Collected Acer Rubrum(s)

evmibo

Shohin
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Fort Myers, FL
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Collected this guy over a month ago. It was in a dense ficus hedge and had been chopped several times on top. He was approximately 30" tall but the top half died off after collection, which I've heard is common (it is now approximately 12" tall with a 1" base). It worked out just fine because I intended on chopping it. For now I will let it grow until next spring (leave it alone) and feed heavily. It seems that a lot of people have given up on this species as bonsai out of frustrations but they're common around me so it's just a no brainer to at least try. Thought I'd share and take the opportunity to get some advice as far as styling and what has worked for you with this species.

I've also collected several (not all pictured) seedlings ranging from 2 to 8" some of which have leaves under 1".

AcerRubrum.jpg
AcerRubrumseedlings.jpg
 

Mellow Mullet

Masterpiece
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Had one for years til the now ex wife killed it. The leaves don't reduce very well, but it makes a nice larger bonsai. Mine had a 5 inch trunk and and was about 30 inches tall. Fall color is nice for this far south (Mobile, AL)
 
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here's a tiny one i made. the leaf size never really bothered me about these.
 

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evmibo

Shohin
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Fort Myers, FL
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here's a tiny one i made. the leaf size never really bothered me about these.

Were you able to reduce size or did yours stay relatively small to begin with? Some of my seedlings have much smaller leaves than others, I'm wondering if it will stay that way.
 

Mikee002

Mame
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Boynton Beach, FL
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There's a lot of hate out there about using these for bonsai, lol. They're native and local for us (and the only maple that is), so we might as well give them a shot. I have one in the ground that I picked up from a nursery earlier this year... It's pretty skinny (@ 3/4" - 1" maybe), so it'll probably stay there for a bit.
 

pjkatich

Chumono
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evmibo

Shohin
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Fort Myers, FL
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There's a lot of hate out there about using these for bonsai, lol. They're native and local for us (and the only maple that is), so we might as well give them a shot. I have one in the ground that I picked up from a nursery earlier this year... It's pretty skinny (@ 3/4" - 1" maybe), so it'll probably stay there for a bit.

Couldn't agree more. The leaves on the ones I've collected seem to be on the smaller side, hopefully they'll cooperate and I'll learn something about them.

Hi evmibo,.

Here are a few links to some threads that I started that focus on the local red maples...

Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,
Paul

Paul,

Awesome material. The detail you put forth in your work shows, it's much appreciated coming from a new bonsaist trying to learn quality techniques.

Thanks,
Evan
 

reg-i

Sapling
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Stuart, Florida
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acer rubrums

For us fortunate guys and girls down in Florida we have a real small variety of maples we can play with due to are zone not to mention the friging drought where in really how bad does this drought suck anyway where i'm at in Florida I have a local bonsai nursery where I do alot of my learning he has alot of nice acer rubrum pre bonsai for a nice price all different size's http://dragontreebonsai.com/ I collected alot of nice stuff this year its a bit grown out but will be getting reduced next year last year I had some trident maples but they did horable but this year there doing very well also I found a much hardier variety that I had to get seeds from australia (taiwan trident )they seem to be growing well if anyone in the posts in my area are interested or have any other maples that do well I would like to hear from yah
maples021.jpg

collected last year and will be getting rotated in the pot next spring
maples034.jpg

this is the top to that tree that I air layered off its been in that pot for 2 weeks and looking healthier
maples032.jpg

I reduced the leaves on this one they where 3x as big before
maples024.jpg

small leaves (acer rubrum) from above
maples026.jpg

defoliated, I picked this one up from the nursery the other day
maples030.jpg

collected, work in progress
maples029.jpg

collected, work in progress
maples031.jpg

collected, work in progress
maples035.jpg

trident maples to be worked on
maples036.jpg

more of the tridents
maples022.jpg

collected rubrum
maples027.jpg

and finally this is one of the taiwan trident maples that I got started I could not find them anywhere in the states does anyone know of a source for these
 

evmibo

Shohin
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reg-i,

Thanks for sharing all the pictures. We got a lot of rain today and I think we may receive more tonight. We really needed it, it's nice to let the skies do the watering for the day. Would you mind explaining how you reduced the leaves in your 3rd picture? Sorry I can't help you with the last picture, I know nothing of the Taiwan Maples.
 
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Were you able to reduce size or did yours stay relatively small to begin with? Some of my seedlings have much smaller leaves than others, I'm wondering if it will stay that way.

as far as i can tell, sometimes the leaves will get larger if you don't prune and the roots are allowed to run. i have had poor results from defoliating these. just seems to weaken the tree considerably. i've seen smallest leaves when i cramp the roots a lot and prune frequently. i've also seen a lot of variation among individual rubrums so i really dont know. i've been trying to grow these for years with mixed results. collected of course.
 

reg-i

Sapling
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Sorry it took so long to reply as far as the leaf reduction i'll agree catfish chapstick the roots are important, over time with good root pruning and repotting keeping the roots confined help also as far as defoliating the maples I get the best results. right now though im dealing with it weaking some of mine like catfish chapstick mentioned I dont have this problem earlier in spring I would not do it now but I get very good results doing it a few weeks after the first flush out and the leaves start harding off
 
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