Japanese Maple nursery stock - looking for advices on next step

[marciz]

Hello everyone !

I am an absolute beginner, as my bonsai journey has started only a few months ago. Since then, I have acquired quite a few trees, at different stages of developement, from bonsai nurseries and general nurseries. After following a lot of posts on this forum, reading and watching tutorials and informative videos on the subject, I write here my first post looking for advices on the first step to take with a recently acquired Japanese maple nursery stock. It was sold with no information about a specific cultivar - which is my first, eventhough very subsidiary, question : do you have a guess on what cultivar could it be ? I know that there is a lot of variation in Acer Palmatum in general, but maybe someone more knowledgeable about the specie will recognize it. If not, I am very happy with how it looks so I'm fine.

My concern is about what could be done for this year. When I bought it, quite a few roots where on the surface without any soil on them. The nebari is not exceptionnal, even if on one side (which I guess would mean that it's not so good of a nebari) it's not bad. My first move was then to put some soil on them and more generally cover the nebari for now. My goal for next year is basically to repot it in a more inorganic soil suited for bonsai, as I have missed the window for this year.

Here is a general view, with long shoots looking for the sun (I guess ?) :



Therefore, my question is : could I prune it this year given the state of the tree ? I have read the big threads on this forum about pruning japanese maples, and learned that a good window could be in the next few weeks, at the end of spring/beginning of summer, as the first growth flush has stalled and the rest of the growing season would help with the recovery. But, my concern is about the general state of the tree.




As you can see, a good part of the leaves are damaged - I suspect it is from the tree being at the center of the nursery field, without any protection and exposed to the winds. Nonetheless, having seen the Jelle video about foliage damage on JP leaves, I am also thinking that the black dots on the interior of some leaves could also indicate an infection of some kind.

On the other hand, I find these year's growth quite strong, with some dense pads and lots of branches, which would made me think that the tree is quite vigorous.

My question is therefore about pruning it this year. I am hesitating between :
1) cutting just the long shoots to allow more light inside the canopy and leave any structural pruning for next year or the year after repotting
2) a more structural pruning if I am advised that the tree could take it well. I was thinking about doing the cuts in blue on the pictures
3) do nothing, be patient with my bonsai journey and just keep it alive until next year (I have had three others JP since starting a few months ago that are well).






On a more stylistic approach, I quite like the split trunk and the three secondary branches that come out of each (I find the transition fine and with some taper). I am thinking that maybe from them I could start building the third branches and develop a fuller canopy, or just cut one (two?) out of the tree to create some balance between one thicker leader and some smaller branches alongside it. I find that the secondary branches are quite low and could be a good start - one of the reason why I bought it but I may be mistaken. Also, now it is very symetrical, but it is because the tree was planted with an angle in the nursery. When repotted, it will be one vertical trunk and the other coming out closer to the soil, at around a 45 degrees angle.

At last, being that it was bought (55 euros) with my friends unexpectadly on the day of my birthday, I plan to keep the split trunk as it reminds me of that day. Nonetheless, I am open ton any advice stylisticly speaking about the tree, and would be glad to hear any commentary about it.

I hope I've been clear with my explanations. I know there are a lot of threads about pruning JP, and so I wrote this one more about the general assessment of the health of the tree for an eventual prunning, and for some stylistic advice from more knowledgeable growers.

Have a nice evening !

Marciz

 

[Epos7]

If it's not sold as a specific cultivar, then it's just an acer palmatum. And there's nothing wrong with that! Non-cultivars are said to be a bit more vigorous, and some of the nicest Japanese Maple specimens I've seen were non-cultivars.

Yours looks like some really great material. I'll leave advice on what to do with it up to the more experienced members. You may get some suggestions to air layer it into two separate specimens. I'm just getting into bonsai with Japanese Maples myself.

Enjoy!

 

[Piedmont Bonsai]

Your Japanese maple appears to have bad chlorosis in the leaves.

https://extension.usu.edu/forestry/trees-cities-towns/tree-care/causes-iron-chlorosis

I would do nothing until the leaves green up and you see healthy new growth on the plant. You should start fertilizing with a good fertilizer that contains a lot of micronutrients and iron. Also check the pH of your water to ensure it is not too alkaline.

 

[Shibui]

First thing I noticed was the pale leaves and prominent veins too. Definitely apply fertiliser and check water pH to try to turn that around before any other work. Also take care when watering to ensure the nursery soil does not stay too wet all the time. Root problems can sometimes cause similar signs in foliage.

