Complete Beginner - brought a nursery Acer Palmatum

[Jark]

Hi folks. I have been interested in Bonsai for a little while, but only really started looking into/learning about it recently. I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot and have brought a nursery Acer Palmatum with the intention of making it into a bonsai, I would of liked to get something more mature but there was limited stock in the places I visited, so figured I'd get something to get me going for now.

Am I right in thinking I should put it into a bigger pot for a couple of years to let it thicken up and grow? If so, what kind of pot? A deep training pot (Like this) or just a normal grow pot? I've seen some conflicting information on when to repot these, some people say to do it in winter when it's dormant and others seem to suggest early spring just as the buds are appearing. Which is it?

Should I be looking to trim it back now to a more useable height (it's currently about 77cm from the top of the soil to the top) and is it a good idea to do some wiring whilst it's young flexible or should I just leave it for now?

Also has anyone had any experience with this wire?
Is it cheap and useless or a good place to start?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I see you are in the UK. I do not know the UK climate regions, so I can not give you the date for the best time for repotting a tree. Normally in my climate I would repot a maple in early spring, after buds begin to swell but before the leaves begin to unfurl out of the buds. It is a short window of time where it is ideal to repot the maples.

IF your winters are mild, with no frost, you can repot anytime in winter.

Some have success with late summer, early autumn, especially in a mild climate. But for maples I prefer repotting in spring.

I would repot it to a shallow, grow out tray, large enough that it would hold the same or more media than the current tray. I use a mesh bottom tray that is 50 x 50 x 13 cm. This holds over 12 liters by volume of media. I would bury the roots, so that the top of the highest root is at least 1 to 2 cm below the surface of the media. This will allow the roots to develop and thicken, if you expose the roots on a young three they will not develop at the same speed as roots buried in the media, you may end up having to cut them off down the road. Bury the nebari on young trees.

Grow it out or start training now?
That is up to you. Describe the tree you would eventually want to have, then we can offer tips to get there. For a tree that finishes at 1 meter tall I would like to see a trunk that is at least 10 cm, and even better 15 cm in diameter. You grow the tree out until the trunk is the correct diameter for the finished tree. Once you begin pruning and training, the trunk will slow or stop increasing in diameter, so that once training begins, you pretty much are stuck with the diameter of trunk you have. For example, a pomegranate of mine added less than 1 cm of trunk diameter over the course of 40 years, when put into a small bonsai pot 40 years ago. The diameter was insufficient 40 years ago, and it is still insufficient. It needed to add 10 cm over that time to look good. It didn't happen.

So, decide what diameter trunk you want, that will determine when you start training. Grow it out until the trunk is the diameter you need.

 

[Sn0W]

I would say spring based purely on http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/AcerPalmatum.html. He's based in the UK and states in his guides whether the timings he list are from his own experience or not. If you want it to grow then I'd put it in the ground or a pond basket.

 

[sorce]

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