What to do with leggy maple

pbrown00

Mame
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This maple is pretty much still a seedling - about two years old. It keeps growing taller and taller. Should I let it keep doing this, or should I cut it down? IMG_9589.JPG
 

TooCoys

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When I asked my nursery guy about mine he said to just chop it. I did and now I have shoots coming from all the short stalks. Mine were about 3' tall and looked just like yours. Now they look like this, and this happend in a week!

IMG_4941.JPG
 

clem

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When I asked my nursery guy about mine he said to just chop it. I did and now I have shoots coming from all the short stalks. Mine were about 3' tall and looked just like yours. Now they look like this, and this happend in a week!

View attachment 201570
hello ! don't you have some black coloration on differetn parts of your trees ? If yes be carefull, it maybe verticillium (a fungus disease)
 

clem

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This maple is pretty much still a seedling - about two years old. It keeps growing taller and taller. Should I let it keep doing this, or should I cut it down?
Hello, i would cut above 2 or 3 pair of leaves. And next spring, i would grow the tree in a wide and flat wood box to promote good nebari
 

TooCoys

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hello ! don't you have some black coloration on differetn parts of your trees ? If yes be carefull, it maybe verticillium (a fungus disease)

Yes, where I attempted to graft branches on it. But not where I clipped the stalks.
 

clem

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Yes, where I attempted to graft branches on it. But not where I clipped the stalks.
On the pic it seems that there is a black coloration on a long branch on the upper right of the picture. Don't know if it is really verticillium, but if it is verticillium, there is no efficient treatment because it is fungus that "came into" the tree from the roots in spring (sorry for my English) and when the fungus is Inside the tree, you cut the affected branches it will stay anyway. Hope it isn't veticillium !
Your trees are grafted on palmatum type ?
 

TooCoys

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On the pic it seems that there is a black coloration on a long branch on the upper right of the picture. Don't know if it is really verticillium, but if it is verticillium, there is no efficient treatment because it is fungus that "came into" the tree from the roots in spring (sorry for my English) and when the fungus is Inside the tree, you cut the affected branches it will stay anyway. Hope it isn't veticillium !
Your trees are grafted on palmatum type ?

The long branch was the one that was cut and attempted to be grafted onto the shorter stalk. I didn't know what I was doing, and still don't. It was an experiment.
 

clem

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The long branch was the one that was cut and attempted to be grafted onto the shorter stalk. I didn't know what I was doing, and still don't. It was an experiment.
maybe it's not serious but for me it's not good that your branche turned black. it seem that something enterred by the wound. i'd cut/remove every black parts.
 

clem

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you wouldn't work on the nebari yet @KiwiPlantGuy and @sorce ?

I was learned (i read if you prefer) that the sooner you have a lot of sacrifice branches, the more the trunk will grow. 5 sacrifice branches growing well will make bigger trunk than just one crown growing well
 

vaibatron

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you wouldn't work on the nebari yet @KiwiPlantGuy and @sorce ?

I was learned (i read if you prefer) that the sooner you have a lot of sacrifice branches, the more the trunk will grow. 5 sacrifice branches growing well will make bigger trunk than just one crown growing well


Maples are apical, and at this stage grow more efficiently when the central leader is left alone. Unless of course you want a pencil thin trunk.

Next spring put the roots on a tile and Stick it in the ground.
 

BigBen

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Would this (let it grow very tall) approach be the same for a Trident Maple, or is it better to cut them back a bit?
 

pbrown00

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I agree with Sorce here. Let them grow a 6 foot high trunk then after a couple of seasons chop and start again, over and over til you get a trunk girth you want to start pre-bonsai with, say 2 inch plus.
Charles
Thanks for the advice! If no cutty, should I just wire it in place so that it won't keep falling over as it grows taller?
 

clem

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Maples are apical, and at this stage grow more efficiently when the central leader is left alone. Unless of course you want a pencil thin trunk.
.
i could answer, in the same sarcastic manner as you do, that i ve never seen pencil thin trunk with big branches :cool::p:eek:o_O and the more sacrifice branches you have, the better conicity & smaler wounds you have in the future :p
 

clem

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To try to help you in a constructive way, @pbrown00 you can put your tree in the ground and water it every day, with the central leader, it will grow quick. But if you have time and prefer more elegant tree, you can repott it next spring in a flat and large woodboox with draining substrat (dunno what granular substrat you use in the US). With fertilisation and watering, it will grow and year after year you'll work on the nebari to get a good one. A better one than a palmatum from the ground.

Your pot now isn't good, because it is very deep and the roots will developp on the bottom of the pot.
 

KiwiPlantGuy

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you wouldn't work on the nebari yet @KiwiPlantGuy and @sorce ?

I was learned (i read if you prefer) that the sooner you have a lot of sacrifice branches, the more the trunk will grow. 5 sacrifice branches growing well will make bigger trunk than just one crown growing well

Hi Clem,
The growth hormone (Auxin) is strongest at the top, as in Apical dominance.
Great resources on this website, especially a tutorial on”growing trunks”.
There is only 1 trunk-type of bonsai to grow. Big girth tree equals believable bonsai tree using ratio 1:6 - 1:12, eg 2 inch trunk equals 12-24 inches height. To get a skinny stick to a 2 inch trunk will take you 3-5 years in deep pot or preferably in ground. Also nebari attaches via wooden board or ceramic tile screwed in place will be the way to go.
Hope that explains some of it.
Charles
 
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