Kiyohime advice..

the3rdon

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Ok, so I have a small shohin Kiyohime Maple that I have recently acquired and I have some cool plans for this guy.. I know they very much like to grow horizontally so I am just going to go with that..

My question is how temperamental are they? Mine seems to hate wind and doesn't like the sun that much either.. It's early in the growing season and it seems like it gets leaf scorch way to easy..

Would anybody with experience like to give me some insider tips on what they do to keep these guys happy?

Thank's,
Don H.
 

John Ruger

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Maples get leaf scorched fairly easily especially when the leaf is tender. Also, it happens if it's been relatively cool and then you get a sudden hot wind. When it comes to sun, I just usually give them morning sun for a few hours-let's say from 7AM to 10AM or so...the I move them to a place where there is partial sun. If you can't give them morning sun, then move them in a partially shaded area to protect them from mid-day...

can you post some pics?? love to see them
 

the3rdon

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I will try in a bit.. It's not much to look at right now as it was grown out really bushy with the previous owner and I have thinned it out a lot to do some wiring and promote some backbudding and to get some branches where I want them..

I am going out here soon to make a portfolio of my trees to keep with me for when I go to local meetings.. I will try to post some here today..
 

Bill S

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Don, Japanese maples are an understory tree, that kind of situation keeps them from winds, and strong sun. Semi shaded area, and they like to drink. - H2O that is.
 

the3rdon

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I'm gonna keep the foliage low and wide..
 

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63pmp

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Another possibility is excessive salts, whether from saline irrigation water or fertilizer, which can cause leaf tip burn like that shown in your pictures.

I try and keep the EC below 1000uS/cm for my Japanese maples (my regular fertilizer mix for JM is approx 350uS/cm). Though 1500 is often quoted as the upper ceiling for salt sensitive plants, I think 1500 is a little high for Japanese maples. (I also live in a hot dry country in an area with low summer humidity, so take that into account when considering your EC).


Paul
 
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Stimmie1

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It also looks like you have a lot of organics in your soil mix. They don't like wet feet. I have found that removing the organics (pine or cypress chips) all together have shown a great improvement in the trees health. You know your envirnment better than we do, use what works best for you.
 

Bill S

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"I try and keep the EC below 1000uS/cm for my Japanese maples (my regular fertilizer mix for JM is approx 350uS/cm)."

From the second part I get that this is a fertilizer reference, but that went right over my head - huh?

Not sure about the wet feet reference, but mine are quite happy in a pond basket, with a 1/3 componant of composted bark, and I water it twice a day when sunny and or breezy, and it's pretty happy, no potting soil or such in the mix though. They do like to be able to drink is what I was trying to point out, my mix drains well it does dry down, especially in a basket.
 

63pmp

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Fertilizers are salts, they make saline solutions. I try to keep the EC of the fertilizer solution low. Many fertilizer suggestions on this site are suitable for pines but not so good for Japanese maples, IMHO. My experience has shown me, in my climate, that frequent fertilizing at low concentrations reduces leaf tip burn. I think its important to measure the EC of your fertilizer solutions and irrigation water, at least once.

Paul
 

the3rdon

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Sorry guy's.. When u start talkin that measurment stuff, u really are speakin a foreign language to me.. I think between shipping from Cali, to me thinning this guy out tremendously right out of the box just damaged it a little.. However he is backbudding well.. I think he just had to acclimate to the new surroundings.. Every tree I have ever gotten from the west coast has needed some time to recover..

I have several maples, this is just my first Kiyohime.. The leaves just seem more delicate than Tridents and other Palmatums..

As far as fert. As long as I feed all my other maples weekly til July, they grow rapidly and happily..

Thank's,
Don H.
 

rockm

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There's no need to be this precise. You're not in Australia. Conditions in West Va. are vastly different. No need to measure your water or fert doses.

Kiyohime is a bit temperamental compared to other Japanese maples. It's also not as vigorous.

Two week full strength fertilizer until mid-July. Back off in the summer heat, begin again in mid-Sept until Mid-Oct...
 

