Atropurpurem, cpl yrs

[SnowfallenGarden]

Got some pretty cool "atropurpurem" from a friend, They are about 15" tall, 1/4-1/2" trunk
I have seen some slender maples dressed up to look pretty nice even though needing work. Which I may do, for aesthetics.

trunk fattening and Ramification are what Im wanting to work on in the next couple years. I know I could plant in ground, and that would help fatten trunk.
My actual question is about Ramification.
I hear Japanese Maples dont like full defolation very much, and to defoliate around early-mid june probably. maybe 1/4 defoliation of the cpl trees, if their showing constant healthy growth until then.
is there an earlier time some one has defoliated?
would defoliation help ramification on them?
Or should I fertilize and try and get good growth to see if this fattens up trunk faster, then cut sacrifice branches and aim to grow for ramification?

 

[Victorim]

no one can tell you anything until you get some pics up to show what your referring to.. and the two don't normally go hand in hand..

 

[Victorim]

Bah, ive had a few and need to go to bed.. I didnt mean to sound negative.

Defoliating is a good way to reduce leaf size, ie for showing, but thats not your aim here. Ramification would be helped along by cutting the terminal growth, not defoliating, but if your goal is thickening this will slow that alot.

Post some pics answers a lot of "depends on" stuff.

 

[SnowfallenGarden]

not upset, no worries!
Its Bonsai!
!!Good Vibes!!
although got low batteries on the phone...
Ill post pics in the AM

 

[SnowfallenGarden]

So while posting this topic, there was no wire on the 1 tree. After I brought them in the house to take pictures of and realised my phone was too dead to manage.
So I let them sit and a couple hours later I wired the one up with the branches that were pretty close together. It looks like there is a bud growing in that v ( there isnt, one should grow there tho hopefully)
Didn't take anything off or trim anywhere.
They are young
So I'm gonna let em grow for a while.
Here they are!!

 

[Cattwooduk]

I love atropurpureum, I got a couple in my front garden I'm growing out.
If you want both trunk thickening and ramification then you're going to have to do the trunk thickening first, and atro's grow pretty slowly so I would recommend sticking it in the ground or a decent size container for a while. Defoliating it won't help with trunk thickening at all and will just slow down it's development all round at the moment!

 

[SnowfallenGarden]

Yea, that's what I was thinking. So I will have to choose whether to put it in a pot to grow or ground and when best to put them in their respective places. My favorite thought is pot, since I may move next year or the year after.
I think it's too late to repot without slowing growth so I will wait til it's time again.

Will just keep watering and fert for now though.