Grafted maple question

[Manmountain526]

I purchased a Japanese maple variety last fall. It was a "Shaina" I believe. It appears that the grafted portion did not survive and the only growth has been from the rootstock. The growth has been somewhat weak. It is possible to graft another variety onto the rootstock cleanly so that it will suitable in the future or should I just let it grow as is and let the rootstock grown into a regular green maple?

 

[0soyoung]

Usually the root stock is far more vigorous than the cultivar grafted onto it. I have several trees in my collection that originated from the root stock of an 'Ukigumo'. These root stock trees are quite well suited to bonsai cultivation.

Roots are fed by foliage above. Since your 'Shaina' may have been seriously weakened before you bought it, the root stock is likely weakened and will become more vigorous if you are patient, just let it grow.

However, if you want to have a 'Shaina' as a bonsai, you should just buy another. Generally we frown on grafted trees in bonsai (and one would be trying to layer 'Shaina' off the root stock), but there are some (such as Japanese white pine - pinus parviflora) that we simply cannot have ungrafted - the added challenge is to disguise this by obscuring the graft union in some way.

 

[Manmountain526]

Thank you for the reply. I am completely fine with growing the root stock out to a tree. I wasn't sure whether or not it was possible or if I was supposed to graft something else on it. I will wait and see what it becomes.