Maple

[Stefan Kleinhans]

We have a few maples but this one hasn’t had any growth yet. Was wondering if anyone has advice




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[treeman]

It's no good. I suggest you throw it away and get a better one or it will give you nothing but sadness.

[Stefan Kleinhans]

Are you saying it’s dead?


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[KIRKY]

No he’s saying it is sick and wont recover. Japanese Maples with that fungus on the trunk usually die. Agree with treeman get rid of it before it spreads to other Maples.
Cheers
Kirky

[shibui]

You have not given any location in your profile but JM should have leaves just about everywhere in Australia now.
There is still a slim chance that it is just late to leaf out but a far greater chance that it is actually dead if no leaves by this time.

I think Treeman is probably alluding to the quality of the specimen as well as its late leaf. Even if it is still alive, is it really worth persisting in trying to develop a good bonsai from this? You could buy or find a far better starter for very little money. This particular one has a long way to go and has some basic problems to overcome in order to develop good looking bonsai from it.
I know it sounds harsh but many of us who have done this for a while have found that some individual plants are just not worth persisting with. Often better to cut your losses and start again with better stock.

[longd_au]

I agree that it might be a bit late to save this plant.
But if by chance, it survives, I don't think it is no good. Agree there are better stocks, but our expectation with bonsai varies with our experience.
If time is an issue for you, then maybe there are better stocks to get faster results.

For me, it is about the learning journey.
If this maple survives, I would let it build some strength this season and then I would cut hard leaving one to two nodes as low as possible. Taper will come from this and the first branch will give you bends. Do this again in a few years later and you will have a lovely maple bonsai.

It all depends on what you mean by nice stock. If it has taper, branching, then it won't be cheap.
If it doesn't, you probably end up doing what I said anyway.

Give every life a chance and you will be surprised what it gives in return.

BTW, maples are not easy to bonsai. So many things can go wrong with them. The first is that they really should be watered like pines. As in, let them almost dry out before watering and keep in good draining mix.

[Stefan Kleinhans]

Might shove him in the ground and leave him get something else for that pot


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