Maple - some leaves smaller and discoloured

[emmet89]

Hi everyone. I'm totally new to bonsai and this is my first tree, a Japanese Maple. I was told it was about six years old (not sure how accurate that is), six month's ago when I bought it.

I've noticed some leaves took much longer to come out than the rest. These late leaves also look a lot less healthy and are smaller than the rest of the tree. I repotted this guy about a week ago, cos I noticed the original plastic pot was small and the roots were starting to get cramped and climb back upwards. I kept it outside since I got it, but the leaves were going brown around the edges after they grew back, and I suspected this was sunburn. So for the time being I've put it on a windowsill near an open window which has a bit of Sun for half the day. The sunburn has gone away since then (phew).

I pruned the roots when I repotted, so now he's got some room to grow. I have the proper tools for it now, so I'm thinking of checking the roots again and attempting to do it properly.

Anyone know what's up with the smaller, discoloured leaves and how I might be able to fix it?

[shibui]

Welcome to bonsai and also to Ausbonsai.

I can think of a number of possibilities. Some pictures might help narrow the field a little.

We usually root prune Japanese maples before the leaves come out. That could be 1 possible cause.
Japanese maples can get a number of diseases that might cause either strange leaves or brown leaves or brown roots.
Keeping JM inside usually causes problems. They seem to be much happier outside.
Insufficient or too much water can both cause brown edges on leaves and I suspect it was not enough water rather than sunburn as such that caused your brown edge leaves.

Try to post some pics for us to check for better advice.

[emmet89]

Thanks for your response

I tried to post photos several times, but kept getting an error repsonse saying the file is too big. Not sure how to make that work

[treeman]

Thanks for your response

I tried to post photos several times, but kept getting an error repsonse saying the file is too big. Not sure how to make that work

Right click, click ''open with''.. ''paint'', click resize ''horizontal'' from 100 to 50, click ''close'' click ''save'', click ''open'' then ''place in line''

[KIRKY]

Sunburn? Where are you located? It always helps to know where you are as to what conditions , temp etc.. you have. Helps for the correct advise you get.
Cheers
Kirky

[emmet89]

Sorry it took a while to get the photos working. I was trying to do it on my phone before. Easier to do it on the computer.

I'm in Sydney. I kept the tree outside but it gets sunlight all day there, so I need to figure out how to keep it in partial shade.

[emmet89]

Another photo, closeup

[shibui]

The leaves look OK. New leaves should grow all summer and I think those smaller, later ones are just new shoots growing as they should. The new leaves are often a different color from older leaves and is on of the great things about JM. Leaves will always start small and gradually get larger as they expand and mature.

Some of the larger leaves have mottled color which could be nutrient deficiency or from excess sun. You need to feed regularly because frequent watering washes all available nutrients out of the pot pretty quick. Any plant fertilizer is OK for bonsai. Just use as directed on the packet about every 2-3 weeks.
Spring is usually OK for maples in full sun but as the weather gets hotter it will need some shade. You may need to rig up some shade cloth as protection if there's no natural shade available.

I would be very surprised if that maple was 6 years old. It is possible to mistreat trees so they grow really slow but looks to be around 2 or 3 years max. Not that age is important. The real thing is what it looks like.