Arakawa development

[achtungluchs]

My thread for Arakawa maple development. I bought it in 2023, and due to my poor knowledge and insufficient care it didn’t grow well at first. This season was the first time it showed visible growth. It was repotted in spring and is currently planted fairly deep to help develop the nebari. Next year I plan to leave it in the same pot and let it grow freely to thicken the trunk. I might also try an air-layer on the sacrificial branch.
Below are some photos. You can see how the tree kept reaching for light and grew mostly on one side — that’s because it stayed on a balcony with sun coming from only one direction.
This spring:

This autum:

Now:


Barking speed:

Video:

I put on a thick wire to break the symmetry of the Y-shaped structure a bit — it helped slightly, but from the side both trunks still overlap in the field of view. I don’t really have a clear concept for its future at the moment; it might actually be best to remove one of the trunks with an air-layer. To be honest, neither of them has much movement.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

You can see how the tree kept reaching for light and grew mostly on one side — that’s because it stayed on a balcony with sun coming from only one direction.

I rotate my trees 1-2x per week to avoid this. could be a good solution for you if possible

 

[MrBonsai19]

I like the idea of keeping both trunks but I would try to subordinate one of them by cutting it back and pruning it in the late spring while letting the other one grow. Eventually the movement of the dominant trunk should be towards and over the top of the subordinate one.

I see a lot of mother daughter style arakawa I think it’s a solid target given your low fork until something more exciting presents.

 

[clem]

To be honest, neither of them has much movement.

On the attached pic (now.jpg), the right trunk has a lot of mouvement. You could use the left trunk as a sacrifice branch to increase tapper, and use the right trunk as the tree. At this early developpement stage, you have a lot of possibilities but i think the most important is to create tapper. Unless you want to create a bunjing style.