When repotted, it will be one vertical trunk and the other coming out closer to the soil, at around a 45 degrees angle.

You mentioned one sided root system earlier. Will those roots allow the change of angle you want?. No point having a more vertical trunk line if that puts the main roots in the air. Both trunks appear about the same thickness so I guess that means you can tilt the trunk either direction so could even out the surface roots?
The low fork and subsequent branching could make good natural Japanese maple style trunk where main branches grow up then out with the tips forming foliage pads.

One concern is the long internodes in many of those branches. If you cut right back as indicated in the final pics that may not matter so much. Any secondary branches you leave should have all long internodes removed, even if that means pruning some shoots right off. New ones will grow pretty quick so removing these is only a temporary setback. Building structure from long, straight sections is quicker but you will probably regret it long term. I know I did.

Reiterate that Japanese maple without provenance is just Japanese maple. We can often tell what it is not but so many that are similar it's not possible to be sure. Added difficulty is that any seedling is a new and unique individual, even if it looks similar to an existing cultivar. This tree does not appear to be grafted so could easily be a seedling and, therefore, a new and unique individual.
A name will not make any difference to how your tree develops and what it looks like.

 

[marciz]

Thank you very much for your answers !

I am going to focus on bringing it back to better health and foliage. Do you have any advice on what kind of fertilizer could benefit this kind of situation and tree ? Right now I have some Biogold original (NPK 4-5-4) that I have put mixed in the surface soil that I've added to cover the roots. I also have a generalistic liquid fertilizer at an NPK of around 4-5-4 that is to be put every weak says the brand. Will that be enough ? I am kind of lost as to what NPK to use : I've read some people using NPK 25-25-25, so I still cannot distinguish what would be to much for a tree. That is why I've started with organic, relatively low NPK fertilizer on all my trees. But if this situation requieres a stronger one, I will adapt. Also, I have been researching since you replied and there seems to be fertilizer or treatement specially for iron chlorosis. I will be interested in knowing if anyone has experience using those products and if they are worth it, or if I should just stick to a good fertilizing regime and wait. As to watering I will keep an eye to avoid overwatering. A lot of my trees are still in nursery organic soil, so for the last months I've been trying to learn how to water them (with no critical consequences for now !).

As to Shibui question about the roots : the roots as they are would allow me that change. The way it was planted was quite strange, so I made a little drawing to illustrate it :



As you can see, the tree, eventhough it appears to come straight from the soil, is actually tilted on the side. The roots emerge at approximatly 90° from it, so there are no "air roots" so to speak (I don't know if this is the right terminology). The main problem in the nursery was that there seemed to little soil in the pot ! A big part of those roots coming at a 90° angle were over the soil, and even on the other side small surface roots were visible. That's why I covered everything from now.

Therefore, I think the tilting will not be a problem. Actually, I think it would give the split trunk a more interesting disposition, with one main vertical trunk and another going sideways. The problem I guess would be then the asymetry in the root spread. I am still very much a beginner as to assessing nebaris, but I thought that the side where the roots were out, could be a good start. But on the other side, there are basically no roots spreading. I don't know if that could be fixed with root grafting to equalize everything. I guess that will be determined next year when repotting.

Marciz.

 

[Shibui]

As to Shibui question about the roots : the roots as they are would allow me that change. The way it was planted was quite strange, so I made a little drawing to illustrate it :

Good to see the drawing of the roots. It confirms that it will be good to tilt the trunk so 1 is more upright. I suspect that tilt will give you better all round nebari. When you repot simply bend the roots on the left side to be more horizontal to match the right side.

Fertiliser: 25:25:25 is stronger in the container but the instructions will say dilute substantially which means when you apply it to the soil the effect will be similar to the biogold or any other fertiliser. High analysis fert is just so they can fit more into the container. Also usually works out cheaper per serve. It is all about dilution rates to end up applying the same real amount of nutrients to the soil and therefore to the roots.
Note that equal NPK is not desirable for plants. They never use the nutrients an that ratio. Something equivalent to 3:1:2 - (15:5:10 is the same ratio) - is the relative amounts that plants actually need for growth.

 

[rockm]

The single thing you need to do to this tree this year is simply keep it alive. Learn how to care for it. Rush ahead forcing designs on it and hard pruning at a bad time of year and you will regret it next year so will the tree

 

[marciz]

Thank you very much for your answers !

I will try to keep it alive and well, and maybe next year I will rewrite on this thread to show the work on the tree (if work there is).

Marciz