Am i doing good with this repotted Maple ?

[IIppon]

Hi everyone,

I repotted this maple from a little bonsai nursery here in Thailand.
First I would like to know if this period on the year isn't too bad for repotting a maple, the best time to repot a Maple seems to be a bit tricky and even tho I am in the Northern emisphere, seasons here are quite specials.

After having repotted it I sent a pic the the nursery and the guy told me that I should takes of all the leaves. I am a complete beginner and I don't know if I did well to cut them off but he was specialize in Maple so I decided to follow ilhis advice.

And other question is that I've seen that after repotting and trimming the tree should be place in a place with no wind. Unfortunately I don't have that much space on my balcony so I decided to put it here to leave more oxygen under the pot and to cover it from the wind I put a sealed bag on it, is it a good idea ?

Last question does it need sun or not especially? I don't know if the place after repotting is essential or not really and should I put it a warm or more cool place (here it Is about 34°c outside and about 25°c inside), in a very sunny or more shady place and should I sprayed water on the trunksl and brushes or leave it dry ?

Thank you for your help

I gave you some pictures before and after

 

[Shibui]

Very few of us will have experience of growing Japanese maple in tropical area. @Clicio may be able to add useful tips from Brazil.
I think your expert has good advice to take leaves off after repot. We usually repot when the maples is dormant in winter when it has no leaves naturally so very few have ever done maples when they have leaves.
The tree probably does not need a plastic bag now that it has no leaves but the plastic bag may help and I don't think it will hurt the tree so leave it on and see what happens.
Some wind is OK after repot and you have no choice on a small balcony so just do the best you can with what you have.
Maples do like some sun but can manage with just a small amount each day if the have to. Leaves may be a bit bigger than normal and internodes just a bit longer than trees in a sunny place but it should still grow OK. As the new leaves come out I would try to move it to the area that gets some sun if that's possible.

Most trees can tolerate a range of conditions so a bit more or less sun or wind is still OK.

One of the problems you may have is that Japanese maples seem to need some cool resting time each year. We have winter but in tropical areas they don't get a cold resting time and they just don't seem to grow quite as well. Hope yours does OK.
Why have you chosen a maple in Thailand? That looks like a fig next to it which will grow much better there and there are many other trees that suit your conditions much better than maples.

All the best with your maple.

 

[IIppon]

Thank you for all the details it helps me a lot ! To be honest I have different dpecies, Premna micro, ficus ben., tiger bark ficus and a crassula ovata (and some black pine and Chinese elm seedlings). All theses species glare doing well in here but I wanted something more exotic and I've see beautiful maple here and when I saw the garden of the nursery I took it from I new that he could give me good advice to take care of it ^^ we also live few kilometers away from each other so the climate is almost identical.
Some pics of his garden ^^

 

[Shibui]

Photos of the nursery give great hope that JM will be OK where you are. It also looks like the owner there would be one of your best sources of info as those trees seem healthy.

 

[IIppon]

Yes he gave me a lot already but he has to use Google translate sometimes. Anyway everytime I ask for something he answer me directly ^^ I sent him some Chinese Elm seeds as a gift he was very happy as Chinese elm are almost impossible to find here, and he already have some Zelkovas which are looking pretty nice too ^^

 

[Clicio]

Thanks for calling me in, @Shibui .
My maples here in Brazil need to be in dappled sun in Spring and Autumn, but in the shade during the Summer. If the temperature is above 30°C for an extended period of time, even when protected the leaves get burned tips.
But with care and good watering schedules they grow happy!

 

[IIppon]

Oh Thank you for the tips ! And very nice that I should take care about temperature above 30 degrees, this time is the hottest of the year, the raining season in coming middle June, and before I took off the leaves I was wondering why some get very few burned tips. I bought a full spectrum SpiderFarmer SF1000 LED light which I use this time for seedlings and cuttings, but I put my premna under the light for 2 weeks to try out and it seems to work pretty well with vigorous grow as it is normally with this plant! So I might concider to put my maple under this light too ^^

 

[IIppon]

I have a question quite different but on the same maple, how can inpromote new buds ? I am french so sorry if I am not using the right word but for example on this tree I would like to get a new lower branch on the trunk, I see one or two buds but not where I would like it be.
I know there's no magical things to get me wrong, and I also understand how to prune to get smaller internods. But I think I've heard some tips like using a needle on some tree's branches to get new growth ( on ficus I think?!) So just wondering if there's something to do to help promote these new buds (or nods not sure about the right word) on maples and more especially on the trunk.

