I was browsing through Walmart tonight and came upon a few bonsais they had for $10 and couldn't resist. However, I don't know what it is. It had a couple of 'stray' branches sticking straight up that I trimmed off and I scanned one so you can see the leaves up close. Any idea what this is?
Here's the whole thing. Thanks for your help.
Kylee
Hi there,
I think my husband was given the same plant. He is trying to bonsai it also. I asked him for the name of the plant and he said he could not name it at this time but will try to remember it. I took a piece off his plant and put it up againt your picture and the leaves match. Please be patient, my husband's memory is hit or miss sometimes. LOL The name will come to him when he is not thinking about it I'm sure. I will let you know asap.
lilbit
Looks like Ulmus parvifolia.
Al
The leaves do look like that, but they're pretty tiny. The largest one is only an inch long.
There are many varieties of parvifolia that are used for bonsai. I have U. p. 'Seiju' with leaves only about 1/4" long, and 'Hokkaido' with tiny leaves under 1/8". There are many others as well. However, the leaves on your plant do not appear to be unusually small for the common variety of U parvifolia.
Al
Thanks! Anything special I should know as far as care is concerned?
Standard bonsai stuff. Fast draining soil, prefers full sun, feed every 2 weeks with something like 20-20-20 while actively growing, but 0-10-10 is a good choice now, as fall winds down. The tree is one of the few that can either be treated as evergreen or deciduous & will survive indoors in winter w/o a dormant period if other cultural requirements can be met (mainly adequate humidity & not over-watering), but it will show best vitality in next years growth cycle if you give it a cold rest - an unheated garage or burying the pot & all against the north side of a building out of sun & wind. The tree can be pruned aggressively in spring, before budswell is best, but allow all the foliage to remain on it now to build energy reserves for the winter rest. Again, don't be tempted to over-nurture & water too much - more bonsai are killed by too much water than not enough.
Al
Since I repotted it, it has been having yellowing leaves and dropping them quite a bit. The soil doesn't seem to be too wet. I can tell there's moisture in it, but it's not 'wet' by any means.
Thanks for the tips! I've printed them out.
Not surprised at leaf yellowing/abscission - inappropriate to repot this tree except in spring or, under some conditions, in late fall - but a fall repot should probably include an over-winter stay in the ground.
Al
I didn't want to leave it in the pot it came in, because they had that horrid glued rock layer on the top. UGH. I didn't remove any of the soil from around the tree, however. I just sat it down in the new pot and added soil around it as needed.
