Trident Maple restoring

[rch003]

Hey, I bought a trident maple from a nursery (04') and it has gone through some hard situations.
Not watering it enough, due to bing busy, diseases, overwatering in the wet season, fat from cooking in the kitchen all over its leaves, yet it is still alive.

It has been inside on the bench in the kitchen with morning sun and doing ok, but read it should be outside. It hasn't been growing much, might need to change the soil after 2 years, at the moment it has about 5 leaves on it on one trunk and some shoots that aren't growing on the branch etc (2 trunks, 1 branch).

This year its leaves didn't change colour D:

Going to repot it today, into some bonsai mix, etc. Suggest any locations, watering, pruning suggestions?

[Akamatsu]

This poor tree has been in prison and needs to get out!

This is definitely and out door tree and will never grow well if kept inside.

Take it out side and place it in the shade to get use to its freedom before slowly giving it more sunshine.

Dont for get to give it a good drink then it needs it! You will have to check it every day. Bonsai do not like to be left alone!

Good luck

[lewis_milnes]

Hi there,

Akamatsu is spot on, this tree needs to be outside, some trees will tolerate being inside in good light but never thrive, trident maple is most definately not one of these. Like has been said, get it outside if you can, an open free-draining soil mix will be perfect to allow the roots lots of fresh air and growth room. I wouldn't worry about pruning for now as it sounds quite poorly, I would focus on getting it back as healthy as you can, when it is healthy and growing strongly again you can focus on pruning/styling. You mention it only having a couple of leaves left, I hope it isn't too late already

[rch003]

Haha cheers for the quick response guys, yeah and those leaves and half dead from the build up of grease from the cook top :/

It as SOME new growth but nothing compared to my out door figs, just went and bought 12L of bonsai mix, root teaser tool and some wire, will gradually adjust things, might need to fertilize it as well haha.

Another question, last time there was some fungus in the pot causing it to die, i washed it out and used the same pot, if it is back again, should i use detol or something on the pot, any other ways to sterilise etc?

Update, repotted the maple, decent root growth, lots of circular rongs from the pot, cut some off and repotted.
2 x small leave figs were easy to repot, my 'root over rock' style worked well, took 3 years to hold the rock though

I've got a bit of seasol fertiliser, (white and green bottles) should i give them a squirt of this once in a while?

[Taffy]

Rch, considering your location, I wouldn't recommend putting your maple out in full sun - at any time. In our climate with hot sun and relatively high humidity, the leaves will burn, crinkle up, turn grey and drop off. Keep it under dappled shade, or if that isn't possible then protect it with shade-cloth.

I don't live too far from you - Fraser Coast, and I have two Trident Maples in Bonsai pots and three in black plastics. Out in full sun, they go backwards. Under 50% shade-cloth they flourish.

When you say you had fungus in your pot, did you mean a white 'web-like' type in and around the soil mix or actual fungus like you see growing on rotting wood?

Btw, if you think you need to sterilize your pots, plain simple bleach will do the job. Use it full strength and leave the pot soaking for an hour or so. You could also scrub the pot out then spray neat bleach on the inside. Again, leave the bleach on for an hour or so then wash it away.

With regards to your seasols: Yes, both will give your trees a boost. One is a soil conditioner, the other is a fertilizer.

[kcpoole]

As Tman says, keep the tree outside, but in Dappled shade if you can
I have mine under some tall gum trees. They get morning sun till about 10am then dappled shade all day.

Beware Repotting a maple now. just only tease out the ouside 20% of the roots and if possible don't cut much off if any at all

Remove from old pot, loosen the outside layer of roots and then repot into fresh soil
Maples should only be root worked when dormant in winter. After repot, give seasol every few days and fertilise only after a month or so. ONce you see new growth, Fertilise and remove and burnt / damaged leaves and you should see these replaced with new leaves

Ken

[rch003]

Hmm alright cheers for all your posts, have been doing bonsai by instinct but found this forum and been getting some really nice ideas and tips

I went the the local nursery and saw they had their bonsais under a sort of hard plastic roof thing, seems like i might be able to create something, house is sort of at the south side of the block so it is either, full morning/mid day sun or full afternoon sun, not really much filtered sun as the yard is pretty bare.

I kinda missed out on spring growth, i waited for it to grow before pruning and wasted pretty much all its spring growth D:

Yeah repotted and put some spahgnum moss on it, might make that shade cover and see how it goes

[rch003]

Here are some shots.

First couple of was when i got it in '06, last couple was taken today...

http://s953.photobucket.com/albums/ae18 ... jpg---just bought

http://s953.photobucket.com/albums/ae18 ... jpg--first training

http://s953.photobucket.com/albums/ae18 ... jpg--today........." .

http://s953.photobucket.com/albums/ae18 ... pg--leaves covered in grease/dying D:

The decent bonsai is what it was, the picture of a couple leaves is what it is now

[Taffy]

RC, your first link brings up all the photos in your account, and the other three say the files don't exist.

