What to do with leggy maple

[KiwiPlantGuy]

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?

Hi pbrown00,
Yes for wire for movement, but not for wind and top heavy. My thinking is either bamboo or wood 1x1 or 2x2 inch or someone here on this website has used rebar with an 8 foot trident lol.
Charles

 

[vaibatron]

i could answer, in the same sarcastic manner as you do, that i ve never seen pencil thin trunk with big branches and the more sacrifice branches you have, the better conicity & smaler wounds you have in the future

Whatever hint of sarcasm you think you may have detected, is purely that of your own projection.

Would it have pleased you had I finished my post with a smiley face?

Alas! True sarcasm!


....But seriously, lighten up. It’s all peace, love and trees here.

 

[clem]

Whatever hint of sarcasm you think you may have detected, is purely that of your own projection.

lol if it wasn't sarcasm, it's worse, because it means that you do really think that by cutting this thin maple trunk and letting new buds to emerge and become sacrifice branches, it will stay like a pencil.. sorry but i don"t agree with you : a good bonsai take time to grow in a nice way.
And concerning your proposition about putting a smiley at the end of the post, yes it is far better to let people understand you better

 

[pbrown00]

Hi pbrown00,
Yes for wire for movement, but not for wind and top heavy. My thinking is either bamboo or wood 1x1 or 2x2 inch or someone here on this website has used rebar with an 8 foot trident lol.
Charles

So you wouldn't wire it to keep it upright? Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you mean; should I instead attach sticks to keep it from falling over? Also, is there any point in wiring for movement at this point, or would it be useless because the tree is so young?

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

So you wouldn't wire it to keep it upright? Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you mean; should I instead attach sticks to keep it from falling over? Also, is there any point in wiring for movement at this point, or would it be useless because the tree is so young?

Hi pbrown00,
My two attempts to explain this are my best guesses as I am a newbie at designing etc.
1. In the resources section, green drop-down tab, is a tutorial on growing trunks in sections.
2. Because this new tree/cutting is so young you could carefully add some wire low down (in the first 3 inches) to give a curvy trunk start, or when you repot this, plant on an angle to get bendy bottom start. The plant on angle option would be way safer, than scarring or breaking trunk.

So to answer your question in a non-confusing way, either use bamboo as stick support in a big bucket/pot or plant in ground for next 3-5 years with stick to support growth etc AFTER couple of years for nebari development.
Only the nebari would be a problem if you don’t use a shallow box or tray for first 1-3 years, chopping roots growing downward each repot, each year if growing vigorously, or after 2 years if not ( can use a stick to hold upright etc as lots of trunk movement makes roots difficult to grow).

Hmm, ramble says many years in large bucket/ground to build trunk girth ( say 2 inch plus), then trunk chop, grow a year, chop, grow another year, chop, etc then build branches after.
Whew, does that help, and sorry if I have repeated myself lol.
Charles

 

[M. Frary]

Put it in the ground for fastest growing.
Bucket for fast growing for a couple years.
Whichever,just let it grow.
Dont cut a thing off of it for maximum speed in reaching your projected girth.
At 2/3 of the diameter of desired thickness chop it.
The next spring pull it and work the roots.
Put it back and let it grow a couple more years.
Repeat everything above.

 

[vaibatron]

Put it in the ground for fastest growing.
Bucket for fast growing for a couple years.
Whichever,just let it grow.
Dont cut a thing off of it for maximum speed in reaching your projected girth.
At 2/3 of the diameter of desired thickness chop it.
The next spring pull it and work the roots.
Put it back and let it grow a couple more years.
Repeat everything above.

@clem .... what he said.

OP, If you want to grow the trunk out, cut nothing and put it in the ground.

Done this both ways, many times.putting in the ground And forgetting about it for a few years will save you time.

 

[pbrown00]

Thanks for all the advice! I have other maples in the ground, so I plan to use this tree as an experiment and repot it a grow box with some fast-draining substrate.

 

[TooCoys]

Well I cut my little seedlings. They're now only about a foot tall each. We'll be able to see what they look like when we compare them next summer.

I dont plan on pruning them again for another year.

 

[TooCoys]

Just for fun though... I don't see anything wrong with this. It's satisfying to look at for me.

http://www.easternleaf.com/Japanese-Green-Maple-Bonsai-Tree-p/804390-03.htm

 

[M. Frary]

Just for fun though... I don't see anything wrong with this. It's satisfying to look at for me.

It is now.
Give it a couple years.
You'll see that's the definition of a stick in a pot.

 

[pbrown00]

It is now.
Give it a couple years.
You'll see that's the definition of a stick in a pot.

Actually, I think this is the definition of "stick in a pot."


Not sure what it is, but I got it to root in my sandbox over this last winter.

 

[just.wing.it]

Ground.

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Ground.

What he said lol

 

[pbrown00]

Thanks for the suggestions, but I have enough sticks-the-ground. I don't really have big plans for this one; it's kind of a novelty that I enjoy looking at. I'll post pics of the bush/tree I got it from because I still need to figure out what it is.

 

[clem]

@clem .... what he said.

OP, If you want to grow the trunk out, cut nothing and put it in the ground.

Done this both ways, many times.putting in the ground And forgetting about it for a few years will save you time.

i've done it 8 years ago with an acer palmatum beni tsukasa, i planned at the beginning to work on the nebari every years or 2 years, but i forgot to do it (so easy to forget trees in the ground) so it was worked on the nebari only twice in 8 years. The trunk has conicity, because of multiple big sacrifice branches and the nebari is large but not very nice (because of big roots not cut at time)

What i learned after that experiment is that yes it grows quicker in the ground but it is important to work on the nebari frequently (IMO every year or 2 years) and not let the sacrifice branches become too big because the scars will be big too.

That's why, i advise @pbrown00 to try a flat wood box to make a nice tree in more years but better quality

 

[clem]

It is now.
Give it a couple years.
You'll see that's the definition of a stick in a pot.

Yes but for me it is because he didn't cut at 1 or 2 inch above the soil, but too high. It would have been the same in the ground if you cut too high : a vertical trunk with a lack of conicity.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Before this gets too leggy, I wire it.

 

[bonsaichile]

i could answer, in the same sarcastic manner as you do, that i ve never seen pencil thin trunk with big branches and the more sacrifice branches you have, the better conicity & smaler wounds you have in the future

that's not true. every sacrifice will leave a scar. The more sacrifices= the more scars. And if you grow branches now, they will be to thick to be proportinate once you hace a decent trunk

 

[pbrown00]

Before this gets too leggy, I wire it.
View attachment 202972View attachment 202973

What is the point of wiring such a young seedling?