AusBonsai

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this little maple a friend gave me. Any help will be great
Thanks.

Too early to do any styling with it yet.
At the moment it is what we call a "stick in a pot",
Le t it grow as vigorousely as it can, and put on as much growth as it can, then trunck chop to start it's development

Ken

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Hi jme , mate slip it into a bigger pot without disturbing the roots and let it run riot for a couple of seasons , possibly root prune over the dormant period . This will give you plenty of scope for a style and plenty of time to research Japanese Maple bonsai designs .

Cheers Alpineart

I would not bother with a bigger pot. Find somewhere in you garden and plant it out for a couple of years and feed, feed, feed.

cheers,

Jeff

Jag01 wrote:I would not bother with a bigger pot. Find somewhere in you garden and plant it out for a couple of years and feed, feed, feed.

cheers,

Jeff

Gosh Ian,
dont you love it when someone chimes in with a conflicting comment to have the last word overriding you on your very good sound advice.

If it bothered Brian that someone offer another point of view (as opposed to posting to have the "last word"), then I am sure he could voice that for himself.

Sheesh!

Jeff

Who's Ian?

Hi Guys , the reason i opted to give the the Pot grow advice to jme, is his request for help as a new comer . Her some very good reasons why i advise pot growing and i'm sure there are a hundred more

1 / Pot grow tree's can be moved around to find the best growing environment in the yard , all yards are different and a Japanese Maple in not know for its durability in certain area's , leaf burn can be an issue if not grown in a sheltered area.

2 / Pot grown tree's need more dedicated care , be it in 100mm plastic pots or 400mm plastic pots , watering and fertilizing needs are different , you cant just throw a handful of ferts around the base and water in .

3 / What can be learned from throwing a tree in the ground , of course it will grow bigger , so do tree's grown in a pot twice the size as the tree is currently in even bigger if the pot is larger as this allows root run .

4 / Pot grown tree's can be rotated for balance growth and of course better viewing of possible styles and or fronts , diffiicult to view a tree if it is growing up close to a fence and that just happens to be the best front after the first growing season .

5 / Root growth can be monitored in the winter and trimmed refined without having to dig them out of the ground , this is where the pot has the advantage to new comers when it comes to root work .

6 / Not everyone has the ground to grow tree's for various reasons , Renting , Units , Mum and Dad , etc ,etc .

7 / People new to bonsai don't really want to grow a tree in the ground so larger pots are a good learning curve as a start to growing it in a bonsai pot . If things go pear shaped and people need to move house for work or other matters they can take their hard work with them .

8/ Every plant has to starts life as a stick in a pot , they don't just pop up fat and full of foliage refined as bonsai they need to be created . Every household in the country has a tree growing in the ground , i can bet most couldn't pot grow a tree and have it survive 2-3 years , most of them would die from neglect . Food for thought for all new comers and old timers as i still grow in pots for these very reasons and don't always get it right .

"The more i learn , the less i think i know" , that's why i' continue to learn .

Cheers Alpineart.

Hey guys. I think Jme's biggest hurdle with this tree is the location. I think that a Japanese maple is going to have some real difficulties in Cairns. Jme, do you see many of these growing in the gardens in your area? Try, by all means, but it will probably never show decent autumn colour and don't be surprised if it does not thrive at all (and I'd be very happy for you if I'm wrong). you'd be better to stick with species that suit your climate.

Alpineart,

all very valid reasons for pot growing! I do not think I disputed that a larger pot would not benefit the tree, I merely suggested my preferred option would be to garden plant it. My reasons being I believe probably easier for a newcomer to keep it alive in the ground as opposed to a pot.

But hey it is just my opinion and last time I check we are all allowed to have at least one or two!

Cheers,

Jeff

[quote=hibui"]Hey guys. I think Jme's biggest hurdle with this tree is the location. I think that a Japanese maple is going to have some real difficulties in Cairns. Jme, do you see many of these growing in the gardens in your area? Try, by all means, but it will probably never show decent autumn colour and don't be surprised if it does not thrive at all (and I'd be very happy for you if I'm wrong). you'd be better to stick with species that suit your climate.[/quote]
A mate brought it up from Sydney for me to see how it would go so I'm gonna give anything a shot to try and make this little guy grow.

Hi, I'm going to offer a totally different suggestion that will get you going right now. Style it now by cutting back to one leader and one or two branches with the aim of repotting with a different angle when the time is right. This way you can start reducing those internodes now, stop growth going into parts of the tree that will just get cut off later, and start making design decisions and learning today. Also, you'll be more easily able to bend the branches into those dramatic angles you want, before they thicken too much. The photo below is of one of the Japanese maples I did this to, now only a year later. Some would still call this a stick, but I like where it is heading.

Cheers S.

Bonsai was supposed to keep me away from the computer; so I got a smart phone to take outside to my trees.

Bonsai was supposed to keep me away from the computer; so I got a smart phone to take outside to my trees.

Hi jme , plenty of good advice here . I have shipped more Japanese Maples to Cairns and Townville than any other species . They only seem to grow higher up in the foot hills 200m above sea level and in pockets . I have had feedback from people that have purchased them unfortunately they are not members , but they say retain their foliage all year round and as Shibui stated the colour is not great but people seem to love them up that way .

Bougy Fan said he can't grow them at his place in Brisbane too close to the ocean but Andrew M can grow them up the road towards the Glasshouse Mountains .

Any chance you could locate any Japanese Maples growing in your area for some worthy pics . I'd be keen to see them in all their glory in Summer , Autumn , Winter and Spring .

All the best with you tree , which ever plan you use .

Cheers Alpineart

Brian wrote:

Jag01 wrote:I would not bother with a bigger pot. Find somewhere in you garden and plant it out for a couple of years and feed, feed, feed.

cheers,

Jeff

Gosh Ian,
dont you love it when someone chimes in with a conflicting comment to have the last word overriding you on your very good sound advice.

Huh
Not contradictory at all. Just another variation on the same thing, ie, Bigger pot and or put in the ground

Ken