Starter Trident Maple not looking so good: Help!!!

[Scrogdor]

How's it going everyone, I'm new to bonsai and having some trouble with my first one . I picked up a starter trident maple that came in a tiny tiny plastic pot about two weeks ago. I repotted it, teased the roots out gently, filled with bonsai soil and put it on my balcony which receives 6-8 hours of sun a day in northern California at a temp of 75 degrees average. I water it about once a day, water is draining fine.

However a few days ago the leaves started to turn reddish brown/ dark green with some shriveling on the edges. Anyone help me out here? Pics below, and let me know if you need any more info, thanks!

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

You're a bit out of season for a repot. Likely putting it straight back into the sun has stressed it out. Move it to where it gets bright shade for most of the day and keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet, and let it recover for a few weeks. I'd say you'll see it bounce back.

 

[Scrogdor]

You're a bit out of season for a repot. Likely putting it straight back into the sun has stressed it out. Move it to where it gets bright shade for most of the day and keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet, and let it recover for a few weeks. I'd say you'll see it bounce back.

Ah, thank you so much! I'll move it and report back in week or so! Cheers

 

[Shibui]

I suspect the brownish tinge in the leaves is the tree's sunscreen. Darker colors in sun is a common feature while leaves in shade tend to be much more green. Another possibility is nutrient deficiency. Have you been feeding it?
Tridents are quite amenable to out of season repot, especially if you don't cut too many roots. At worst mine have just dropped all the leaves for a few weeks while the roots recover then they bud out all over again. Without seeing all the factors like size of pot, soil mix, how much sun exposure, etc I'd be comfortable that there is no issue with your tree.

 

[sorce]

It was repotted 2 weeks ago?

That is about a week before the full moon which is a little early and the effects seem right on par with it.

Welcome to Crazy!

The buds look healthy, as soon as your leaves start to look ratty, just look at your buds, if they are healthy you have nothing to fear.

Speaking of Buds...

Depending on your goals, you may not want to shade it as they grow out, since it is more likely to grow long internodes then.
Never allow a need for "nice leaves" to override other goals until showtime.

Back to Leaves....

If the buds are healthy your roots are healthy so the leaves may be ratty due to mites, if so, when you still have time for the tree to grow in the season, it's best to remove the mited spent leaves and rid it of mites before those next buds get going.

If you're going to continue summer repotting, which I'm all for, as long as this next buds are healthy, you can remove all the leaves at Repot to mitigate transpiration and not need to put it in the shade, this way the buds will grow compact internodes and leaves that know they must handle full sun.

Sorce

 

[Scrogdor]

It was repotted 2 weeks ago?

That is about a week before the full moon which is a little early and the effects seem right on par with it.

Welcome to Crazy!

The buds look healthy, as soon as your leaves start to look ratty, just look at your buds, if they are healthy you have nothing to fear.

Speaking of Buds...

Depending on your goals, you may not want to shade it as they grow out, since it is more likely to grow long internodes then.
Never allow a need for "nice leaves" to override other goals until showtime.

Back to Leaves....

If the buds are healthy your roots are healthy so the leaves may be ratty due to mites, if so, when you still have time for the tree to grow in the season, it's best to remove the mited spent leaves and rid it of mites before those next buds get going.

If you're going to continue summer repotting, which I'm all for, as long as this next buds are healthy, you can remove all the leaves at Repot to mitigate transpiration and not need to put it in the shade, this way the buds will grow compact internodes and leaves that know they must handle full sun.

Sorce

What do bad buds look like?

 

[sorce]

What do bad buds look like?

Black or non-existent... ish.

Sorce