Never Assume Something is Dead Until You Are Sure

[Jetson1950]

Little Red Maple seedlings had lost all its leaves and the top of the stem was black. However, it was still flexible. Cut the top off and just left it in the shade. This is two weeks later. I’m thinking it was just sleeping. Some serious survival skills.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

It lives. Put it back outside, few hours of morning sun would be great.

 

[BrianBay9]

Never Assume Something is Dead Until You Are Sure​

Good advice for bonsai, spiders, bears and bad guys

 

[leatherback]

Good advice for bonsai, spiders, bears and bad guys

do not forget the headless chicken.

 

[leatherback]

Cut the top off

Sounds like it worked well!
congrats. 10 points for patience

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Seal the top, LOL! I don't understand why people fight the idea of using cut paste to seal wounds on maples

 

[Jetson1950]

Seal the top, LOL! I don't understand why people fight the idea of using cut paste to seal wounds on maples

lol! To be honest, I thought this thing was dead and I was just too lazy to walk around to the dumpster and chunk it. Cut paste was definitely not in my thought process. Just glad I wasn’t too quick to toss it. Watch, I’ll grow it into my best bonsai.

There, it’s been properly doctored. Haha! Thank goodness for Q-tips. Couldn’t have gotten my finger in there. Little guy has doubled its leaf size since yesterday.

 

[JoeWilson]

I had some boxelder shoots that came up from an old stump that I ripped out of the ground (barely any roots) and shoved into a pot a couple of years ago. A few weeks later, I swore they were dead but was too lazy to dump them out. Next season, what did I find? Fresh new growth. Now I keep maybe-probably dead guys under a bench just in case they pull a resurrection.

 

[Jetson1950]

This little guy is so awesome. It is giving me my required daily dose of seeing something grow while everything else here is in heat wave survival mode and just trying to stay alive. It’s awesome to watch. To me, one of the best parts of doing bonsai is watching new growth and seeing living transformation as they grow. Just waiting for this little guys leaves to make their change from translucent to their new red leaf color with the characteristic droop that Red Maples do.

So, what do you think? Time to start wiring it?

 

[BrianBay9]

Show the wire to it, then leave it in the pot for a week or two so it can get used to it. Don't want to spook it.