I'm pretty new to bonsai still and attempted my first thread graft on a trident maple earlier this year.
The graft seems very weak and I was wondering what I should do.
I think the weakness is because the grafted branch is at the bottom and heavily shaded by the rest of the tree which is a little bushy.
Would it be a good idea to partially defoliate or cut back the rest of the tree to force it to put a little more energy into the thread grafted branch?
Also the 2nd pic is about a week after the first, I think the crispy bits are from letting it dry out; it's in full sun and demands watering twice a day, it wilts dramatically if I'm a little late. I was hoping keeping it in full sun would help it grow more vigorously and heal the graft but not I'm not so sure.. would moving it to a partial shade location be better?
The graft seems very weak and I was wondering what I should do.
I think the weakness is because the grafted branch is at the bottom and heavily shaded by the rest of the tree which is a little bushy.
Would it be a good idea to partially defoliate or cut back the rest of the tree to force it to put a little more energy into the thread grafted branch?
Also the 2nd pic is about a week after the first, I think the crispy bits are from letting it dry out; it's in full sun and demands watering twice a day, it wilts dramatically if I'm a little late. I was hoping keeping it in full sun would help it grow more vigorously and heal the graft but not I'm not so sure.. would moving it to a partial shade location be better?