New Maple bonsai questions

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I recently purchased a maple bonsai and in the photos it looked dormant. I received it yesterday and it has sprouted little leafs. I live in Utah and the tree is from Florida. This is my first deciduous bonsai but now I am afraid to put it outside if it is just starting to sprout new leafs. Should I leave it inside for this winter? Any help would be appreciated very much. Thanks
 

Colorado

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Photos would help. If it has begun leafing out for spring, then you probably need to protect it from freezing through the rest of winter.

What species of maple is it?
 

Colorado

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Photos would help. If it has begun leafing out for spring, then you probably need to protect it from freezing through the rest of winter.

What species of maple is it?
 
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Acer buergerianum. I added photos in original post but I will retry.
 

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Deep Sea Diver

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Tridents are tough. It’s possible you could put it outside , yet chancy.

Instead you might keep it into a place where it is above freezing, yet below 45F for about the winter. Water as needed.

Technically after 6-8 weeks you could put it outside then as it should be cold hardy by then. But why bother?

Your tree your call.

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Colorado

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Yeah based on the photos, I personally would grow it inside for the rest of the winter. It is true that temperate trees like maple need a dormancy period every year to maintain strength. But growing it inside through this one winter - due to unforeseen shipping circumstances - won’t hurt the tree.

You will need a very sunny window or some grow lights for this to work. Good luck!
 

penumbra

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You state Utah but what is your climate? What zone?
Gowing a maple inside can present all sorts of problems / issues.
 

rockm

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DO NOT PUT THIS TREE OUTSIDE UNTIL NEXT SPRING. IT WILL DIE. The tree is past its dormancy. It has no capacity to withstand ANY weather below 32 F.

Open leaf buds indicate the tree has gone all in on spring growth and has abandon its winter hardiness.

At this point, your only option is to keep this tree indoors and out of frost and freezes.
 

penumbra

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Above freezing is the key note. I had some Tridents in a small fridge for a couple months with a few small leaves on them and they all survived. But they were seedlings and that is quite different than what you have. As stated above, keeping it inside may well be your only option but you have a lot to consider to grow it inside and you are already behind. A properly set up grow tent with lights and ventilation might be worth looking into. I have hundreds of plants in my house and dozens of lights, trays, fans etc, but inside my grow tent is like a different world.
 

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I find growing inside really easy. I think being in a sunny dry climate helps a lot. Because we get so many sunny days, I find the sunlight through a south facing window to be sufficient for quality growth on a wide range of species. I would imagine it is similar in Utah.

It is not ideal to grow trident indoors but I think you’ll be find in a south window until it’s warm enough to go back outside in the spring.

Now, if you don’t have a window with good sun exposure, then it gets a lot more complicated.
 

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I find growing inside really easy. I think being in a sunny dry climate helps a lot.
I envy you. We have a few sunny days in winter but usually its pretty gloomy, often for days on end.
 

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Unfortunately, you've learned the hard way that you should only buy plants from a significantly warmer climate during your growing season, even if the tree species is hardy to your location. Trees like tridents barely stop growing in FL and this one is clearly pushing new growth. I'd find a southern facing window and place the tree there... supplemental lighting would be a definite plus as all your new growth will be long and spindly without it. Good luck.
 
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Thank you all for your help! Yes Colorado, it is the same here as there. Quite a bit of sun. I will do whatever it takes. What is a grow tent? And I have been trying to find a maple like this for a year or I would have waited til spring but oh well, I will do whatever I have to. I really appreciate everyone here, thank you!
 
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That is a question though, how do they grow in Florida if they need freezing for dormancy?
 

Deep Sea Diver

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Ok, this isn’t an emergency situation. Its much better for the trees health to put it in a situation where it goes dormant.

Technically, gaining enough hours of cold acclimation (CA) and achieve dormancy with your maple is totally possible due to the short days and cold temperatures that exist. The time to do this hasn't past. You just need the right conditions. Low photoperiod and temperatures below 45 and not freezing.

Dormancy is triggered by shorter days and cooler temperatures below 45F to 32F until a tree achieves enough Chilling Units (Hours spent in the temperature zone of 45-32F) to achieve dormancy, which has shown to be as little as 200 CU in maples. (About 8.3 days) once it gets enough time in cool low light conditions.

Be advised that the amount of chilling units accumulated in maples are inversely related to heat unit accumulation. In other words, the shorter the time in dormancy, the longer it will take for the tree to push buds. So the longer you can keep it cold and in low light the better. Since the winter hasn't even arrived, you'll have plenty of time to do this.

However there is no reason to put it outside if you can keep it cold until spring.

These studies were done with other maples then Tridents, yet there is absolutely no reason to believe Tridents, especially since these are such hardy trees, wouldn’t follow suit.

As @rockm pointed out in a different thread a tree that doesn't go through dormancy tends not to grow as well as one that has in the next year.

Cheers
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AJL

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It need dormancy.Just keep it cool and above freezing, let nature take its course till spring. No need to consider grow tents or supplimentary lighting unless you really want to make life complicated!!
 

rockm

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Trying to induce dormancy on a tree that has begun spring growth is likely to kill it at this point. Keeping it "cool" or limiting light isn't going to stop anything. It will just weaken the growth the tree has already committed to producing.

Just find a bright, humid location inside and keep your fingers crossed through the end of winter.
 

Deep Sea Diver

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Respectfully I'm actually not sure how that would look @rockm.

I haven't seen any data demonstrating how delayed dormancy would negatively affect a trees health. Affect bud out timing yes. There are a good deal of scientists studying both the affects of early deacclimation of trees due to shifting climate patterns in the past decade. As well as on delayed dormancy affects on spring bud out.

There is data showing that trees that skip dormancy don't do as well in the upcoming year.

btw I neglected to include a link on the data about variable maple dormancy periods I mentioned for everyone. It is attached.

cheers
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rockm

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Respectfully I'm actually not sure how that would look @rockm.

I haven't seen any data demonstrating how delayed dormancy would negatively affect a trees health. Affect bud out timing yes. There are a good deal of scientists studying both the affects of early deacclimation of trees due to shifting climate patterns in the past decade. As well as on delayed dormancy affects on spring bud out.

There is data showing that trees that skip dormancy don't do as well in the upcoming year.

btw I neglected to include a link on the data about variable maple dormancy periods I mentioned for everyone. It is attached.

cheers
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What you're proposing isn't delayed dormancy. It would be basically artificially forcing dormancy on an actively growing tree.

Once buds open, deciduous trees lose 99 percent of their ability to withstand below freezing temps--and are mostly fully committed to active growth. This tree is well beyond the budding period. It has leaves and new shoots..

There's really no way to put that toothpaste back in the tube. "Deacclimation" would mean killing off all of that new growth in favor of trying to force the tree back into dormancy artificially (by a grower with no experience).

Scientific articles that use artificial growth chambers, etc. are great. Informative articles....in practicality, however, just because something can be done (by experts) doesn't necessarily mean it should be done by beginners.
 
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