Call for red maples (acer rubrum)

garywood · Oct 26, 2015

Andrew, as Jim said, they are VERY variable! The variable I personally assess when dealing with them is petiole length.
The leaves can be reduced somewhat and internodes can be shortened but the ratio of petiole length to leaf size (to me) determines if one needs to be a smaller or larger tree. In the pics that have been posted of good trees notice the proportion. If you are collecting try and find an area with good characteristics and don't settle for "just" any red maple.

Andrew Robson · Oct 26, 2015

garywood said:
Andrew, as Jim said, they are VERY variable! The variable I personally assess when dealing with them is petiole length.
The leaves can be reduced somewhat and internodes can be shortened but the ratio of petiole length to leaf size (to me) determines if one needs to be a smaller or larger tree. In the pics that have been posted of good trees notice the proportion. If you are collecting try and find an area with good characteristics and don't settle for "just" any red maple.

Gary, always love hearing from you! Thanks for your great advice!

It was nice to see you breifly in Portland, let me know if you ever come up to New England!

VAFisher · Oct 26, 2015

Here is a terrible phone picture from my local club's fall show. This was my favorite tree on display, although I didn't care for all of the stuff in the pot. It has nice small leaves.

And here is a very young group I put together from seedlings I dug up in my yard. I'm just tying to wire a lot of movement into the "trunks" and get the roots to grow together as one. I'm not dissatisfied with the leaf size and internode length on these.

Eric, your little guy is doing fine. I'm waiting patiently for it color up. All of the maples around me are at their peak right now but most of the leaves on my bonsai are still green for some reason.

sorce · Nov 1, 2015

VAFisher said:
still green

Everything that grows fresh later usually stays green longer, this has been my observation.

My failed Amur layer for Eric, when cut off(midsummer) , activated a new bud, that branch is bright red and beautiful, the rest is a ratty brown yeller.

A couple elm seedlings I took from work, that were growing in all shade, are still green and growing now, while I have naked and fully dormant elms too!

OF RUBRUM.

Trick or treating yesterday, I noticed all the leaves on the ground were quite small and nice, but when you look up, all the big newer leaves are still on!

Just bits!

Sorce

JoeR · Nov 1, 2015

Does defoliation help?

Andrew Robson · Nov 1, 2015

Time to experiment for myself! My dad ordered 25 little seedlings and potted them up in plastic pots for now. Layer of pumice in the bottom and aoki mix.

sorce · Nov 1, 2015

sorce said:
My failed Amur layer for Eric, when cut off(midsummer) , activated a new bud, that branch is bright red and beautiful, the rest is a ratty brown yeller.

JoeR said:
Does defoliation help?

Oh yeah

But I wouldn't defoliate AnYthing that's not going into a show.

Especially not trees in early development!

Sorce

wireme · Nov 1, 2015

I'm sure I'll grow more red maples sometime since I love maples and these do well in my climate, can't be too picky about leaf size and species here.
I only have the one very small seedling for now, uninteresting except for the fact that it for some reason is naturally growing with more taper than I'm used to from seedlings.

sorce · Nov 2, 2015

wireme said:
I'm sure I'll grow more red maples sometime since I love maples and these do well in my climate, can't be too picky about leaf size and species here.
I only have the one very small seedling for now, uninteresting except for the fact that it for some reason is naturally growing with more taper than I'm used to from seedlings. View attachment 85447

Nice base! Hell yeah!

Sorce

jeanluc83 · Nov 2, 2015

Andrew Thomas said:
My dad and I ordered 25 seedlings to start developing and experimenting with.

Not to sound rude but why would you buy red maple seedlings? They are just about everywhere in the north east. I moved over the summer. My old place was surrounded by red maple. I'm still pulling them out of my pots here and there. I probably plucked 30 or 40 this year alone. If I were you I would start looking for older trees to collect. A good place to look is in the ditches along the road. You are likely to find some that have been hacked back by road crews several times. You might find something with some interest.

Here is a tree I collected a couple of years ago. Unfortunately it never woke up the following spring. My theory is that it was a goner the previous fall. I was a way for a week and it didn't get watered properly when I was away. It's a shame I think it could have been an interesting tree.

