New Sharp's Pygmy, have questions

[rank78]

I just received this Sharp's Pygmy less than 2 weeks ago and have a couple concerns.

1) It is roughly 12"-14" tall and I'd like to have it grow in height and trunk girth, what size pot should I go with? I know the roots remain shallow so will a deep pot have any impact be it positive or negative?

2) The soil seems to go pretty dry quickly, would it be safe to swap to using Fox Farm Ocean Forest (contains some sphagnum peat moss) and mix in some perlite?

3) I don't know if you can see the brown leaves but there are a few on the top and bottom. Would this occur from direct sun or the soil it's in? Info online indicates the sun shouldn't be an issue so maybe the soil they have with it is draining too quickly. I can't exactly say when it began and if it may be due to shipment. It arrived a vibrant green so I feel bad.

Thanks

 

[parhamr]

Putting chopped spagnum moss on top of the soil will help reduce evaporation and encourage better root growth.. This tree will also benefit from less sun than it has been getting—Japanese Maples do well with roughly part shade all day or half a day of full sun.

 

[Shibui]

If it gets dry leaves will go brown. Increase watering to match what the tree needs. It is always an issue getting used to a different potting mix. For this season you will just have to manage watering as best you can.
Dwarf varieties grow VERY slowly. Good luck with getting this to increase but best growth, as always, will be in a larger container. Deeper containers are no problem. Excess roots will just be pruned off at every repot -doesn't matter if they are deeper or long laterals. Still need to be cut eventually. A tree this size should be Ok in a quite large container.

 

[rank78]

Just following up. It's been a couple of months after transplanting to a bigger pot with a mixture of organic soil and perlite, no additional fertilizers because I didn't want to overdo it. The leaves still curl and the tips turn brown, and it has thinned out. It shouldn't be the soil or water because it has plenty of nutrients and retains proper moisture.

In the background you'll see metal bars along my patio which provides some shade in the morning. A couple hours around noon is direct sun but the sun goes behind the house by 330pm-4pm and then it's full shade. This doesn't seem too much to me but maybe it's more delicate than I thought?

It's almost October so I really can't do anything until spring but this is puzzling me. It arrived full and green out of the box but this happens even when giving it some love.

 

[Paulpash]

Just following up. It's been a couple of months after transplanting to a bigger pot with a mixture of organic soil and perlite, no additional fertilizers because I didn't want to overdo it. The leaves still curl and the tips turn brown, and it has thinned out. It shouldn't be the soil or water because it has plenty of nutrients and retains proper moisture.

In the background you'll see metal bars along my patio which provides some shade in the morning. A couple hours around noon is direct sun but the sun goes behind the house by 330pm-4pm and then it's full shade. This doesn't seem too much to me but maybe it's more delicate than I thought?

It's almost October so I really can't do anything until spring but this is puzzling me. It arrived full and green out of the box but this happens even when giving it some love.

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Remember we are heading into Autumn (Fall) and leaves are a little tired and have seen better days so it might not solely be down to your care that they appear this way.

Another poster, @ConorDash, has had similar problems keeping Acer foliage looking good so you might want to dig out that thread and look at the advice given (including mine) and apply some of the principles discussed to your own situation. In my experience there are a multitude of factors - wind & sun exposure, watering habits, current root health and substrate mix that all complicate any answer we can give to you on the forum. It's far better to experiment and see what works best given these unknown factors.

I know this seems extremely vague but at least now you can play around with these factors at home, moving its location or providing more wind cover, for example, until it looks healthy all season.

 

[rank78]

Remember we are heading into Autumn (Fall) and leaves are a little tired and have seen better days so it might not solely be down to your care that they appear this way.

Another poster, @ConorDash, has had similar problems keeping Acer foliage looking good so you might want to dig out that thread and look at the advice given (including mine) and apply some of the principles discussed to your own situation. In my experience there are a multitude of factors - wind & sun exposure, watering habits, current root health and substrate mix that all complicate any answer we can give to you on the forum. It's far better to experiment and see what works best given these unknown factors.

I know this seems extremely vague but at least now you can play around with these factors at home, moving its location or providing more wind cover, for example, until it looks healthy all season.

Thanks for pointing out that thread, I'll have to keep reading. I guess I'll see what happens come spring and if the leaves are struggling I'll have to look into what substrate to use. A lot of people in that thread are using combinations of Akadama, pumice, etc which the Sharp's may prefer over the organic soil.