 

[AlainK]

I think it's not so much the heat that Japanese maples resent, but the wind and a scorching sun. And yes, they need a period of dormancy, but perhaps the ones your provider sells have adapted to milder winters. Japanese maples usually only need 2 hours of sun in a day to be perfectly healthy, and they seem to like a damp atmosphere (but beware of fungal diseases!). In their native location, they're mountain trees.

New buds appear on "rings" of growth, they can clearly be seen on the photo with the miniature you posted. If you want to grow a new branch elsewhere, there's only one solution, grafting. It can be approach grafting, which is the easiest way, side-veneer grafting, or "greffe par perçage" (look for "Ebihara" on this forum). Grafting needs some skills and knowledge to be successful and a failed graft on a trunk is generally unsightly...

In the south of Japan, some "bonsaika" repot their trees in June, a rainy season, so it's more or less the right time where you are I guess.

Next time you see the person who sold you this tree, ask him about the kind of treatment he uses for his J. maples.

And ask him if he has any Acer buregerianum ("trident maples") which are probably more suited to your climate.

PS : Un de mes fils est allé en Thaïlande, il a trouvé les gens souriants, décontractés et fort sympathiques, et à la campagne, il a été étonné de voir que beaucoup avait un lance-pierre dans leur poche

Bon courage : ici (et en GB aussi d'après mes collègues du forum "maples" de l'UBC), ça devient un défi de garder des Acer palmatum/amoenum sains avec ces étés de plus en plus chauds et secs

 

[IIppon]

Merci beaucoup Alain !

Quite scary as a beginner to hear about grafting ahah but definitely something I would try, maybe on some more common species here like Ficus, I think Indans are doing it often.
And I will check for Trident Maple, thanks for the tip, because even if I do not have this maple seeds long time I don't know I feel that I do like it.

Pour ton fils c'est fou ça! Il s'est fait caillassé ? J'ai jamais vu ça perso mais ça ne m'étonnerait pas par rapport aux chiens! Ça m'est déjà arriver de prendre un bâton parfois en passant certaines rues, et d'avoir des cyclistes Thai qui me disent en sueur de ne pas passer par là à cause des chiens ahah.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I want good Monspessulanum seeds, ya’French guys.

 

[IIppon]

I forgot to say/ask I saw quite a lot of "Keade Maple" for sale, it seems to be an other name for the Trident Maple right ?

 

[MrWunderful]

I forgot to say/ask I saw quite a lot of "Keade Maple" for sale, it seems to be an other name for the Trident Maple right ?

Correct. I believe that is the japanese word.

 

[AlainK]

I want good Monspessulanum seeds, ya’French guys.

I'm pretty sure you can get some in the US, hasn't Judy got Montpellier maples ?

But they're quite difficult to work with, much more than J. maples, field maples and others. Plus they need more protection in winter - they're originally a Mediterranean species though they can grow in USDA zone 8. In Wisconsin, you would probably need a cold frame or a greenhouse...

Pour ton fils c'est fou ça! Il s'est fait caillassé ?

Non, non, mais tu as raison, ça devait être pour les chiens. Comme je le disais, il a trouvé au contraire que c'était des gens accueillants et bienveillants. Si un Thaï venait à Orléans, pas sûr que les gens d'ici, surnommés localement "les chiens d'Orléans" soient aussi accueillants, même sans lance-pierre...

 

[IIppon]

I'm pretty sure you can get some in the US, hasn't Judy got Montpellier maples ?

But they're quite difficult to work with, much more than J. maples, field maples and others. Plus they need more protection in winter - they're originally a Mediterranean species though they can grow in USDA zone 8. In Wisconsin, you would probably need a cold frame or a greenhouse...



Non, non, mais tu as raison, ça devait être pour les chiens. Comme je le disais, il a trouvé au contraire que c'était des gens accueillants et bienveillants. Si un Thaï venait à Orléans, pas sûr que les gens d'ici, surnommés localement "les chiens d'Orléans" soient aussi accueillants, même sans lance-pierre...

