Japanese Maple in South-East Queensland

[JulzD]

Good morning one and all.

As the title suggests, I have taken the brave step of trying to keep one of these beautiful trees alive in this environment.
At the moment, it's at the stick-in-a-pot stage.
Not a bad thing in my mind as it will give the advantage of the tree getting used to this harsh environment before its anywhere near a Bonsai stage.
My questions are really going to be best-directed to someone either close to me, or to someone who has a very similar environment to this one.

As a guide, our winters can, and do (insert your best Campbell Newman joke here) get down to zero or a couple below, but as Barack Obama learned just recently when he landed at Amberley - 2 minutes from my place - we get 40+ in November with a very dry heat, and then similar temps in December/January with the accompanying humidity.

Selby at Bonsai Northside Nursery at Morayfield suggested to maintain the humidity for it, but protect it from the worst of the sun. At the moment, it's just in its small nursery pot, getting afternoon sun for about an hour around 1400 as this is the best, and only option I have in terms of position. It's growing very strongly and I've dosed it up with Nitrosol this morning along with the pine and fig that are in full sun most of the day.

Keeping it alive through the impending summer is my first goal and it came inside during the worst of the heat on the aforementioned stupidly-hot G20 days. That worked fine and the tree is none the worse for it. That control is tested and works. I read an article on Walter Pall's blog yesterday regarding Japanese. Maples and I intend to take his approach of growing it strongly for many years and keeping the silhouette correct with not a great deal of fine ramification work so my approach is going to be as follows...
Get it into a grow box - a foamie of I can find a local supplier - and eventually the ground/good-and-deep garden bed for good trunk thickness, whilst keeping some really basic trunk wiring going to get that movement happening.
Questions;
Given the harshness of this environment and the extremes in temperature, will late March to mid April be the best time for the repot to allow enough time to settle before some (limited) dormancy?
Is there any point or need to start aiming for reduction in leaf size before it goes into a Bonsai pot? From what I can tell, the leaves respond to such work relatively quickly - perhaps as opposed to my JBP for example - and as such giving the bigger leaves a good deal of years to assist in strengthening the overall tree would be more advantageous?
Finally, when I go for the repot I believe I will be aiming for more sun but with the protection of shade cloth and some protection from the really hot winds we can get here. Can I please ask for some direction on transmission rates for the shade cloth, and does anyone see any issue with this tactic?

Thank you one and all for your thoughts on this tree.
If you'd like me to post pics - it's almost a given isn't it?? - don't hesitate to let me know.

Cheers ladies and gents.

[mtarros]

Hi,

I am growing some Japanese Maple in Brisbane with no issues.

They are on the side of the house so they will only get morning sun and there is always good air flow so its always cooler on that side of the house.
I was told to put a shallow water tray underneath them to stop the leaves from getting brown edges on the leaves but i have not had any need to use it.

Maybe when it gets hotter i might do that.

I do have some smaller one in full sun and the leaves do get burnt, that reminds me i need to move them.

Thanks
Michael

[kcpoole]

You conditions seem similar to mine and Japanese maples should be OK so long as you provide heat protection.
sounds like you have that covered.

If in growth stage, just let go and do not prune unless the branch is definitely in the wrong place ( bar Branches where swelling might happen). Do not defoliate either.
put in large pot of box as you say and let it go mad.

Ken

[JulzD]

Do you guys find they get much of a dormant period at all?

[JulzD]

And yeah I got it semi-trained so there's already been one chop and a bunch of branches coming out of the same height around the chop point. I might get rid of one or two of them now to prevent that swelling. I have been a bit worried about that.
What do you reckon?

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[Bougy Fan]

I have all but given up on them in Brisbane - not sure that Amberley is going to be better. I did find it was the dry winds that did the damage. They will live but I think they will always look in poor condition in tropical areas. Have you considered trident maples ? I think they do much better. I would leave the Japanese maple as it is and see if it survives past Februrary before doing any work.

[JulzD]

That's actually very helpful as I was thinking that would be my nemesis. That will certainly have a large impact on keeping it alive during these next few months.

[davemc]

Hi julzD I'm on the north side of briz I have Japanese maples for quite a few years,never had any major dramas with them.
Water every day in the growing season regular fert

[JulzD]

Yeah I've only had it a few weeks so growing season was on when I got it.
Davemc, how does your climate stack up? We're pretty much two degrees both hotter and colder than whatever temp. they publicise for Ipswich. As for regular fert, I am going to go with Powerfeed from now on. Do you do it each week, or every two?

[JulzD]

Still growing.
The rapid growth that I was experiencing earlier has slowed and the tree is now growing more internally, with shorter internodes and branching structure coming about - to a point - by itself.
Can I ask the fert question again though; should I be doing this each week or every two???