Red Maple advice.

Silentrunning

Chumono
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I have about 3 dozen Red Maples (Acer rubrum) that I removed from my garden last year and just stuck in some old potting soil. They all lived and are thriving. I want to concentrate mainly on trunk building these for future use way down the road. I also want to keep them less than 3 feet tall for portability. I have a few questions and would appreciate any extra advice you have.
1. I am leaving the majority in pots. Should I use the native clay soil that they sprouted in or should I plant them in potting soil or bonsai soil?
2. Should I put them in full sun or partial sun?
3. Should I keep the tree trimmed by multiple prunings during the growing season or should I just chop it once a year for height?

At my age I probably won’t live long enough to see these trees to bonsai maturity but I would like to give them a good start for the future.
 

dresdraconius

Yamadori
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How old are the trees?

A few things to ponder- soil that is dug from earth makes for poor potting soil since it compresses and does not provide enough air.

Folks tend to use Alabama, pumice, lava rock aand a lot of other combinations for potted bonsai. I think this mixture would be too expensive to plant 3 dozen plants though.

2. Partial if they are smaller or saplings. Again if they were older ,established trees, depending on your zone, you can venture gradually into full sun.

Take my words with a grain of salt. Still a noob.
 

0soyoung

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I grow trunks in pots of medium/small landscape bark and a lesser volume of compost/soil/dirt. Unless they are extremely short, the trees need to be stabilized in the pots for at least the first year so the tree cannot move with respect to the pot and damage fine root growth. Guys from low branches to the lip/rim of the pot or securing them to poles that are screwed to the wall of a plastic work well for this and can be removed after a season. Toss in a bit of general purpose fertilizer and all you've got to do is water and watch; good to go for 3 - 5 years before the bark breaks down to the point of seriously reducing the air filled porosity.

The only thing better, IMHO is bonsai substrate. Multiples more expensive.
 

Silentrunning

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The trees are in their second year of growth.

@0soyoung - my bonsai mix isn’t prohibitively expensive. I have a never ending supply of pine bark that only needs to be sifted. I use 8822 and vermiculite with sifted charcoal. Will this help develop the trunk and nebari faster than potting soil?
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
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At my age I probably won’t live long enough to see these trees to bonsai maturity but I would like to give them a good start for the future.

Silence! Keep Running!

I do greatly appreciate your willingness to provide good things for our Future artists!

But provided you are sound, and feel good, I wish you as much time as possible to see them to maturity.

Sorce
 

BonjourBonsai

Chumono
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2 springs ago, I planted about 100 Acer rubrum seeds in the azalea bed in our front yard. A few months ago, I was advised by the boss that I needed to ransplant them. I dug them up, snipped their tap roots and planted them in the backyard. I also pruned some of them, others I've left alone. They are growing well under the shade of a much bigger maple although they could more sunlight I'm sure. I'll post a photo soon.

To your questions, why not experiment and work on some and not the others? You might also consider trimming their roots and starting them flaring out.
 

0soyoung

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The trees are in their second year of growth.

@0soyoung - my bonsai mix isn’t prohibitively expensive. I have a never ending supply of pine bark that only needs to be sifted. I use 8822 and vermiculite with sifted charcoal. Will this help develop the trunk and nebari faster than potting soil?
I cannot contrast bark to 8822 and vermiculite. I use Turface MVP for bonsai.

Since you have such easy access to bark, I suggest you give it a try. It is a viable alternative that you may prefer in some circumstances like growing out in big deep pots, potting patio trees, etc.
 

BonjourBonsai

Chumono
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Here's the patch of trees. I need to weed them out a bit.
 

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