Kabudachi- first Maple Clump

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

I’ve been bitten by the Japanese Maple bug…. I really didn’t know anything about them until I started getting into and learning about bonsai. Now I have 7 or 8 varieties and a ton of cuttings I’m propagating. I ordered a pack of 15 regular green acer palmatum seedlings 10-18in tall. They sell them on japanesmaples. Net. $45 for 15! And you can pick from small medium or large. A lot of sellers want $20-$30 for 1 seedling on Etsy. Anyway I’ve been wanting to start a clump style and a forest. So I used 8 for the clump and 7 for the forest. Here are some pictures of what I did.

I basically just removed all the soil from the roots, removed the tap root, trimmed a few odd shoots, then bundled them together with 2mm wire. I wrapped the wire around about 4 times close together at the base to spread out the pressure a bit.
Now the plan is to just hopefully keep them alive until late winter/early spring then I’ll wire them individually to give some movement and spread them out.

I wanted to give a real shot at putting together a Forrest as well but I didn’t plan things out well enough. I didn’t have a good pot for it and I’m moving next week, so I just put the remaining 7 in a big round terra cotta pot I have for now. I did go ahead and put some wire on those ones. I guess I’ll revisit the Forrest plan next year and see if these ones are still good candidates or maybe I’ll grow a few of them individually, we’ll see.

If anyone has tips or thoughts feel free to chime in I’m eager to learn. Thanks!

 

[shimbrypaku]

Here is a video to look at.

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

Here is a video to look at.

This was actually the last video I watched on clumps before doing this I’m on video 2 in the series.

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

A few updated pictures of the maple clump I put together last summer. I can see the wire starting to bite around the base. But I’m not sure if I should just completely remove the wire? Or remove the wire and put on a new one? Or just leave it to let them continue fusing. Let me know what you think…

 

[Scriv]

A few updated pictures of the maple clump I put together last summer. I can see the wire starting to bite around the base. But I’m not sure if I should just completely remove the wire? Or remove the wire and put on a new one? Or just leave it to let them continue fusing. Let me know what you think…

You should be wiring deciduous in fall. If you wire now, you’ll have scarring rather quickly.

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

Yes they got the wire bite on the trunks last year, I’m ok with that. It is what it is at this point. My question is really about the fusing of the trunks at the base

 

[SgtPilko]

Personally i'd remove that wire before it gets too bad, then rewrap with something similar, but protected e.g. you can put your wire inside rubber tubing, or you could first wrap your 'trunks' in self-amalgamating tape or raffia for example

 

[Gabler]

The wire is supposed to bite in. The trees will callus, fuse, and layer above the wire. You have the wired area buried, correct? Make sure there's about two inches (5 cm) of soil above the wire, so the area stays moist. Your goal is to get the trunks growing and thickening as quickly as possible. Try to avoid wiring or pruning anything. I realize that's a bit different than the method in the video, but you've already applied the wire, and it's already biting in, so a ground layer is the way to go.

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

Personally i'd remove that wire before it gets too bad, then rewrap with something similar, but protected e.g. you can put your wire inside rubber tubing, or you could first wrap your 'trunks' in self-amalgamating tape or raffia for example

Good idea

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

The wire is supposed to bite in. The trees will callus, fuse, and layer above the wire. You have the wired area buried, correct? Make sure there's about two inches (5 cm) of soil above the wire, so the area stays moist. Your goal is to get the trunks growing and thickening as quickly as possible. Try to avoid wiring or pruning anything. I realize that's a bit different than the method in the video, but you've already applied the wire, and it's already biting in, so a ground layer is the way to go.

Ah I see what you’re saying about layering. But no, currently the wire is above ground and not under the soil. It’s just above.

 

[frankJ]

I’ve been bitten by the Japanese Maple bug…. I really didn’t know anything about them until I started getting into and learning about bonsai. Now I have 7 or 8 varieties and a ton of cuttings I’m propagating. I ordered a pack of 15 regular green acer palmatum seedlings 10-18in tall. They sell them on japanesmaples. Net. $45 for 15! And you can pick from small medium or large. A lot of sellers want $20-$30 for 1 seedling on Etsy. Anyway I’ve been wanting to start a clump style and a forest. So I used 8 for the clump and 7 for the forest. Here are some pictures of what I did.

I basically just removed all the soil from the roots, removed the tap root, trimmed a few odd shoots, then bundled them together with 2mm wire. I wrapped the wire around about 4 times close together at the base to spread out the pressure a bit.
Now the plan is to just hopefully keep them alive until late winter/early spring then I’ll wire them individually to give some movement and spread them out.

I wanted to give a real shot at putting together a Forrest as well but I didn’t plan things out well enough. I didn’t have a good pot for it and I’m moving next week, so I just put the remaining 7 in a big round terra cotta pot I have for now. I did go ahead and put some wire on those ones. I guess I’ll revisit the Forrest plan next year and see if these ones are still good candidates or maybe I’ll grow a few of them individually, we’ll see.

If anyone has tips or thoughts feel free to chime in I’m eager to learn. Thanks!

Hi, I saw your post and photos and it looks like you have a great start. I used, as you stated. japanesmaple. as your source of reasonably priced plants but to no avail. there are literally pages of businesses selling
maples. Can you please tell me the exact site where you bought them,. I am tired of losing a decent amount of money on failures...thank you very much Frank.

 

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

Hi, I saw your post and photos and it looks like you have a great start. I used, as you stated. japanesmaple. as your source of reasonably priced plants but to no avail. there are literally pages of businesses selling
maples. Can you please tell me the exact site where you bought them,. I am tired of losing a decent amount of money on failures...thank you very much Frank.

Sure no problem! This site sells green and red maple seedlings in 3 sizes. Very reasonably priced IMO. Here’s the link. https://japanesemaple.net/products/all-japanese-maples/