Hé oui c'est vrai les Thais sont plutôt acceuillant en général. Après ça fait bientôt 3 ans que je vis ici, ma copine est Thai, je suis avec depuis plus de 2 ans, ayant l'habitude d aller chez sa famille etc.. tu te rends comptes qu'il y a quand même un racisme bien présent auquel on se se rend pas forcément compte quand on est toursite. Et même au niveau du gouvernement avec certaines têtes ouvertement dédaigneuses envers les étrangers et certains vieux thaïlandais qui ne voit pas d'un bon œil la venu d'étrangers en Thaïlande. Personnellement je ne le vis pas mal du tout ! Mais j'imagine mieux comprendre certains français d'origines ou immigrés en France. Ici c'est plutôt comme au Japon je dirais, quand tu as une tête de farang tu seras toute ta vie un farang, ça vaut pour des enfants mix ou d'étrangers qui sont nés sur le territoire aussi.
Je m'égare un peu mais c'est cool de pouvoir nuancer sur la Thaïlande, j'adore ce pays mais il a ces defaults ^^
Ps: I was living in Montpellier funny to see people talk about Malple from there ^^

 

[AlainK]

I forgot to say/ask I saw quite a lot of "Keade Maple" for sale, it seems to be an other name for the Trident Maple right ?

Here is a page of Japanese/scientific names of different species of maples native to Japan.

Acer palmatum/amoenum is usually "Momiji" :

TAKAOMOMIJI Acer palmatum, but there are synonyms :

雄紅葉 TAKAOMOMIJI = Momiji = Irohakaede​

YAMAMOMIJI Acer palmatum var matsumae

But other species are "Kaede", not only Acer buergerianum (originally native from China, but acclimated in Japan for a long time) :
(...)

• TÔKAEDE Acer buergerianum
• URIHADAKAEDE Acer rufinerve
• URIKAEDE Acer crataegigolium

(...)

So "Kaede" can refer to several species, including A. palmatum. The best would be for you to take pictures of the trees labelled "Kaede" next time you visit the place - which I'm pretty sure you will do

There is a also description (in French) and the name in ideograms for a few species :

Maintenance Page - Plantes du Japon

Notre site est en cours de refonte et sera à nouveau disponible dans quelques jours.

plantes-du-japon.fr

 

[TimberLakers]

Merci beaucoup Alain !

Quite scary as a beginner to hear about grafting ahah but definitely something I would try, maybe on some more common species here like Ficus, I think Indans are doing it often.
And I will check for Trident Maple, thanks for the tip, because even if I do not have this maple seeds long time I don't know I feel that I do like it.

Pour ton fils c'est fou ça! Il s'est fait caillassé ? J'ai jamais vu ça perso mais ça ne m'étonnerait pas par rapport aux chiens! Ça m'est déjà arriver de prendre un bâton parfois en passant certaines rues, et d'avoir des cyclistes Thai qui me disent en sueur de ne pas passer par là à cause des chiens ahah.

Don't be afraid of grafting.

Lots of great videos online. X-acto knife is a good tool for the job.

You can practice cuts on similar sized tree branches before working on your trees.

 

[AlainK]

j'imagine mieux comprendre certains français d'origines ou immigrés en France.

La bêtise est la chose la mieux partagée au monde...

About Montpellier, many people in the US write it "Montpelier" because that's how the state capital of Vermont is written. This led to discussions about how to write the vernacular name of Acer monspessulanum, l'érable de Montpellier. I have a big one in my garden that I took as a 10 cm seedling near Brive-la-Gaillarde some 20 years ago. My son prunes it hard every 2 years or so, the lowest part of the wall is over 2 m. (7 feet +). Photos from Sept. 2020 till today, under the rain :

 

[IIppon]

Thanks for the link Alain! I'll definitely check for other species just for fun ^^
And you Garden is very cool ! Your son seems to do a great job is he into bonsai too ?

Timberlakers, after Alain talked about grafting I went to check some videos on yt, it look not that hard and pretty fun to do, the only issue is that there are some fails, and as long as Maples are not especially common here and can be expensive in compare to other species I wouldn't risk it for now. By the way I paid about 30 euros for this small maple. What do you think about the price in compare to Europe or Usa?

 

[AlainK]

I went to check some videos on yt, it look not that hard and pretty fun to do

Fun to do, yes.

Not that hard : huh huh...