Trident Maple Question

[Jetson1950]

When I was at the Metro Maple place in Texas, I was looking for some Trident Maples. He didn’t have any to sell but he gave me two free. He was using them as root stock and the graft failed on these two trees so he gave them to me. The root stock tridents started growing new limbs. I assume these will just keep growing strong as if the apex leader had been cut off. I wasn’t planning on doing anything with them till they got bigger.

Any thoughts on pruning or other things I need to consider.

 

[Jrmcmich]

I think Let em grow put on size before doing anything. Next spring could do basic root work and throw in ground?

 

[coachspinks]

Tridents thicken quickly in the ground. Plant them over a tile and in the ground next spring. Within a couple of years you will have a nice trunk.

 

[Jetson1950]

Tridents thicken quickly in the ground. Plant them over a tile and in the ground next spring. Within a couple of years you will have a nice trunk.

I might try it next year, but I’ll have to find a nice shady spot for them. Afternoon sun here is brutal. The older ones I have can’t handle the sun and need full shade in the afternoon.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

I would wire some movement into the leader now and ground grow next spring once some movement has set. The internodes on these look long so youll want to get movement between them

 

[Shibui]

The new shoots are strong now so time to trim the remaining stump at an angle so it can heal over.
Narrow pots will have forced any lateral roots downward so, before you plant into the ground please do a good root prune, leaving only horizontal lateral roots that will form a better nebari.
I rarely bother wiring maples. Grow and chop cycles seem to produce much more natural bends with the added benefit of also adding taper.

 

[Jetson1950]

The new shoots are strong now so time to trim the remaining stump at an angle so it can heal over.
Narrow pots will have forced any lateral roots downward so, before you plant into the ground please do a good root prune, leaving only horizontal lateral roots that will form a better nebari.
I rarely bother wiring maples. Grow and chop cycles seem to produce much more natural bends with the added benefit of also adding taper.

I would wire some movement into the leader now and ground grow next spring once some movement has set. The internodes on these look long so youll want to get movement between them

Great thoughts. I do want to wire a little movement into the trunk. Not much but just a small curved bend. As far as putting it in the ground, I’m still doing a little more research on the trident winter chill requirements. I’ve read ideally they want 500-1000 hours ant they are not going to get that here in the ground. All my Japanese Maples go in a garage refrigerator around 1 December until early March. It has worked really well for them. I’m thinking the Tridents would need about a month in the frig to really grow well. Depending on the year we may get 300-500 hours here.

I’m getting ready to repot them into bonsai mix this week. That’s given them two weeks to acclimate to the summer heat here. We are going to have a rainy week this week, so temperatures will drop a bit and be less stress for the repot.

 

[Jrmcmich]

Might look up wintering in fridge here on site. I have seen someone almost lost a nice tree doing that and heard that the humidity is substantially different but if you have had success over time good sign. Just not sure how a small tree vs a larger tree might handle that? No experience on my end just stating what I’ve read here

 

[Bonsai Obsessed]

Great thoughts. I do want to wire a little movement into the trunk. Not much but just a small curved bend. As far as putting it in the ground, I’m still doing a little more research on the trident winter chill requirements. I’ve read ideally they want 500-1000 hours ant they are not going to get that here in the ground. All my Japanese Maples go in a garage refrigerator around 1 December until early March. It has worked really well for them. I’m thinking the Tridents would need about a month in the frig to really grow well. Depending on the year we may get 300-500 hours here.

I’m getting ready to repot them into bonsai mix this week. That’s given them two weeks to acclimate to the summer heat here. We are going to have a rainy week this week, so temperatures will drop a bit and be less stress for the repot.

You can always use grow bags as your grow out pot, that way in the fall you can lift the trees from the ground and do your chilling, then place back in the ground in spring- I use the grow bag method on my ground growing and lifting them doesn’t phase tridents at all.

 

[Jetson1950]

Might look up wintering in fridge here on site. I have seen someone almost lost a nice tree doing that and heard that the humidity is substantially different but if you have had success over time good sign. Just not sure how a small tree vs a larger tree might handle that? No experience on my end just stating what I’ve read here

You can always use grow bags as your grow out pot, that way in the fall you can lift the trees from the ground and do your chilling, then place back in the ground in spring- I use the grow bag method on my ground growing and lifting them doesn’t phase tridents at all.