63pmp

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Its amazing the number of people who grow bonsai that have no real interest in horticulture. Yet measuring EC, pH and knowing what your fertilizer contains is simply good horticultural practice. Why would you spend good money on a plant, and be completely ignorant of what you are applying to it? Without some basic numbers, how do you know you are applying the best care or slowly poisoning it; other then seeing if the plant stays alive for a couple of months?

But of course, to avoid controversy, and appease the odd parochial guru; I suppose I could just dumb it down.

Paul
 

rockm

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It's amazing how people who are familiar with horticulture ignore local climate and location and common sense. Wheeling W.V is hardly Australia. Local conditions have a huge bearing on how a plant performs. Numbers are nice on paper, but actual experience in the actual climate in question might be a bit more useful. I'd bet things are really different in West Virginia than in Adelaide climate-wise.

A lot of fertilizer is widely used without knowing the actual EC, pH, etc.--manure comes to mind...Unless you're constructing your own "chemical" fertilizers from scratch, and are using prepared commercial fert, actually knowing this stuff is not really all that necessary.
 

the3rdon

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I have been doing this for 3 years now, and I have about 20 bonsai.. I have anything from Shohin to trees that are about 25".. I have acquired 4 trees in the middle of last winter that were dying because the owner tried to keep them indoors.. I kept all 4 alive and they are now thriving.. To this day, I have not killed a bonsai, not even the ones I knew nothing about when I got them.. I don't know horticulture, though I sure wish I did.. I know a little and I am constantly learning.. For now Laiman's terms will do me just fine.. Lol!

I appreciate any and everyone on here who attempts to help me.. If you are a horticlturalist or merely someone who is just a weekend one I say thank's and maybe one day I will achieve the knowledge that you have, but for now I feed with a balanced fert. from spring til July.. Then I layoff the nitro..

By the way, the Kiyohime is pushing new leaves like crazy.. Just seems to get leaf scorch easily.. Then again it is used too that good old California sunshine.. It needs to learn how to live in the redneck sun here in old WV..

Thank's
Don
 

rockm

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Don,

Japanese maples in landscapes here in no. Va. get leaf scorch for any number of reasons--depending on maple variety, severity of sun and wind exposure.

Sun exposure seems to be the problem with thinner leaved varieties, especially thread leafed trees. Kiyohime isn't particularly thin leaved, but you might think about the timing of its exposure to full sun. Morning sun for a few hours is a lot better than afternoon sun in the coming months.

Also, you might check to see that your soil drains adequately. Maples can stand moister conditions, but only if the soil doesn't stay wet. Soggy soil that drains slowly can contribute to tip burn on JMs...
 

the3rdon

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I am not really impressed with the soil that this tree came potted in, and there were some grubs.. So since the tree was in full leaf I merely loosened some of the soil on top, let it fall out then refilled with lava and crushed granite.. The stuff on top is just a pine bark and soil that I am slowly working into the gr. and lava.. Basically I'm going to limp it along until it can idealy be repotted into my mix in the spring..

Hey Rock, would u defoliate the scorched leaves, or just leave(no pun intended) them be?

Thank's'
Don
 

rockm

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Don,

You can actually repot Japanese maples now in the next couple of weeks--as long as their leaves have "hardened off" or turned leathery in texture. You can remove a moderate amount of roots, or do a soil purge and exchange at this time. This second repotting season lasts here until mid-june or so. JMs are tolerant of this kind of treatment, as long as you're not hacking off 70 percent of the root mass...

I would remove the worst of the scorched leaves...if they bother you. Not absolutely necessary, though.
 

mcpesq817

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Are you sure it's leaf scorch and not something more fungal related? I'm not sure that the sun has been strong enough this year to cause leaf scorch, at least it hasn't on my japanese maples.
 

the3rdon

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It's possible that it's fungal.. Only some of my tridents have had minor windburn..

The only other thing is that I did a lot of pruning right out of the box.. It does have a lot of buds popping and leaves opening up so I don't think I can re-pot right now..
 

rockm

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Sun damage is possible now. The sun is extremely strong this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. It gets stronger with each passing day, until Summer Solstice in June. The sun's direct rays are almost vertical in angle to the earth as we approach the Solstice.
 
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