Started from seed. Now what?
- Thread starter Fishhands
- Start date
makarovnik
Mame
Let it grow
Mine drooped down also. I just think the leaves get too big
I got mine the same way you did. Just let it grow for a few years.
I got a 1/3 inch trunk the last year, I'm in year 2
Mine drooped down also. I just think the leaves get too big
I got mine the same way you did. Just let it grow for a few years.
I got a 1/3 inch trunk the last year, I'm in year 2
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Carefully wrap some wire around the trunk and gently bend it into an interesting 3-D curve. It should be amenable to this treatment at this young age. Straight lines are boring (too inherently easy to understand) just about everywhere other than on the surface of an integrated circuit or a circuit board.
Wait a year or two (at most) and you will likely cut it, then water and wait, cut again, etc. - don't you love bonsai already?
Wait a year or two (at most) and you will likely cut it, then water and wait, cut again, etc. - don't you love bonsai already?
Bonsaikev1985
Mame
Let it grow, grow, and then grow some more!! Maples are hardy trees and like some shade on the hotter days. I also have a few of these types and have realized that even that small there leaves will almost grow to full size if allowed. So it's always good to cut back the huge leaves to reduce on size to fit better with the size of your tree. Make sure there's newer smaller leaves growing before doing so. Maples are hardy trees so shouldn't have a problem either way....... let ya in on a little secret which I was told and worked for me, late August early September stop feeding fertilizer, give it more sun, and let soil fully dry out and only water it when it absolutely needs it and you'll see how beautiful the colors of the leaves will change for fall!!! Reds, yellows, etc.... had a few 2 years ago which changed no colors and when given that advice 100% of them last fall changed!! Good luck man!!!
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
Why worry about leaf size at this stage?
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Welcome to Crazy!
Fishy!
Sorce
Fishy!
Sorce
Bonsaikev1985
Mame
Of course your right why worry about it? It really doesn't matter, but it helps along the way to make it look more defined as it goes threw its stages.
Bonsaikev1985
Mame
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
You're growing it out. Who cares what it looks like.
The leaves are the solar panels that fuel the tree.
Cutting them into pleasing size doesn't help.
Besides why waste time on red maples?
They will always have large leaves and long petioles.
In turn makes for not great bonsai.
These things pop up all the time here.
I've yet to see any worth while.
The leaves are the solar panels that fuel the tree.
Cutting them into pleasing size doesn't help.
Besides why waste time on red maples?
They will always have large leaves and long petioles.
In turn makes for not great bonsai.
These things pop up all the time here.
I've yet to see any worth while.
It's not a waste of time it helps to learn to grow things out and practice techniques. Plus if it makes him happy to grow it then it is not a waste. @Fishhands where are you located?
It would be good to acquire another tree more suitable to bonsai culture while you wait for this one to grow up, like trident maple or something.
It would be good to acquire another tree more suitable to bonsai culture while you wait for this one to grow up, like trident maple or something.
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
Why waste time practicing on something that doesn't make good bonsai.
What do you learn?
How to watch trees grow?
What do you learn?
How to watch trees grow?
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
With maples, internodes are forever. Leaf size can be transitory.
If this is a learning exercise, I would focus on making short internodes.
Bending stems is one way to fake 'em or make 'em. If that straight line stem between successive leaf pairs is bent, that visual distance is reduced. One could also make a loop or two of the stem so that many nodes (leaf pairs) are near one another. Then let it grow and thicken. Eventually those loops will fuse into a blob with a number of close nodes - then one can build a squat sumo bonsai.
One could also take the daring leap into the last half of the 20th century. Treat the seedling with a growth retardant to shorten the internodes. These have been and are in widespread use in agriculture and in the nursery industry. I wonder how much internode shortening can be achieved and if one/all of these growth retardants has any effect on leaf size.
What do you want to learn, @Fishhands?
If this is a learning exercise, I would focus on making short internodes.
Bending stems is one way to fake 'em or make 'em. If that straight line stem between successive leaf pairs is bent, that visual distance is reduced. One could also make a loop or two of the stem so that many nodes (leaf pairs) are near one another. Then let it grow and thicken. Eventually those loops will fuse into a blob with a number of close nodes - then one can build a squat sumo bonsai.
One could also take the daring leap into the last half of the 20th century. Treat the seedling with a growth retardant to shorten the internodes. These have been and are in widespread use in agriculture and in the nursery industry. I wonder how much internode shortening can be achieved and if one/all of these growth retardants has any effect on leaf size.
What do you want to learn, @Fishhands?
Redwood Ryan
Masterpiece
Completely disagree. This is a sapling. It needs to grow. Cutting it in any way will only slow its growth. Just let it grow.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Nope. At this point your bonsai needs a TRUNK to make it look like a tree instead of a spindly tent pole. That is achieved through LETTING IT ALONE for the most part, and growing it in the ground ideally--for YEARS.
messing around with pruning, worrying about leaf size, ramification are all years down the road for this tree. At this stage, All of those activities will basically shut it down and confound the growth it needs to respond to such techniques. Growing from seed is not easy. It requires extreme patience and knowledge of when to act and how.
If this is a learning exercise, learn that at this stage you will learn mostly nothing from such material. If you want hands on learning on how to do bonsai, start with a little older material.
Bonsaikev1985
Mame
Kev, yours is many years ahead of that seedling. However it will still have all the same troubles that come with red maple. It will have long internodes, leaves that do not reduce well, branches will die off.
It will never become a great bonsai in the traditional sense.
You don't have much investment into yours so far so if you can accept those setbacks by all means have at it. Plus you have that interesting uro in the trunk as a feature so go for it.
It will never become a great bonsai in the traditional sense.
You don't have much investment into yours so far so if you can accept those setbacks by all means have at it. Plus you have that interesting uro in the trunk as a feature so go for it.
Redwood Ryan
Masterpiece
Waste of time? No. But I wouldn't be cutting it all back and worrying about making the branches fit with the trunk. Judging by the leaves it looks like there's something wrong with it health-wise. You should let it grow and recover and not mess with it.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Uh, that's not a seedling...
Bonsaikev1985
Mame
Didn't know we were talking about seedlings when he said "maples are a waste of time" lol know the the post was about a seedling. I must a read wrong lol
Bonsaikev1985
Mame
Yeah of course there's something wrong with it and sucks that there is. Nothing a little TLC can't fix. I collected this rare find a couple days ago. I know it was a little late in the season to do so, but the yard was getting ripped apart for a pool at a friends house. So it would of been garbage if not. Yeah most of the branches are cut back to balance the tree out. From digging up I lost some roots and what I take away from the bottom I need to do to the top. Leaves were like this already. Couple fixes and love it will be thriving again