Andrew Robson · Nov 2, 2015

jeanluc83 said:
Not to sound rude but why would you buy red maple seedlings? They are just about everywhere in the north east. I moved over the summer. My old place was surrounded by red maple. I'm still pulling them out of my pots here and there. I probably plucked 30 or 40 this year alone. If I were you I would start looking for older trees to collect. A good place to look is in the ditches along the road. You are likely to find some that have been hacked back by road crews several times. You might find something with some interest.

Here is a tree I collected a couple of years ago. Unfortunately it never woke up the following spring. My theory is that it was a goner the previous fall. I was a way for a week and it didn't get watered properly when I was away. It's a shame I think it could have been an interesting tree.

View attachment 85525

Good question. Hagedorn suggested to me to grow some trees from young material, so you can avoid big scars. Also to get experience growing something from nothing.

Andrew Robson · Nov 2, 2015

jeanluc83 said:
Not to sound rude but why would you buy red maple seedlings? They are just about everywhere in the north east. I moved over the summer. My old place was surrounded by red maple. I'm still pulling them out of my pots here and there. I probably plucked 30 or 40 this year alone. If I were you I would start looking for older trees to collect. A good place to look is in the ditches along the road. You are likely to find some that have been hacked back by road crews several times. You might find something with some interest.

Here is a tree I collected a couple of years ago. Unfortunately it never woke up the following spring. My theory is that it was a goner the previous fall. I was a way for a week and it didn't get watered properly when I was away. It's a shame I think it could have been an interesting tree.

View attachment 85525

Don't worry, I'm also hunting the woods for good specimens. I'm scouting out some power lines this weekend for hacked back material.

Stickroot · Nov 3, 2015

Andrew Thomas said:
Time to experiment for myself! My dad ordered 25 little seedlings and potted them up in plastic pots for now. Layer of pumice in the bottom and aoki mix.

So after sitting through two Bonsai Society meetings hearing about the son who is a masters flute player and then hearing the 25 seedling story, I showed the President and speaker of the club this pic, and said " you ever see this tree before?"

Turns out he has! Then he says to me " that's my son!" I kinda figured it was

@Andrew Thomas
Your dad's great!

Andrew Robson · Nov 3, 2015

Glad you get to go to the meetings. The St. Louis club is doing really well I hear. 50+ people at the last few meetings!

Stickroot · Nov 3, 2015

Andrew Thomas said:
Glad you get to go to the meetings. The St. Louis club is doing really well I hear. 50+ people at the last few meetings!

Yes, it is nice to see the interest in bonsai growing. Nice Avatar

drew33998 · Nov 18, 2015

Here are leaves from two different trees about 10 feet apart. Same exposure. Thinking about layering something off of the one with the small leaves for a couple years now. Last pic is of yet another tree with roughish bark for such a young tree in my area

Nomiyama · Nov 18, 2015

My friend in Louisiana dug up a red maple last fall and gifted me with it this year. I just recently gave it a very rough first styling. I've heard they die back badly along the trunk once trunk chopped. Not this one, it's thrown shoots near the chop point and all over the trunk. The chop will need to be carved, and the wired branches were kinda stiff and hard to bend. The trunk has character and a nice hollow so I'll see how it goes. I'll update as the tree progresses hopefully.

Dan W. · Nov 19, 2015

Andrew, check out this thread. It's a very good progression over about 7 years.

http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/root-over-ruin.1564/

Andrew Robson · Nov 19, 2015

Dan W. said:
Andrew, check out this thread. It's a very good progression over about 7 years.
http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/root-over-ruin.1564/

Thanks Dan!
That's a great thread!

ABCarve · Nov 19, 2015

Gene Deci said:
I had three or four with potential, two that I liked a lot, but over a two year period they all died from blight. They were all collected trees which may have had something to do with it. I think they are a great species for bonsai and I would do them again if I thought there was any chance I could keep them alive. The extension agent I talked to said once they get it there is little chance of saving them.

Any one else with the same problem?

Not sure what blight you're talking about. Does it have a name? Mine has had a fungus for the 24 years I've had it (also collected). It looks very similar to black spot which can get bad if not dealt with. Obviously it hasn't killed it. The worst I've seen it is the leaves will turn color in mid-August and fall off. This year I used Subdue (systemic fungicide) on it which stopped the progression in it's tracks. However, the leaves had already been damaged. Next spring I hope to get it before leaf damage occurs.

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