Collected Acer Rubrum

Tim.E

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Hey guys,

So we are finally getting some milder weather up in my neck of the woods and so I figured it would be a good time to go snooping around. Went to a buddy's and was able to collect quite a few nice Acer Rubrums. It's supposed to have another cold snap for another 4 -5 days but then we should be all cleared up I think.

I know it's ideal to wait until the buds are swelling first but I was under times constraints to collect. Also, I didn't have a chance to snap pictures of the root work, however here are pictures of the potted trees.
 

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Tim.E

Mame
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I planted them in a mix of 50% Qualisorb and 50% akadama as I had a bunch of it from a tree that didn't make it sadly.
 
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I feel ya on the up coming cold snap, stuff is already budding out so fingers crossed it doesn't last too long haha. Also you got some decent stuff, lots of future potential with the way those things thicken up!
 

Cypress187

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Is this a good chop-height or can i chop tree's lower when collecting?
 

miker

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I am so glad to see more work with this extremely wide ranging and variable species. It is North America's most abundant maple species and its variability means that (for example) the Florida ecotype is almost unrecognizable versus the types from New England and Canada. I feel that over time, selection for forms of the species with compact structure and small leaves will yield Acer rubrum that are quite suitable as bonsai material.

I have some 8-9 year old trees (FL red maple, some varieties of which have leaves that closely resemble trident maple leaves in shape) that are still in the early development stages and as these age into 20-30-40 + year old trees, I anticipate being able to get a good reduction in leaf size. I plan to design medium to large bonsai with these. I have heard that this species is notorious for random branches dying for no apparent reason, so this might be a downside. So far, I have not encountered this problem though.

Another challenge with Acer rubrum may be obtaining a suitable nebari with natural radial roots.

Other than the easily obtained wild collected material, I plan to train an "October Glory" at some point for obvious reasons. This cultivar delivers reliable fall color in the Orlando area (in December, usually peaking around Christmas time) in all but the warmest years.
 

GrimLore

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I plan to design medium to large bonsai with these. I have heard that this species is notorious for random branches dying for no apparent reason, so this might be a downside.

I agree with you that these deserve some attention in Bonsai. The branch dropping you read about seems to occur in natural wooded areas and applies to a lot of trees referred to as "self-pruning". Like Tamarack I have never seen it happen when potted. I cannot say that applies to everyone but it applies where I live...

Grimmy
 

sorce

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I threw 2 out the other day.
You're making me regret it!

Still got one.

I'm with you on using em.

If you are starving in a corn field.....
You're not gonna wait for sushi!

Sorce
 

Tim.E

Mame
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I am so glad to see more work with this extremely wide ranging and variable species. It is North America's most abundant maple species and its variability means that (for example) the Florida ecotype is almost unrecognizable versus the types from New England and Canada. I feel that over time, selection for forms of the species with compact structure and small leaves will yield Acer rubrum that are quite suitable as bonsai material.

I have some 8-9 year old trees (FL red maple, some varieties of which have leaves that closely resemble trident maple leaves in shape) that are still in the early development stages and as these age into 20-30-40 + year old trees, I anticipate being able to get a good reduction in leaf size. I plan to design medium to large bonsai with these. I have heard that this species is notorious for random branches dying for no apparent reason, so this might be a downside. So far, I have not encountered this problem though.

Another challenge with Acer rubrum may be obtaining a suitable nebari with natural radial roots.

Other than the easily obtained wild collected material, I plan to train an "October Glory" at some point for obvious reasons. This cultivar delivers reliable fall color in the Orlando area (in December, usually peaking around Christmas time) in all but the warmest years.
Yeah I really feel that acer Rubrum needs more love, I plan on trying to work on a lot of native species around. I've got Scots pine, silver birch, American hornbeam, beech, and I'm even playing around with ash just for fun.

I'm never planning on competing with bonsai and so I plan on trying to have fun with "native" species and make the best out of the material. It's interesting that "native" has a negative connotation with many people. I feel that there are a lot of these species that get overlooked for the thorough breds. I'm 25, I have the privilege of spending time on whatever species I feel like trying and I plan on exercising that right :)
 

Tim.E

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Here's an update on the collected trees. All are taking off like it's a 100m dash.
 

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Giga

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I have quite a few red maples - and a lot of my collecting is native species. Good luck with these as I think they are a great species to work with, though these guy may have needed to be planted in the ground as there a bit small for the characteristics of this species. Though I have been able to get small leaves- large trunks look better for these guys! Glad to see red maple get love!
 

Tim.E

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I have quite a few red maples - and a lot of my collecting is native species. Good luck with these as I think they are a great species to work with, though these guy may have needed to be planted in the ground as there a bit small for the characteristics of this species. Though I have been able to get small leaves- large trunks look better for these guys! Glad to see red maple get love!
Some of them are smaller but there are a couple that have 3" bases and should be large enough to accommodate the leave size
 

Waltron

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I dont have these in the wild around me that I can tell, but they are everywhere up north. I do agree the leaves resemble a trident, which makes them a great candidate for bonsai. I definitely plan to collect a few this year, although I'll be experimenting with summer and fall collecting. As far as leaf size, it seems that I recall seeing a well developed one in a photo from at that carolina bonsai place that walt paul was writing about, and its a rather small tree if my memory serves me right, so from that I would deduce the leaves can be reduced quite well on a refined tree.
 

Tim.E

Mame
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I dont have these in the wild around me that I can tell, but they are everywhere up north. I do agree the leaves resemble a trident, which makes them a great candidate for bonsai. I definitely plan to collect a few this year, although I'll be experimenting with summer and fall collecting. As far as leaf size, it seems that I recall seeing a well developed one in a photo from at that carolina bonsai place that walt paul was writing about, and its a rather small tree if my memory serves me right, so from that I would deduce the leaves can be reduced quite well on a refined tree.
The leaves reduce fairly well but the main gripe people has are the very long petiole lengths that cannot be reduced. There are some sub species that do well and are a more suitable version of red maple but they are native to Florida I believe. I am just going to have fun with them and see what I can make of them. It also helps to have practice material that is readily available and that I'm not very invested in.
 
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