Acer P leaves

[ConorDash]

You should use more akadama and mix that with your molor clay.
Its what you will find most on here put in there mix for deciduous trees mix 2 or 3 parts akadama with one part molar or use boons mix just add an extra akadama part.

Yeah everyone uses it.. I'm just not so convinced it's the only way of doing things. Plenty get by without.

Our Tesco cat litter is supposed to be the equivalent of akadama, according the bonsai4me and recommendations. That's why I'm using it . Although I'm told you can use 100% inorganic, I learnt quickly after repotting that'd be useful to have parts organic, dependant on the preference of the species.
But one thing for sure and that I agree on, my mix will change next time round

 

[M. Frary]

I'm told you can use 100% inorganic, I learnt quickly after repotting that'd be useful to have parts organic

If it's diatomaceous earth you don't need organics in it.
If you do put organic soil in it pine bark should be the only one.
I use d.e.for everything. Mixed with just lava.

 

[Rob_phillips]

I bet every single person on this website will have an opinion on the matter i would suggest to you conor to go and ask your local bonsai nursery what mix they use if you cant go there i bet you can ring or email them.
Soil should have loads of variables depending on climate and other factors so ask a local pro what works for him.
Or join a local club and ask what they use.
Another thing is most people on here are from america and maybe dont have access to what we do over here.

 

[LanceMac10]

Japanese Maples can be fickle some times.....so stop staring and relax.....

 

[ConorDash]

If it's diatomaceous earth you don't need organics in it.
If you do put organic soil in it pine bark should be the only one.
I use d.e.for everything. Mixed with just lava.

I'm glad I've got some back up .
Pine bark different to other types of chopped bark? I assumed there were different types but didn't know they've have problems depending on which I used. Either way not something I need to worry about quite yet, thankfully.

I bet every single person on this website will have an opinion on the matter i would suggest to you conor to go and ask your local bonsai nursery what mix they use if you cant go there i bet you can ring or email them.
Soil should have loads of variables depending on climate and other factors so ask a local pro what works for him.
Or join a local club and ask what they use.
Another thing is most people on here are from america and maybe dont have access to what we do over here.

Unfortunately no clubs or local nurseries. I've been told to look them up plenty and tried but just not one close enough and I don't drive so it's not easy. I appreciate your suggestion of course.
Kaizen probably most well known, 120miles away. They use their mixes which are chopped bark and gravel type things I think.. but they use a lot of organic, whereas I wannna go inorganic.
I'd prefer to stick to it cos it's what I've read up on at the moment and it takes some issues and risks away, for now.
I wouldn't have used my mix if I hadn't done my research before hand and was confident. Good enough for Harry Harrington, good enough for me lol. But seriously, many opinions on many approaches.
If my approach turns out to be bad, I'll change and fix it and I'll have learned
I've already decided, due to learning, that I'll use something else in the mix next time.

 

[Victorim]

You will get endless contradictions and good intended advise bud but as @LanceMac10 has said, stop fussing and enjoy it Its an outdoor maple, not being prepared for a show and its going to get niggles from elements and bugs. Leaves will be gone in but a few months having fulfilled their job.

You've chosen the new school in-organics route. Give it a couple of seasons to see if its how you want to continue. Adding the bark will make it hold more water, which i`ll defiantly be doing next repots after having to water 4 times a day in the heatwave the week before last. B4me points to `Westlands Decorative Mini Bark` there in the UK. Cheep and most of it is usable after sifting. (Oh and again, try the sanicat pink. kicks the tesco stuffs arse.)

I`m with @M. Frary on the DE as you know. I trust Walters ways. Also now on the bonzilla`s feeding too. Finished the liquid furt i had so on a whim grabbed some mirical grow. Stayed away before because of the high nitrogen, but really in the theory, it doesnt matter. Didn't realize until reading after that mri is formulated not to burn. Anyways, 4 heaped big scoops into 10 liters once a week. Everything looks to be loving it.

 

[MichaelS]

I've never had that pointed out before. For now all my trees will have to stay in this mix, there's no choice in that so I'll have to manage it.
What's CHC?
My current mix is all clay fired granules. I use organic pellets on them, then weekly liquid fert, all purpose one with some seaweed extract also.
I fert weekly due to the inorganic mix, it'll run through very easily and quickly. Part of WP's teachings about watering + agreesive fertilising.
I'm sure there are many ways to go about the same thing, some working and some not. Still all about learning for me.

