I have one from them, had it for maybe three years. It does grow like mad, even indoors over winter. Takes a hard pruning with a shrug, I just can't get it to bloom!!
Did something stupid
- Thread starter Katie0317
- Start date
Katie0317
Chumono
Judy, thank you for trying to answer my one of my questions. It appears you're the only one.
There are really very few maple bonsais where I live. It's just too hot to make them a natural choice.
So I have no experience with them and although I know a few people who do I wouldn't try to pick their brain without waiting for a class or an almost 2 hour drive to visit their nursery.
I had to dig pretty deep and found a topic about 'Hardening off' and a reasonable although somewhat contrary convo between @Smoke, @Adair and @markyscott, who providing a photo of the topic under discussion.
Am so grateful I found that. I'd actually asked about pruning the maple on this thread and suggested to anyone reading that I guessed I should 'just prune for shape'? Oh, how wrong I was and how grateful I am for the 'hardening off' thread living forever on BN.
So thanks guys. I can't say I completely 'get it' but between those three reasonable and also differing opinions I have a better understanding. I've been afraid to wire it and I was right to be afraid. I barely know how to wire correctly for starters and not understanding the extent of the hardening off concept and when to prune I also didn't know when to wire. Thanks for the photo Markyscott. It made your point well.
Also, living in the semitropics and trying to tend to a maple is certainly different from living in a state where maples line the streets. I've never seen a maple growing where I live or south of me and I tend to spend free time at the beach so I don't recall seeing a maple growing anywhere in Florida although I'm a native.
I spent a lot of time in Michigan this year and maples were as common as palm trees are here. So our weather is not just different, it's dramatically different and not friendly to a number of deciduous trees I'd like to own.
Thanks again Judy.
There are really very few maple bonsais where I live. It's just too hot to make them a natural choice.
So I have no experience with them and although I know a few people who do I wouldn't try to pick their brain without waiting for a class or an almost 2 hour drive to visit their nursery.
I had to dig pretty deep and found a topic about 'Hardening off' and a reasonable although somewhat contrary convo between @Smoke, @Adair and @markyscott, who providing a photo of the topic under discussion.
Am so grateful I found that. I'd actually asked about pruning the maple on this thread and suggested to anyone reading that I guessed I should 'just prune for shape'? Oh, how wrong I was and how grateful I am for the 'hardening off' thread living forever on BN.
So thanks guys. I can't say I completely 'get it' but between those three reasonable and also differing opinions I have a better understanding. I've been afraid to wire it and I was right to be afraid. I barely know how to wire correctly for starters and not understanding the extent of the hardening off concept and when to prune I also didn't know when to wire. Thanks for the photo Markyscott. It made your point well.
Also, living in the semitropics and trying to tend to a maple is certainly different from living in a state where maples line the streets. I've never seen a maple growing where I live or south of me and I tend to spend free time at the beach so I don't recall seeing a maple growing anywhere in Florida although I'm a native.
I spent a lot of time in Michigan this year and maples were as common as palm trees are here. So our weather is not just different, it's dramatically different and not friendly to a number of deciduous trees I'd like to own.
Thanks again Judy.
Think of what part of new growth is sacrificial growth anyway, and whether you want to spend time to ramify that or let grow a whole season. Look at the crotches of branches, rather than the ends to get a new perspective on 'is it time'.
Katie0317
Chumono
Please tell me what I'm supposed to look for in the crotches of branches?
Something you are satisfied with.
Katie0317
Chumono
Don't know what that means. I did find that hardened off leaves 'feel' different. They feel sturdier and stiffer. I took a lot of those off that were in the middle of the tree and some of the larger ones too. It was a help knowing where to start.
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Lets get @Clicio in here, who is growing japanese maples in Sao Paulo.
@Katie0317 I read this thread before, and after reading some for the responses I concluded your question had been answered. In fact, looking through the thread again, I do not spot any questions posed in the first few posts from your side. For some of us, it helps if you make your questions more visible.
Do not worry about it. Seems like the forum is a troll richer lately
This worries me a little. In general, you want to thin out the outside of the tree, in favour of young branches on the inner canopy and to get the inside light, so you keep / get viable young growth on the inside, to cut back to eventually.
You keep mentioning tropicals, and then you jump to maples. Keep in mind: Each tree species is unique. Some behave similar, but often they do not. When you ask questions, including the specific species can help a lot.
Clicio
Masterpiece
Well, hello!
Yes, but always under shade.
The easiest of the maple cultivars in my climate is the trident maple.
Very hardy tree, they grow and grow and grow, even in the summer here when all the other maples are in summer dormancy.
I do feed them heavily by mid-spring; also I´ve been using a 0-10-10 liquid fert in the Fall, before all the leaves drop.
So far, so good, they look happy, @Katie0317 .
