Full Moon Maple Development

Driftwood

Mame
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Beautiful! could you please comment about how big was when purchase and those initial "four growing seasons" in the ground, did it grow a lot? Was it grafted or not? Perhaps the vigor it had from the ground was key for the ground layer succes? I hope it does well on its own roots. Thank you very much for sharing.
 

ABCarve

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Beautiful! could you please comment about how big was when purchase and those initial "four growing seasons" in the ground, did it grow a lot? Was it grafted or not? Perhaps the vigor it had from the ground was key for the ground layer succes? I hope it does well on its own roots. Thank you very much for sharing.
When it was purchased the trunk caliper was probably 2 to 2.5” and when it pulled maybe 3.5”. I’m sure it could have developed more if planted in better soil and the deer kept from pruning it. As for graft/no graft…. honestly I can’t tell. After this many years I would have thought it would be more obvious. There is one suspicious area about 2-3” up from the base but just doesn’t look like a traditional grafting joint. It is not unheard of that it could be on its own roots. I think its success (so far) was due to it being previously container grown with an extensive root system close to the trunk. It had only two growing seasons to recuperate from the transplant and store all those starches @0soyoung wrote about previously.
 

dlayton

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So the moment of truth has arrived and now time to do the dirty deed. Pulled off the screening around the layer and poked at it to find a full 360 fibrous root system. The tree was placed on the rack and attacked with the recip-saw slowly removing bottom roots, looking for the plastic separation sheet that was put around the girdled trunk. This provided a clean view as to where the new trunk bottom was. This would have been so much easier using the cement separation layer @NaoTK used for his quince.


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Can you explain or link the cement separation layer?
 

ABCarve

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Here's a little update. Leafing out this spring was a bit slow and the leaves seemed a bit droopy as they emerged, but it seems all is well now. I just gave it a small cut back so the branching doesn't gain too much caliper. Leaves should reduce as it gains some better ramification.

IMG_4481.JPG
 

Adamski77

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Here's a little update. Leafing out this spring was a bit slow and the leaves seemed a bit droopy as they emerged, but it seems all is well now. I just gave it a small cut back so the branching doesn't gain too much caliper. Leaves should reduce as it gains some better ramification.

View attachment 441196
Really good looking… whole thread worth reading. Thanks for sharing and congrats on beautiful tree…
 

ABCarve

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Interesting fall color observation. In 2020 this tree had beautiful falls color. Last year, the year it was air layered, not so much. This year the leaves are are just falling off green, not turning at all. Most trees in my area don’t start turning for another 2-3 weeks. @0soyoung any insight to this phenomenon and will it recoup eventually?




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cmeg1

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Perhaps them big ole’ tap style roots where doing a fine job down at the mineral level different than the freshly layered roots are.
Definately a noted change…….maybe too much nitrogen and less sugers……need a higher brix plant……..The petioles falling off too….just seems product of high nitrogen growth or something.
 

0soyoung

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Interesting fall color observation. In 2020 this tree had beautiful falls color. Last year, the year it was air layered, not so much. This year the leaves are are just falling off green, not turning at all. Most trees in my area don’t start turning for another 2-3 weeks. @0soyoung any insight to this phenomenon and will it recoup eventually?




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I am as puzzled as you are.

Usually cutting a girdle will cause the foliage above it to tinge into fall colors and fall coloration is even more intense - basically you had the opposite happen.

Otherwise, soil dryness, increased light intensity, and root conditions are factors affecting fall color. Drier soil tends to induce more intense color. Maples in pots usually color earlier than ones in the ground (root chilling, presumably). Moving a shade adapted tree into more sun induces color temporarily, pretty much any time, but will intensify fall color when done late in the season. Conversely, moving to shade will delay fall leaf drop somewhat, and generally ruins fall color.
Some of this may be at work, but just dropping green leaves is puzzling. The good news, though, is that leaf-drop is a life process = the branches loosing leaves are very much alive and are not affected by verticillium, nectria canker, or some other dreaded killing pathogen. It is hard for me to tell where the leaves are coming from - 'deep inside' the canopy (indicating interior leaf drop on a tree not interested in recapturing nitrogen from the photocenters)?

I really dunno.
 

ABCarve

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🤔 🤔
I am as puzzled as you are.

Usually cutting a girdle will cause the foliage above it to tinge into fall colors and fall coloration is even more intense - basically you had the opposite happen.

Otherwise, soil dryness, increased light intensity, and root conditions are factors affecting fall color. Drier soil tends to induce more intense color. Maples in pots usually color earlier than ones in the ground (root chilling, presumably). Moving a shade adapted tree into more sun induces color temporarily, pretty much any time, but will intensify fall color when done late in the season. Conversely, moving to shade will delay fall leaf drop somewhat, and generally ruins fall color.
Some of this may be at work, but just dropping green leaves is puzzling. The good news, though, is that leaf-drop is a life process = the branches loosing leaves are very much alive and are not affected by verticillium, nectria canker, or some other dreaded killing pathogen. It is hard for me to tell where the leaves are coming from - 'deep inside' the canopy (indicating interior leaf drop on a tree not interested in recapturing nitrogen from the photocenters)?

I really dunno.
Reduced starch in abbreviated roots system????
Thanks for the guess’!!!
 

ABCarve

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I wasn’t really happy with the the blue pot. Too wide and too shallow for the size of the trunk. It also had a bad dunt but it was all I had last year. So keeping with my purple theme this…….new shoes. I think the light green foliage should go well with it.

Very micro-fiberous roots pretty well filled up that larger pot in one season. It was good to get it raised up on a mound instead of sitting down inside the surface of the root ball. Its ramification looks very similar to that of last year’s winter silhouette. Might have to let it grow a bit more to start refinement.


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