During the next repot cycle, I planned on introducing some parts organic in to the mix, whilst still mostly inorganic. Probably chopped bark, maybe 25%, 75% inorganic DE (cat litter).
But it's a way off, I could learn something better along the way.

Very basically, CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) is the ability for a medium to hold and exchange cations which in horticulture are important elements like +ammonium, +potassium, +magnesium, +calcium. The CHC is directly related to the size of particles and their negative charge. Very small particles called colloids in sufficient numbers have an enormous surface area are found primarily in certain clays and humus. In simple terms, no amount of flushing can remove cations from these surfaces unless they are replaced with others in fertilizer or taken up by plants in which case they are replaced by others around them. BTW zeolite is an excellent additive for boosting CEC.
Media like yours (I'm guessing) have very low CEC so they are unable to hold these nutrients and are subject to leaching. It's entirely possible to grow excellent plants in a low CEC medium (hydroponics does it everyday) but you require very well balanced nutrients constantly bathing the roots for the plant to grow well. In this case watering without nutrients is counterproductive. The main reason hydroponic formulas have mainly nitrate nitrogen is that using ammonium has a high chance of causing toxicity due to a low buffering capacity which is also directly related to colloids. Especially in cool dull weather. In other words a high buffering capacity is a safeguard against ammonium toxicity and is the normal way of things in a natural soil. Adding clay and/or humus drastically increases CEC so fertilizing becomes much less of an issue. (easier to manage)
I'm not saying your maple is suffering from NH4 toxicity but it's something you need to keep in mind as Miracle grow for example is high in urea (which becomes ammonium) and is also acidifying which can make the problem worse. It's ok to be ''aggressive'' with your feeding but I would recommend buying a good 2 part hydrponic fertilizer (powder. liquid ferts are a rip off) and using that exclusively for a couple of months to see if it has a positive effect on the blackening leaf tips. Organic cakes are good. Keeping the pH above 6 will help a lot to as ammonium is slowly converted to nitrate at neutral pH - 6-7.5. Sprinkle dolomite onto the medium if below about 6.
I hope this helps and I would be interested in the outcome if you go ahead.
As an aside, JD Vertrees suggests J Maples respond better to Nitrate Nitrogen rather than ammonium.

 

[ConorDash]

You will get endless contradictions and good intended advise bud but as @LanceMac10 has said, stop fussing and enjoy it Its an outdoor maple, not being prepared for a show and its going to get niggles from elements and bugs. Leaves will be gone in but a few months having fulfilled their job.

You've chosen the new school in-organics route. Give it a couple of seasons to see if its how you want to continue. Adding the bark will make it hold more water, which i`ll defiantly be doing next repots after having to water 4 times a day in the heatwave the week before last. B4me points to `Westlands Decorative Mini Bark` there in the UK. Cheep and most of it is usable after sifting. (Oh and again, try the sanicat pink. kicks the tesco stuffs arse.)

I`m with @M. Frary on the DE as you know. I trust Walters ways. Also now on the bonzilla`s feeding too. Finished the liquid furt i had so on a whim grabbed some mirical grow. Stayed away before because of the high nitrogen, but really in the theory, it doesnt matter. Didn't realize until reading after that mri is formulated not to burn. Anyways, 4 heaped big scoops into 10 liters once a week. Everything looks to be loving it.

To be honest, the issues I see with the leaves, happened last year and this year and it looks awfully terrible. So I would just think something's wrong. As long as I had confidence in knowing it's ok, then I'm fine. Just don't have the confidence and trying to learn more as to what does this to the tree. I was hoping to keep the leaves this time round so I can see the maple autumn leaves this year! But maybe not again lol.

I've a new tree on the way which I'll be fussing over more, don't worry .

I have a bag of the sanicat for next time, although I'll need more than 1 bag. Just got one now for emergencies and top up. Got my seive ready to go! I'll look in to which bark nearer the time, may take Mike's advice on pine bark if it matches well with DE, out litter. Although again, I'll research more nearer the time.

