Trident Maple - Little help on this one

[Legois]

Hello guys

First post here. I'm from Brazil, I've got this tree few days ago, I tought it would be smaller (bought from internet) but happened to be too big for what I was expecting.

And need a lot of work on it, and I'd like to reduce the size of it. I'll grow it under a 250W metal halide bulb (4000K) and I'd like some advices on how to styling it.

Thanks for any help and I'm sorry for my bad english!







[video=youtube;sZ07_N0zCxg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ07_N0zCxg[/video]

 

[Legois]

This is the size

 

[jk_lewis]

You could air layer right below where those branches split off and get two trees.

 

[misfit11]

I'll grow it under a 250W metal halide bulb (4000K)!

Does this mean you're growing it indoors? If so, I'd advise against it. Tridents aren't indoor plants. They need a dormant period during the winter in order to stay healthy. I don't know if that is possible given that you live in Brazil. Depending on where in Brazil you are (southernmost) you may have cooler winters.

Nice tree and your english is just fine (A LOT better than my Portuguese!).

Cory

 

[Legois]

You could air layer right below where those branches split off and get two trees.

Thanks for the reply

Does this mean you're growing it indoors? If so, I'd advise against it. Tridents aren't indoor plants. They need a dormant period during the winter in order to stay healthy. I don't know if that is possible given that you live in Brazil. Depending on where in Brazil you are (southernmost) you may have cooler winters.

Nice tree and your english is just fine (A LOT better than my Portuguese!).

Cory

Hello Cory

I didn't know that a mh couldn't work on this. I live near the southern, we just got out the winter here, the temperatures here where I live for a few weeks were around 5º Celsius (~41 F).

I live in an apartment, if this is not possible I'll give this bonsai away to someone who has an outside area!

What about a black pine? It's possible to use a 250 MH to mantain one?

 

[misfit11]

Thanks for the reply



Hello Cory

I didn't know that a mh couldn't work on this. I live near the southern, we just got out the winter here, the temperatures here where I live for a few weeks were around 5º Celsius (~41 F).

I live in an apartment, if this is not possible I'll give this bonsai away to someone who has an outside area!

What about a black pine? It's possible to use a 250 MH to mantain one?

I'm not sure if that is cool enough to insure dormancy. It may be. I'll let others chime who may know for sure.

As far as the Black Pine is concerned, that would be a definite "no". Although Trident Maples and Japanese Black Pines are classic bonsai species and can make excellent bonsai, they are not indoor plants by any stretch of the imagination. If you want to grow bonsai indoors I suggest you get a tropical species such as a Ficus (Fig). They are relatively easy to grow and maintain as bonsai indoors.

However, I know virtually nothing about growing tropical bonsai indoors under artificial light. I gave up on tropicals shortly after entering the hobby. I'll also let someone more educated on the subject of growing indoor bonsai advise you if you decide to go that route.

Sorry to burst your bubble and I hope I've helped rather than discouraged you. Bonsai is an absolutely awesome hobby especially if you start off on the right foot and have some success with your first tree.

Cory