Just another Arakawa thread

petegreg

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I don't want to steal anyone's thread, so starting this.
This is my young A.p. 'Arakawa' acquired two years ago. On the first year it was repotted, better said slip-potted to bigger pot. The substrate is just a piece of stone and that time I didn't have time to do it better. I tried two air-layers, one took and one dried...
It's got some little nebari, shallow root system, I'll reveal it next spring, it'll be repotted into much bigger and deeper pot.
Here' re the naked pictures I took today. I like its upright habitat,
however I did apply some wire.

I'd like to ask you to help me pick the
front. There're no pictures from all 4 sides, I try to show the most interesting
ones. I somehow like D picture. Any comments and help appreciated.
Screenshot.jpg
 
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That does it, now I just HAVE to have this JM cultivar. I haven't seen any others I can recall with nicer fall color and it lends itself well to bonsai.
 
That does it, now I just HAVE to have this JM cultivar. I haven't seen any others I can recall with nicer fall color and it lends itself well to bonsai.
Believe me, I know this feeling. Concerning leaf colours there is many wonderful cultivars, but the cork bark really got me.
 
Thanks JWI. My desire is to make it better.
 
Nice! I would try to work with A or B. But the gentle curve in the trunk line could lend itself to all four.
 
That's a handsome little tree. If it were mine, I'd just let it grow for two or three years, with a little judicious pruning.
 
Nice! I would try to work with A or B. But the gentle curve in the trunk line could lend itself to all four.
Thank you, A is just opposite side to D, so I will pot it to a bigger oval and as time goes by it will show me...
 
Peter nice tree. I don't think I have yet met an arakawa I didn't like! How big are you aiming your finished image to be?

That's a handsome little tree. If it were mine, I'd just let it grow for two or three years, with a little judicious pruning.
Thank you both. I want to have it bigger, but for sure "one man tree". Some 70-80 cm, now it's 50.
 
It's time to cut back. You have some long internodes that you should remove. It takes a long time to develop a nice deciduous tree.
Thank you Adair. I did cut it back yesterday. Just light cosmetic pruning, didn't want to do deeper cuts in the fall, winters here can be harsh.

It's sometimes dilemma, prune it harder for internodes or let it grow for the trunk. Is there something in between? I know how JBPs are developed, some SB(s) let run free and we can play with the rest of a tree. Is this a good way to follow with deciduous trees?
 
Yes, sacrifice branches will develop girth. Problem is, if you let them run too long, you will get large scars.

Best way is to repeatedly "let grow, then cut back".
 
Yes, sacrifice branches will develop girth. Problem is, if you let them run too long, you will get large scars.

Best way is to repeatedly "let grow, then cut back".
Thank you. I'll inspect it closely in the spring. All the possibilities.
 
Peter, if you want a bigger tree is too early then to decide. I would plant this in a wooden box and let it grow to develop trunk thickness etc. Also remember that very subtle curves will disappear as the tree grows and matures. Any bends you may want, need to be made significant enough to be noticeable later on. You DO want to start working the nebari very early in the game.

Be mindful that arakawa does not produce as fine ramification as other Japanese maples do. They tend to be somewhat coarse. Because of this, it is better to work towards larger sized trees.

I you want a good sized trunk, you might be better off growing it in the ground for a few years. You can do the same in a container/grow box but the process will take a lot longer.
 
Peter, if you want a bigger tree is too early then to decide. I would plant this in a wooden box and let it grow to develop trunk thickness etc.
Thank you very much for response.
I will repot it in the spring , will use a big container. Unfortunately I can put it in the ground only in my mother's garden and it's 50 miles away from me. I've got some trees there, but they are not developing as good as I would expect. I suspect her dog of eating organic fertilizer pellets.:)
Also remember that very subtle curves will disappear as the tree grows and matures. Any bends you may want, need to be made significant enough to be noticeable later on.
I'll check it if the trunk is still bendable. If no there is always a way to chop and continue different direction. On the other hand I've seen some nice maples with a straighter trunks.
You DO want to start working the nebari very early in the game.

Be mindful that arakawa does not produce as fine ramification as other Japanese maples do. They tend to be somewhat coarse. Because of this, it is better to work towards larger sized trees.
Will do. After repotting I'll show what I have there.
I've noticed it's coarser than some finer maple cultivars, After early summer defoliation it responded well and got fixed for a while. But this technique won't be applied for next few years.


Thank you one more time. So the plan is:
1) spring repotting to a much bigger pot + root works
2) growing and feeding for next few years
3) when closing to being happy with the trunk I might need chop some portion of trunk (for taper, size reduction or movement) after having it air-layered.

This is gonna be my tallest tree here on my balconies and an experiment to see what can be achieved with container growing. I'll have to reorganize my shelves, provide it with lot of space, but it can be surrounded by many little shohins, so no big changes needed.
 
Thank you very much for response.
I will repot it in the spring , will use a big container. Unfortunately I can put it in the ground only in my mother's garden and it's 50 miles away from me. I've got some trees there, but they are not developing as good as I would expect. I suspect her dog of eating organic fertilizer pellets.:)

I'll check it if the trunk is still bendable. If no there is always a way to chop and continue different direction. On the other hand I've seen some nice maples with a straighter trunks.

Will do. After repotting I'll show what I have there.
I've noticed it's coarser than some finer maple cultivars, After early summer defoliation it responded well and got fixed for a while. But this technique won't be applied for next few years.


Thank you one more time. So the plan is:
1) spring repotting to a much bigger pot + root works
2) growing and feeding for next few years
3) when closing to being happy with the trunk I might need chop some portion of trunk (for taper, size reduction or movement) after having it air-layered.

This is gonna be my tallest tree here on my balconies and an experiment to see what can be achieved with container growing. I'll have to reorganize my shelves, provide it with lot of space, but it can be surrounded by many little shohins, so no big changes needed.


Plan sounds good to me. Just make sure that when you say "much bigger pot" you do not want to go too big this time around. You want to make sure soil dries well and does not stay too wet for too long. As the tree grows, you can size up your containers.

For more detailed maple root work, excellent threads have been created by members like markyscott and smoke. Also BVF on his website has a great article on maple root development. And of course you can always go to Bill's blog or his books for excellent maple bonsai development.

Your trunk looks bendable to me. I would use a good gage copper wire since it has better holding power. I would wrap it in floral tape or similar to give the wire a bit more longevity before it really starts to bite in.
 
Plan sounds good to me. Just make sure that when you say "much bigger pot" you do not want to go too big this time around. You want to make sure soil dries well and does not stay too wet for too long. As the tree grows, you can size up your containers.

For more detailed maple root work, excellent threads have been created by members like markyscott and smoke. Also BVF on his website has a great article on maple root development. And of course you can always go to Bill's blog or his books for excellent maple bonsai development.

Your trunk looks bendable to me. I would use a good gage copper wire since it has better holding power. I would wrap it in floral tape or similar to give the wire a bit more longevity before it really starts to bite in.

Thank you for all good info.
 
I think a good sized wooden "grow box" would work well. If you like the flaired bases, you could screw it to a board for a couple years. See MarkyScott's thread "Ebihara maples".

Don't completely defoliate. That's a ramification technique used once your structure is complete. You're not there yet.

Grow out and cut back. Grow out and cut back. Repeat after me: "Grow out and cut back"!
 
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