AusBonsai

time8theuniverse wrote:

Repotting Maples through the Summer with good success

I just don't get maples then.
I have had one for almost 2 years now and its still the same stick that I started with.
Lots more to do then.

Hi time8theuniverse,
Could you let us know what kind of maple your tree is.

Regards Ray

A trident maple grown by one of my club member and given to me as an introductory present.

Another great reason for joining a club, free trees. Just a hint for Red-Maple.

Certainly for an experienced grower they can vary the ways they treat their trees and also have a greater understanding of aftercare. For a newbie (who hasn't put his location) I would rather err on the side of caution. Here in Brissy I wouldn't even consider it be Spring - another 32 degree day with 34 forecast for tomorrow. Certainly season and location have a huge bearing on what you can do and when

Thanks to advice given I went out earlier this morning an bought seasol spray and removed my tree from the shade outside and im leaving it inside for now. I sprayed the remaining leaves and also for good measuer (and in an attempt to help it further)_ I also gave the soil a quick spray because I never got to do so on the roots. Im living in Melbourne and the temperature at the moment changes constantly.

Quick question is it normal for the tips or the plant where they were cut to have a slight amount of browning?

Once again thanks for all the advice it's really helped and I wouldn't want to join any bonsai club without any real experience

When you say the tips do you mean of leaves or branches ? You should edit your profile to include your location - it helps with giving advice You should also look at joining a club regardless of your experience - the members are always understanding of newbies.

If you put a photo up it would help immensely

Inside isn't suck a good idea. Outside in the shade is the best place so it can still get the energy from the sun it will need to heal itself. The going brown at a cut site is normal because you damage the cell and the expose the inside tissues to the environment.

I think I new the Melbourne bit from another post. There are plenty of good clubs in Melbourne and they can offer great way to fast track your knowledge. We all started somewhere just like the trees we grow.

If you don't want to go to a club just yet there will be some bonsai shows coming up which are good to check out, without any pressure.
.

No special after care Ken, just straight out on the bench into full sun.
Personally I believe that this 'rule' about only repotting just before the leaves come has been emphasised way out of proportion - the experiments last year were my way of starting to debunk this myth and getting some rational thought going around this issue.

I doubt that a beginner would ever remove enough roots to endanger a tree at any time of year.
I have been root pruning and potting Chinese elms, maples and pines in the last few weeks- all actively growing and no signs of any problems (yet) and I'm much more heavy handed with the root pruning than any beginner I've ever met.

Im slight confused now, ive been giving advice to put into shade and others have told me to do the opposite

Universe I will have to update my profile and ill even add a picture, just as soon as I can find my cable!! I looked into the bonsai convention for around here and it said that there were a few on next month so with any luck ill be able to go past and maybe even get more of an idea.

Shibui, I didn't touch the roots, I only removed a small section other then that I tried avoiding causing more harm to it. The tree appears to be getting greener, or it may just be an illusion.. Who knows just as yet its only been a day

It has been a bit confusing, as we are having a discussion as well as giving advice.

1st. Being a tree it needs to be outside.
2nd. Your doing the right after care as far as I can tell.
3rd. Start in the shade until the tree starts to look like its moving forward (leaves growing, new leaves hardening/ greening)
3rd(ish). After your confident move it into a sunny position. With not much root work 1 week -17days will be ok (I think). See how you go.


Anymore questions just ask.

Get used to the confusion redmaple.
Everyone has their own way of doing things and many will claim theirs is the only right way Most of these 'right ways' work which just shows that our trees are pretty tough and can tolerate a lot.

Conventional wisdom is that trees that have been rootpruned should be placed in a sheltered position until the roots start to grow again - that's probably what you should do until you gain confidence. You now tell us that you have not actually root pruned so I believe there is no reason to pamper the tree, even without any experience.
Inside is a bad idea for most bonsai. Conditions inside puts them under much more stress so outside is best.

Just to clarify my comment which, by the way, was not meant to be advice for you personally in this specific case (sorry to cause confusion): At my place, with experience I can root prune trees out of the accepted times and still put them straight back into full sun. This might not work for everyone but few have tried so we really don't know. I have mentioned it to try to get others to try new things to extend our bonsai knowledge.

Sorry guys for the late reply, I managed to get a bad case of the flu and I haven't been bothered to anything although I have been looking after my little friend

Thanks to your advice I put my little elm out side and it seems as if though its starting to grow in other parts and from what I've read that's meant to be a positive thing. Seasol, my next problem. Should I still only be using it once weekly or can you use it more often then that? Would it do harm. I bought the ready mixed spray, not that it really matters.

Seasol is just a tonic - it's not a fertiliser so you could water your tree with it every day if you could afford it. Sounds like you have it under control - just remember to ask if you aren't sure and somehow we will steer you right

I finally figured out how to take focused photo's and now I don't even know how to upload'em!

Thanks for that tip with the seasol, ill use in every few days responsibly

Hi Red maple

mate you're going to lose a few trees along the way , but follow the advice you get here on the forum and you should be able to keep those down to a minimum mate . rule no 1 never keep a tree indoors (take a tree indoors and you're sure to get the oldies knickers in a knot ). In order to upload pics you're going to have to go into google and find faststone foto resizer download the software and resize your fotos to at most 600 x 800 , normal fotos are to big to upload onto the forum, when you post a reply , at the bottom of the page you will see upload attachment click on that and it will allow you to find the file you want on your computer . Hope you know you're getting yourself into something harder than heroin to kick ( not i'm sure that you'd want to )
kind regards
peterb

Thought I may have lost my new elm after the re-pot, it was looking like a dead stick.
But kept it in the shade under mum's port wine magnolia, feeding a little seasol every few days. Had a look this morning & a tiny new leaf has appeared so looks like it may make a comeback......