Do you know you can upload your photos direct to your topics in Ausbonsai? When you write a new topic or a reply, do your text then go down the page to where you see 'Upload Attachment'. Click on that and it will open another section below. Click on 'Browse', go to the photo you want on your computer and click on it. Then click on 'Add the file'. When it's added the file, directly below the text box where you are writing, there are two options: 'Place inline' and 'Delete file'. Put your cursor where you want your photo to appear, click on 'Place inline' and you'll see a string of code. If you want to post another photo, do the same again - and you can do that for as many photos as you want to put into a topic. When you submit your topic or reply, the photo will be displayed.

Anyway, back to your Maple.
I'd just written a whole two paragraphs on what I think you should do with your tree, but then I see I was going by the two 'healthy' photos

No matter. Mate, you really need to get that tree out in the daylight. If it still has grease and stuff all over it, get a soft toothbrush and some soapy water and try and get it off. Be careful you don't scrub hard over any new shoots or buds. Those leaves at the top don't look healthy at all, and you may lose them. If you can, try and wash those leaves with soapy water as well. Wet your fingers and gently massage the leaves - top and bottom. Leaves have pores in them so the tree can breath and with the grease all over them, they are being suffocated.

Sphagnum moss on the top of your pot is ok, but be careful you don't over-water the tree. Maples do like moisture but like most trees, they don't like wet feet. Only water when the soil surface is dry for about 5 mm into the pot. Use your finger to find out.

I was going to suggest you put it into a larger pot to allow it to stretch it's legs a bit, but I notice you said you'd just repotted it, so no that isn't an option at the moment. It really doesn't need any more disruption at this time. I think it's been through enough for a while.

Just try and clean it off, give it some daylight and see how it goes from there.

I'll make a deal with you. You get this one back on track to recovery and I'll give you another one to play with. It doesn't have any shape - and it was created from an air-layer, so it hasn't had any work done to it - but it's got a lot more branches to work with.

Deal??

Oh, and here's one of mine - growing about 150km north of where you are. I've done some more work on it since this photo, and there's still quite a bit to go. I want to sort out the apex some more and maybe lower it a bit:

FE21Oct101m.jpg

[rch003]

Wow that is ridiculously good looking mate Your tree looks spectacular!!!

Things i could only dream off, haha sounds like a deal mate ^_^ i was an avid fan of bonsai and had about 10 going, but neglected them heavily during grade 12 and first 2 years of uni and it has brought the current tally down to 3 figs, 1 maple (zombie)and umbrella tree.

Quince, Juniper, Elm, (many azaleas given away as presents lasted a year then they gave up on them ):

On holidays now, so i will make a proper shelter and maybe go to some bonsai classes at the morayfield nursery.

Maple trees grow amazing around mapleton (hence the name) and montville, which is a 15 min drive from where I am, will see how it goes

It was my first tree, so i am trying hard now to keep it living

Untitled.jpg

WAS

herp.jpg

moo.jpg

IS

[Taffy]

Mate, you have some very active Bonsai enthusiasts not very far from you. One I know of lives in Buderim and another at Kuluin (I think that's what it's called). In fact there is a good group of them there on the sunny coast.

I know what it feels like with your first tree. If I had to part with every tree that I have except for one, the one above is the one I would keep. I've got a real sentimental attachment to it. That one was just about the first tree I every had. It started off life as a very skinny rooted cutting in Darwin in 1990 and it cost me $2.00. It was about 100mm tall and had two twigs - one on either side at the top with two leaves on each twig. From there, it's developed into the one above. I brought it down from Darwin to Sydney in my trailer, then dragged it up here to QLD - again in the back of the trailer, when I retired from the RAAF. Every spring, I watch this one and encourage it to burst its first buds by talking to it. I call it 'My little Lady'. When it does, I let out a big YES! She is very special to me. This is how it looked a couple of months after I got it - with the first wire I ever put on a tree!

FE1990.jpg

Incidentally, you notice the long internodes (spaces between each set of leaves) in that third photo? That's because of it being kept indoors. In a brightly lit environment (with a bit of sunlight), those internodes will shorten and you'll get more leaves. Keep cutting them back to the first set of leaves and they will shorten more. Complete defoliation will help shorten the internodes and reduce the leaves. I'll be defoliating mine either later this month or early January. By the end of the growing season, the one in the first photo I posted above has internode lengths of about 3 to 4mm and leaves about half of what they are in that photo.

[rch003]

Wow that is a major transformation, I know i just missed out on the October buderim show, so i will keep my eye out for others.

Thanks for the great help, didn't know it existed till i found this site

[Andrew Legg]

This tree deserves a medal just for being a good sport! Once you have given it its medal, send it for a manicure and pedicure and trunk massage. It deserves it!

[rch003]

Haha yeah I know aye

Here is what i have been up to today (took about 15 mins)

set up.jpg

Umbrella Tree, Small leave fig, maple cutting (trying), Benjamin ficus? (grown from cutting), small leave fig, Trident maple, Juniperus squamata and Azalea

And i bought a Juniperus Squamata

Juniper Day 1.jpg

And an azalea

Azalea day 1.jpg

Usually I would have given them heart attacks by moving them from the nursery, chopping the tree up and removing its roots
But after some careful replies here, i will leave them and let them settle into the new surroundings etc

[rch003]

Quick update, move into styrene box, morning sun, outside, seasol every 3-4 days and here are the results.

IMGP1639.jpg

IMGP1641.jpg

Buds have stayed dormant for about 4 years, and now finally shooting, thank you guys so much, really means alot to me