I have miracle grow too. That's my liquid fert, with seaweed extract thrown in. It was recommended to me for the maples leaves, for a more fully green but I've heard it mentioned plenty so why not. I use 15ml scoop of miracle grow in 1 litre of water, once a week. I manage to use 1 litre to water my 9 trees.

 

[ConorDash]

Very basically, CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) is the ability for a medium to hold and exchange cations which in horticulture are important elements like +ammonium, +potassium, +magnesium, +calcium. The CHC is directly related to the size of particles and their negative charge. Very small particles called colloids in sufficient numbers have an enormous surface area are found primarily in certain clays and humus. In simple terms, no amount of flushing can remove cations from these surfaces unless they are replaced with others in fertilizer or taken up by plants in which case they are replaced by others around them. BTW zeolite is an excellent additive for boosting CEC.
Media like yours (I'm guessing) have very low CEC so they are unable to hold these nutrients and are subject to leaching. It's entirely possible to grow excellent plants in a low CEC medium (hydroponics does it everyday) but you require very well balanced nutrients constantly bathing the roots for the plant to grow well. In this case watering without nutrients is counterproductive. The main reason hydroponic formulas have mainly nitrate nitrogen is that using ammonium has a high chance of causing toxicity due to a low buffering capacity which is also directly related to colloids. Especially in cool dull weather. In other words a high buffering capacity is a safeguard against ammonium toxicity and is the normal way of things in a natural soil. Adding clay and/or humus drastically increases CEC so fertilizing becomes much less of an issue. (easier to manage)
I'm not saying your maple is suffering from NH4 toxicity but it's something you need to keep in mind as Miracle grow for example is high in urea (which becomes ammonium) and is also acidifying which can make the problem worse. It's ok to be ''aggressive'' with your feeding but I would recommend buying a good 2 part hydrponic fertilizer (powder. liquid ferts are a rip off) and using that exclusively for a couple of months to see if it has a positive effect on the blackening leaf tips. Organic cakes are good. Keeping the pH above 6 will help a lot to as ammonium is slowly converted to nitrate at neutral pH - 6-7.5. Sprinkle dolomite onto the medium if below about 6.
I hope this helps and I would be interested in the outcome if you go ahead.
As an aside, JD Vertrees suggests J Maples respond better to Nitrate Nitrogen rather than ammonium.

Thank you for the information. It's gonna take me sometime to process that, it was a bit heavy for 6:45 in the morning. I appreciate your time it took to type though .

I have always read this, which taught me awfully lot.
https://www.bonsainut.com/resources/inorganic-soil-reference-sheet.28/
I've not heard before, the terms you have mentioned. Or perhaps have but in a different way.
Either way I'm sure to reread your comment a few times in the future, as it sinks in and is understood more .

 

[M. Frary]

I believe diatomaceous earth has a fairly high cec rate.

 

[ConorDash]

Updates.. this is the maple currently.




Just been watered a load, so leaves are only dropping due to that. The other side of the tree is more burnt.

A question... whatever this thing is with the leaves, do you think the overall health of the tree is declining, having experienced this issue twice now over the spring and summer seasons I have had the tree?
I would like to finally do some major work to the tree this autumn, been waiting for its health to improve but according to the leaves it's not.

 

[Victorim]

Looks fine to me. leaf damage looks weather related. kind of in the maple "summer holiday" now so left to the elements they will look a bit battered. looks good mate. (oh, didn`t say on the oak thread.. nice buy )

 

[ajm55555]

Looks fine to me too. JM's leaves are very delicate so, aside from other issues, it's really difficult to keep them from being affected by the weather through their life cycle. One day of hot weather and they're already damaged.
Good job Conor! I'm sure you'll get to do some nice pruning this coming fall

 

[ConorDash]

Looks fine to me too. JM's leaves are very delicate so, aside from other issues, it's really difficult to keep them from being affected by the weather through their life cycle. One day of hot weather and they're already damaged.
Good job Conor! I'm sure you'll get to do some nice pruning this coming fall

Looks fine to me. leaf damage looks weather related. kind of in the maple "summer holiday" now so left to the elements they will look a bit battered. looks good mate. (oh, didn`t say on the oak thread.. nice buy )

Thanks, you are encouraging!
Now gotta sort out why my beeches leaves are dying.