Koto Hime Maple Progression

[Darth Masiah]

Mine are scrawny with ridiculously small leaves and barely grows at all.

you could try tweaking your grow style a little. one time i grew some plants and they turned out shit. so i looked at what my peers were doing to achieve the results i wanted to see and tried to apply what techniques i could to improve my particular situation. it's probably just because you're living in a rotten piece of fruit

 

[dbonsaiw]

you could try tweaking your grow style a little

I’ll take a look to see what folks are doing with koto hime. My other maples all grow tremendously. I know these can be slow growers, but….

 

[andrewiles]

I've noticed that if you root a cutting, but it only barely survives, it can continue to be weak for at least several seasons after. If you are growing from cuttings that's worth keeping in mind. With one of those it can be better to throw it away and try again. I rooted some Goshiki Kotohime hardwood cuttings and saw a vast difference between several of them across seasons.

 

[clem]

repot. a little movement at first goes a long way later.




march '23 to march '24
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see you again in two years

For me, it is a jewel .. it's difficult to believe that it is the same tree on the left (march 2023) and on the right (march 2024).

 

[Maiden69]

I agree this thread definitely makes me want to get a Kotohime.

Maybe some one @Darth Masiah should start selling some...

Wow, my koto hime just don't look like that. Mine are scrawny with ridiculously small leaves and barely grows at all.

I bought one from MattO spring 2021, when I knew nothing about growing things for bonsai and planted it in Akadama/pumice/lava in a pot. Fast-forward 3 years and the tree is the same as you mention yours is... I repotted it last week into one of my Rootpouch in very free flowing soil (50 monto clay / 50 bonsai block from Bonsai Jack) and it will be force fed to ensure max growth. Everything JM there is the koto, except the two red circles that are the mikawa.



@Darth Masiah I was planning on taking some cuttings from mine but after reading your thread I missed the window by a lot! So hopefully next year.

 

[Darth Masiah]

I've noticed that if you root a cutting, but it only barely survives, it can continue to be weak for at least several seasons after. If you are growing from cuttings that's worth keeping in mind. With one of those it can be better to throw it away and try again. I rooted some Goshiki Kotohime hardwood cuttings and saw a vast difference between several of them across seasons.

this is a big factor, too. I'm sure a lot of cuttings have been sold that were taken from weak trees. i started noticing this type of stuff super quick growing annuals.

 

[Darth Masiah]

every week i give these cuttings a watering for gas exchange. i packed this one a little tight, so callus formation should be good, but water is flowing through really slow. have to make sure i separate them as soon as leaves are getting close to hardening off, or roots will start comming out unhappy because there's no room.




the lone tossher it might not even wake up.

 

[Perplexody]

I really miss my kotohime, it didn't make it through it's first winter because of some early warmth and late cold a few years ago I'll have to try and hunt down another chunky base one

 

[dbonsaiw]

Fast-forward 3 years and the tree is the same as you mention yours is.

I got mine from a reputable seller, but the leaves and growth rate are not like darths. They were cuttings I believe. These leaves are really mini.

 

[dbonsaiw]

If the Wookies ship from Kashyyk, I think you have takers.

 

[Darth Masiah]

those are some tiny leaves. this cutting from Brussels has always wanted to push growth out when the roots get established. the year i repot it usually moves slow.

 

[Darth Masiah]

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Just watched your video. You are an excellent grower. You have a professional looking nursery. Very Nice, And great work propagating all those maples from one tree in less than 5 years. (first post in this thread was 2018, so I assume you were working with this maple only about 5 years)

 

[WavyGaby]

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Nice set up. How often do you have to water the maples in the colanders in summer? Super work on the first little one in the video.

 

[Darth Masiah]

Just watched your video. You are an excellent grower. You have a professional looking nursery. Very Nice, And great work propagating all those maples from one tree in less than 5 years. (first post in this thread was 2018, so I assume you were working with this maple only about 5 years)

i actually took my first cuttings, the ones in blue colanders, in spring 2019, so they're 5 years old. the main tree i chopped the top off of i got in 2015, and i airlayered it in 2016. those big ass roots are like 8 years old.

 

[Darth Masiah]

Nice set up. How often do you have to water the maples in the colanders in summer? Super work on the first little one in the video.

at least once a day. I'll water in the afternoon on exceptionally hot days. you have to be on point. the leaves will tell you the first time it doesn't get enough water, and then you can plan accordingly.

 

[leatherback]

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zubbed. Goodwork there.

 

[19Mateo83]

I would be happy if I could get mine to grow half as good as yours do. Seriously, fantastic job pushing those maples to their full potential. I’m jealous AF

 

[Darth Masiah]

at about a months worth of growth. gave everyone some Recharge microbe/kelp mix.




tri force power
dryed sulfer/yucca spray on the leaves trying to fight fungus and mildew

 

[Maiden69]

you're just 1/2 a zone above me and your spring new growth colors are amazing. Can it be the lack of sun on mine, since I always had them under the shade of the bigger trees and now receives very little sun in the patio I have it