The brown leaves appear to be dehydrated which can be from several causes.
The white mold on the dirt is not from tap water which would give a white crusty residue. The soft furry stuff is some sort of fungi from the soil being too wet for too long. Being indoors has only made the problem worse.
Soil staying too wet for too long can cause dehydration. That sounds contradictory but keeping the roots too wet can cause roots to rot. Then the tree cannot take up water and the branches die of thirst even though the pot is soaking wet.
The soil in that pot looks old and tired and the mold indicates it is way too wet and has some sort of fungi growing in the soil so root rot is possible. If you suspect that's the problem I would do an emergency repot. Repot is not usually recommended for sick trees but if the alternative is certain death from root rot I always opt for possible death from emergency repot. Chinese elms are resilient and often pull though after emergency repotting.
An alternative to repot is to withhold water until the soil gets close to dry then manage water strictly so it never stays soaking wet until you can do a proper repot in spring.
In both cases I would trim the long branches back to reduce water needs on the tree until it recovers.

The other possible cause could be that the tree dried out at some stage. You mention it has been rainy there lately but that can be a trap as we get complacent and let the rain do the watering however it only takes a single day for a bonsai in a small pot to dry out. Add the long shoots and lots of leaves that need extra water and the pot that's getting more and more full of roots which means less space for water in the pot. All that adds up so it doesn't take much for a tree to dry out.
The good news is that Chinese elms are resilient. They can shut down leaves and small branches so that the trunk survives temporary drought. I spotted a couple of leaves that still have a bit of green so the tree is most likely still alive. If you suspect it may have been dry I would soak the pot to rehydrate the roots then trim all the long shoots then cross fingers and wait for it to sprout new shoots. At this time of year it may decide to go into winter dormancy and not grow again until spring.
I suspect it would still be better off outside provided you can manage watering better.

 

[brentwood]

You're not too far from Bonsai West, might be worth a field trip, get some very knowledgeable eyes on it, maybe do some shopping. Just a thought.
I'm on board with the overwet theory above, BW could diagnose that quickly.

Good luck!
B

 

[Zac]

Another option if suspect root rot is the use of hydrogen peroxide water solution to water with. There's a thread on here about it and lots of videos on YouTube. Don't know how the Chinese elm will respond to it but it saved one of my Brazilian rain trees that had major branch die back caused from to much water because roots had drainage holes clogged. I did a emergency repot trimming off dead roots then watered with the solution and it bounced back in 2 weeks.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Looks dead to me. Give it the scratch test to see if there is any green under the bark.

 

[Justadude]

Update on my bonsai:

Changed the potting soil and prayed and it seemed to work

 

[snowman04]

The soil change probably helped the root rot issue. Where are you and where is the tree being kept?

Mine does fine in the garage during this winter weather in Michigan with a little water and lots of light during the day...