Steamboy
Seedling
Hello All! New to forum, not so new to growing plants in the desert.
So my girlfriend recently purchased a Maple from Eastern Leaf(yeah I know, I tried to talk her out of it, as they basically sold her a stick), the Maple arrived late due to FedEX losing the package. That is issue one. It was in a box for 3-4 days longer due to it being lost, then recovered.
When we finally got the maple unboxed, open, and ready to enjoy, I noticed a lot of the nodes were really long and leggy. Also, no additional buds aside from the existing foliage. Along with the leggy nodes, the leaves were also very large and stringy, and by recommendation, I was told to defoliate in order to promote new growth/leaves of proper size.
This was ordered as a Sharps Pygmy, but as you can see from the pics, its generic root stock with a graft. The rootstock still buds, but I pinch those since they are root stock. Now there is only 1 bud on the graft after pruning the junk leaves off.
I know its now May, its getting hot where I live. I have a greenhouse to manage temperature and humidity and protect the maple from hot dry air.
So... my question is, should I just sit back and relax, take normal care of this thing and will it leaf out again? Should I prune more? Repot in full akadama/moss? Chop it?
I have circled the only buds I see(2), and yes, they seem to be swelling more and more each day.
Thank you all for any input.
So my girlfriend recently purchased a Maple from Eastern Leaf(yeah I know, I tried to talk her out of it, as they basically sold her a stick), the Maple arrived late due to FedEX losing the package. That is issue one. It was in a box for 3-4 days longer due to it being lost, then recovered.
When we finally got the maple unboxed, open, and ready to enjoy, I noticed a lot of the nodes were really long and leggy. Also, no additional buds aside from the existing foliage. Along with the leggy nodes, the leaves were also very large and stringy, and by recommendation, I was told to defoliate in order to promote new growth/leaves of proper size.
This was ordered as a Sharps Pygmy, but as you can see from the pics, its generic root stock with a graft. The rootstock still buds, but I pinch those since they are root stock. Now there is only 1 bud on the graft after pruning the junk leaves off.
I know its now May, its getting hot where I live. I have a greenhouse to manage temperature and humidity and protect the maple from hot dry air.
So... my question is, should I just sit back and relax, take normal care of this thing and will it leaf out again? Should I prune more? Repot in full akadama/moss? Chop it?
I have circled the only buds I see(2), and yes, they seem to be swelling more and more each day.
Thank you all for any input.