What I have found, as many in the Bonsai world here in central Florida, is that Japanese Maples can’t survive here because of the lack of winter chill time. They will last about two years, then die. If they don’t get their full winter rest time, they can’t survive. So far, I have had great success with the winter frig technique. They spend three months in the frig. I lightly water about every two to three weeks just enough that they don’t dry out. I open the frig a lot. That with all the wet soil keeps the humidity about 40-50%. I will bring them out the first or second week of March. After about a week, they just explode in new growth. It’s hard to keep up with the pinching they grow so fast. I don’t think the tridents need that much coddling. They are fairly close to Acer rubrum so they should be able to handle mild winters here.

@Bonsai Obsessed I really like your idea of grow bags in the ground and then in the frig for a month or so and back in the ground. I’ve got 4 tridents. I can put all four in the ground, move two to the frig come winter and then see if there’s much difference next spring. Big question would be, since they are all already in bonsai soil, should I leave them that way in the bags or put them back in ground soil in the grow bags before putting them in the ground?

 

[Shibui]

As far as putting it in the ground, I’m still doing a little more research on the trident winter chill requirements. I’ve read ideally they want 500-1000 hours ant they are not going to get that here in the ground.

Tridents grow in Brisbane, which probably has a similar climate to yours, without resorting to fridge so I suspect your sources may be a little out in the estimates. You might like to do some trials to prove or disprove winter chill requirements.

 

[leatherback]

prove or disprove winter chill requirements.

Considering this old article by the university of florida, I would say, central florida should still be OK for trident under regular outside conditions:

Trident Maple - Tree selection - Landscape plants - Edward F. Gilman - UF/IFAS

https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/acebuea.pdf

 

[Jetson1950]

Considering this old article by the university of florida, I would say, central florida should still be OK for trident under regular outside conditions:

View attachment 607278

Trident Maple - Tree selection - Landscape plants - Edward F. Gilman - UF/IFAS

https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/acebuea.pdf

Agreed. Acer Rubrum grows wild here. Trident is pretty similar, so it should as well. Winter it should be fine. Summer, however is brutal hot and even the red swamp maples need protection from the sun.

 

[Shibui]

Agreed. Acer Rubrum grows wild here. Trident is pretty similar, so it should as well. Winter it should be fine. Summer, however is brutal hot and even the red swamp maples need protection from the sun.

Everyone seems to think their Summers are 'brutal'. Tridents and JM both need protection from sun in most places. More protection if your watering is not quite as effective as it should be. I use 50% shade cloth cover from mid summer through to Fall to protect my maples here but still end up with some leaf damage but that's only plants in pots. Trees in the ground do not have the same problems provide they get some supplementary watering through our hot, dry Summers.
For a couple of years I tried some (potted) tridents in full sun year round in an attempt to reduce internode length and promote even better ramification. Even with best watering I can manage they still suffered burnt foliage and reduced health so now back to all maples under shade for the hottest months here.

 

[Jetson1950]

Everyone seems to think their Summers are 'brutal'. Tridents and JM both need protection from sun in most places. More protection if your watering is not quite as effective as it should be. I use 50% shade cloth cover from mid summer through to Fall to protect my maples here but still end up with some leaf damage but that's only plants in pots. Trees in the ground do not have the same problems provide they get some supplementary watering through our hot, dry Summers.
For a couple of years I tried some (potted) tridents in full sun year round in an attempt to reduce internode length and promote even better ramification. Even with best watering I can manage they still suffered burnt foliage and reduced health so now back to all maples under shade for the hottest months here.

My sixth sense must have known you were going to tell me this. Yesterday evening I put up 70% shade cloth under my pergola where my maples in bonsai pots are located. Sun comes up in an hour and I’ll watch throughout today to see if my coverage is good. I have bougainvillea growing all over the pergola, but the coverage is not 100% and now that summer is here, the leaves have been getting scorched where the sun hits them. I’m hoping that in the future I’ll only have to use the shade cloth for late June through August when our heat, humidity and sun intensity are highest.