I’ve had this Japanese Maple a couple years now. I purchased from a guy who was getting out of bonsai. He had it in this plastic pot that he had drilled holes in the side to try to make it act like a colander. I don’t think it worked.
It’s frustrated me because when it grows out, it makes long internodes. It looks like it used to have larger branches, and they were removed, and we’re looking at a second set. I cut it back pretty hard last fall, so hopefully it will back bud this spring.
Here’s the before pictures:
And now, for the “After”:
What I found as I repotted it was it had been WAY over potted. With coarse soil with no akadama. This coarse soil promoted lots of root growth, and when you have unrestrained root growth, you get long internodes and large leaves.
One of the things about akadama is it promotes small leaves and short internodes. Why? It breaks down. And when it breaks down, the space between particles gets smaller. This encourages (forces?) smaller roots. So, rather than long runner type roots, the tree makes fiber systems of feeder roots. Up top, the tree doesn’t send out long shoots, instead the growth remains constrained, with smaller leaves and shorter internodes.
When you want strong growth, use a coarse, open soil. No akadama. When you want to begin refinement, that’s when to start using akadama.
Oh, the pot? It’s Taiwanese. Not very expensive, but fun!
It’s frustrated me because when it grows out, it makes long internodes. It looks like it used to have larger branches, and they were removed, and we’re looking at a second set. I cut it back pretty hard last fall, so hopefully it will back bud this spring.
Here’s the before pictures:
And now, for the “After”:
What I found as I repotted it was it had been WAY over potted. With coarse soil with no akadama. This coarse soil promoted lots of root growth, and when you have unrestrained root growth, you get long internodes and large leaves.
One of the things about akadama is it promotes small leaves and short internodes. Why? It breaks down. And when it breaks down, the space between particles gets smaller. This encourages (forces?) smaller roots. So, rather than long runner type roots, the tree makes fiber systems of feeder roots. Up top, the tree doesn’t send out long shoots, instead the growth remains constrained, with smaller leaves and shorter internodes.
When you want strong growth, use a coarse, open soil. No akadama. When you want to begin refinement, that’s when to start using akadama.
Oh, the pot? It’s Taiwanese. Not very expensive, but fun!
