one_bonsai
Shohin
- Messages
- 332
- Reaction score
- 214
Maples seem a bit more complicated than other species
Field-grown trident
- Thread starter markyscott
- Start date
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Then I suggest you don’t try a Japanese black pine for a while.
Keep reading and practicing. You need to have a good understanding of plant physiology and know how a tree responds to work.
one_bonsai
Shohin
- Messages
- 332
- Reaction score
- 214
Not a fan of pines. I think the quickest way to learn is just to dive in.
I offer to politely disagree. I think the quickest way to learn is to be taught by an expert with years of experience.
MrWunderful
Omono
Maples are one of the easiest trees, in The deciduous model IMO (outside of bulletproof elms). They can be finicky in less temperate areas.
If you are really interested, pick up “bonsai maples” by Andrea Meriggioli, its pricey but worth every cent.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Fall cut back before and after.
S
S
Silentrunning
Chumono
Do I have to wait till all the leaves have fallen off to trim? We are almost to December and my Maples still have their leaves. We had over a week where the night time temps were below freezing so I don’t know what is going on.
Toraidento
Shohin
Hey Mark I notice you still have tea bags on it. Do you fertilize you Tridents all year? I know you don't get much dormancy.
After all that work of cutting back, Scott had to recuperate with a few Shiners.
He’ll be back after they’ve had their effect!
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
I’ll probably pull them off at some point. I don’t worry too much about fertilizing until March.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
I pulled off all the remaining leaves just before cut back. Fall lasts about 5 minutes here.
S
Gustavo Martins
Omono
It’s shaping up nicely!
I still got at least a month and half till fall. Some of my trees are still pushing new growth. Although, I must say, that my JM decided to go to sleep earlier this year and it’s already leafless (no fall colour though). That, or it’s dead, but buds looking good.
I still got at least a month and half till fall. Some of my trees are still pushing new growth. Although, I must say, that my JM decided to go to sleep earlier this year and it’s already leafless (no fall colour though). That, or it’s dead, but buds looking good.
SU2
Omono
Would disagree, though to be fair maybe Tridents are markedly-distinct from Red Maples? I only got-into Maples (red maples) last winter when I collected (2) yamadori specimen, at any rate their resiliency really impressed me, I mean I know I'm in FL so it's easier here but maybe 2/3rds of the way through year-1, once they were bushed-out, I did a very aggressive roots&shoots pruning (on one of the two, was afraid it may kill it) and it took it like a champ, then I did the other and it also made it quite well
In about 1.5mo it'll be maple/cypress season here again, SOOOO stoked I think there may be word-play confusion here, I agree that diving-in is the quickest way - at least for me and some others, whereas for other people they genuinely need someone to sit down with them and go-over things while others can easily pick-up what they need as they go.....but re word/phrasing confusion, "diving in" isn't mutually-exclusive to being taught by an expert anyways! But, that said, I don't think @one_bonsai meant they intended to reinvent the wheel (heck their presence here is proof-positive they utilize the web to learn), and I think it's 100% legitimate to "dive in" by oneself while utttilizing the online, impersonal teachings of myriad experts, even if it's exclusively in-context of watching videos/reading articles. Sure it's nice to have someone do hands-on to teach you but the teaching/learning here is an on-going thing and unless $ is no-object to you then having long-term expert help is probably out of the question :/ Thankfully the interrnet allows a TON of learning from others' experiences w/o having tto actually get perrsonally-tailored help, definittely a great time to be learning bonsai (or anything, really! I've been a ghost around here this year because most of my surplus time has gone to setting myself up as a climbing-arborist and even in that arena it was amazing how much could be learned by simply watching a ton of youtubes!
[edited-in: It also matters what your goal(s) are, for instance are you aiming to make trees you love for your own private collection, or are you tttrying to stay 'in-bounds' of the current accepted/prized approaches for competitive purposes? Because those two certainly aren't equal in terms of approach!]
Well, I’m not saying personal training is the only way to learn, but I still maintain it’s the fastest way. Correct techniques can be demonstrated, faulty actions by the student will be immediately recognized by the teacher and corrected immediately. The feedback the student can get from the teacher aids in the learning curve immensely. Since it might take a tree days, weeks, or months (or more) to respond to whatever the student is doing to it, the student doesn’t have to wait until he sees the tree’s response to see the effect. And if it is a poor effect, the student then has to remember exactly what he did that caused it.Would disagree, though to be fair maybe Tridents are markedly-distinct from Red Maples? I only got-into Maples (red maples) last winter when I collected (2) yamadori specimen, at any rate their resiliency really impressed me, I mean I know I'm in FL so it's easier here but maybe 2/3rds of the way through year-1, once they were bushed-out, I did a very aggressive roots&shoots pruning (on one of the two, was afraid it may kill it) and it took it like a champ, then I did the other and it also made it quite well
I think there may be word-play confusion here, I agree that diving-in is the quickest way - at least for me and some others, whereas for other people they genuinely need someone to sit down with them and go-over things while others can easily pick-up what they need as they go.....but re word/phrasing confusion, "diving in" isn't mutually-exclusive to being taught by an expert anyways! But, that said, I don't think @one_bonsai meant they intended to reinvent the wheel (heck their presence here is proof-positive they utilize the web to learn), and I think it's 100% legitimate to "dive in" by oneself while utttilizing the online, impersonal teachings of myriad experts, even if it's exclusively in-context of watching videos/reading articles. Sure it's nice to have someone do hands-on to teach you but the teaching/learning here is an on-going thing and unless $ is no-object to you then having long-term expert help is probably out of the question :/ Thankfully the interrnet allows a TON of learning from others' experiences w/o having tto actually get perrsonally-tailored help, definittely a great time to be learning bonsai (or anything, really! I've been a ghost around here this year because most of my surplus time has gone to setting myself up as a climbing-arborist and even in that arena it was amazing how much could be learned by simply watching a ton of youtubes!
[edited-in: It also matters what your goal(s) are, for instance are you aiming to make trees you love for your own private collection, or are you tttrying to stay 'in-bounds' of the current accepted/prized approaches for competitive purposes? Because those two certainly aren't equal in terms of approach!]
When I teach a class and the student does something wrong, I can tell the student, “don’t do THAT, because THIS will happen”... You can’t get that kind of feedback from a book, a forum, or a YouTube video.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Repot time. Last repot was 3 years ago - January 2017.
Last edited:
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Out of the pot - rootball is pretty solid. Not as good as the unusual trident, but pretty good. I think I’ll put it into a proper training pot and take it out of the Anderson flat.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
I can go ahead and cut back the root grafts this season.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Same drill as always. Work the bottom flat first with a rake. Then break down the side walks. I didn’t need a root hook this time - it came apart easily with the tweezers. Then comb out the surface roots working from the outside in. Remove the upper 1/2” or so of the top soil. Remove any defective roots.
Cut back the stumps from the old root grafts. If you find good surface roots you‘d like to keep but theyre not positionEd correct reposition them with a staple made from aluminum wire.
Cut back the stumps from the old root grafts. If you find good surface roots you‘d like to keep but theyre not positionEd correct reposition them with a staple made from aluminum wire.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Bottom flat, top sloping gently down, sides vertical.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Position it in the trading pot and wire it in securely.
