Siberian Elm Advice- From Seed

[BonsaiBlacksmith]

I have seven three-week old seedlings starting on their third Tier of leaves, in a group pot about 10" deep and 12" diameter. I am curious what my best next step is, should I plant them in a bonsai forest pot, or individual air pots or directly to the ground for a season or so to thicken the trunks? or should I leave them be for another 6 months? How sensitive are the roots of the Siberian Elm? To confirm I am talking about Ulmus pumila, bought the seed directly from a supplier.

Suggestions needed and appreciated.

 

[Shibui]

Ulmus are very tough and very hardy. I don't think it is possible to harm them by cutting roots.
What to do depends on what you want to achieve.
Planting in the ground will usually give you fastest trunk thickening but beware they don't take off and get too big. Fast grown trees with problems are generally big problems.
Straight to a tray will slow down development but much less likely to have large scars or big problems. Slow container grown usually gives the best results if you want to allocate many years to the project.
Individual pots gives a medium. Less chances of something getting out of hand but medium term project. Air pots can be good in some places provided you can maintain soil moisture. I find it's too dry in summer here and growth suffers badly so I prefer solid nursery pots to grow on trees. You have not listed a location so I can't predicet whether air pots might be good or not so good. Deep pots are fine to grow on trees. Trees seem to prefer the stability of temp and moisture in deep pots rather than shallow trays. We can root prune the trees to develop and maintain a shallow root system.

 

[rockm]

I have seven three-week old seedlings starting on their third Tier of leaves, in a group pot about 10" deep and 12" diameter. I am curious what my best next step is, should I plant them in a bonsai forest pot, or individual air pots or directly to the ground for a season or so to thicken the trunks? or should I leave them be for another 6 months? How sensitive are the roots of the Siberian Elm? To confirm I am talking about Ulmus pumila, bought the seed directly from a supplier.

Suggestions needed and appreciated.

your next step depends on what you want to do with them. Do you want more substantial trunks? Growing them out in the ground to do that will require more than one or two seasons in ground. At least four years would be probably be required to see any remarkable thickening. Planting them in a container slows that process down dramatically. Siberian elms are pretty vigorous trees and like most elms, they can take dramatic root reduction (like 95 percent) at the right time.

Also your location dictates what you can do with them right now. If you're in an area that is winter now, working roots, trunk reduction etc. is not in the cards until early spring arrives.

 

[BonsaiBlacksmith]

your next step depends on what you want to do with them. Do you want more substantial trunks? Growing them out in the ground to do that will require more than one or two seasons in ground. At least four years would be probably be required to see any remarkable thickening. Planting them in a container slows that process down dramatically. Siberian elms are pretty vigorous trees and like most elms, they can take dramatic root reduction (like 95 percent) at the right time.

Also your location dictates what you can do with them right now. If you're in an area that is winter now, working roots, trunk reduction etc. is not in the cards until early spring arrives.

Sounds like you and Shibi are leaning in ground, sounds like a bonsai training area in ground is where it is at. I am Zone 11 South America, shh dont tell anyone I have Siberian Elms lmao. I tried to sprout American Elm alongside, but none sprouted. Bad batch of seeds I assume since the Siberians did just fine.

 

[BonsaiBlacksmith]

Ulmus are very tough and very hardy. I don't think it is possible to harm them by cutting roots.
What to do depends on what you want to achieve.
Planting in the ground will usually give you fastest trunk thickening but beware they don't take off and get too big. Fast grown trees with problems are generally big problems.
Straight to a tray will slow down development but much less likely to have large scars or big problems. Slow container grown usually gives the best results if you want to allocate many years to the project.
Individual pots gives a medium. Less chances of something getting out of hand but medium term project. Air pots can be good in some places provided you can maintain soil moisture. I find it's too dry in summer here and growth suffers badly so I prefer solid nursery pots to grow on trees. You have not listed a location so I can't predicet whether air pots might be good or not so good. Deep pots are fine to grow on trees. Trees seem to prefer the stability of temp and moisture in deep pots rather than shallow trays. We can root prune the trees to develop and maintain a shallow root system.

I appreciate your insights, especially on the air pot argument. I live in Zone 11 South America and all my Bonsai that are not in air pots are being trained in ground, like my Bougainvillea cuttings. You are right that they are in need of constant watering due to the drying out factor. So I am on the fence about if it is better to use solid pots for training or air pots.