Large Trident Progression

[Rodrigo]

I like the more angled/horizontally emerging woody shoot. I think for a tree with such a nice base and exaggerated taper a really abrupt change in direction would add a lot of interest in the upper trunk section. That’s just my opinion though, I’m interest to hear what other more experienced members think.

With some wire you can make use of the angle it comes out of the trunk section below it and then direct it into a more appropriate angle/shape that you might be envisioning if you use that more vertical shoot.

Thanks for the input Sean, I appreciate it! I think you're right that the new bud is too straight up for such a nice base. I'll keep that in mind

 

[Rodrigo]

The last few days I've been doing some work on this trident. It'd been two years since the last repot so I went ahead and did a full repot to keep improving the roots.

They hadn't quite filled the pot all the way as it is a pretty large pot but they were very healthy and had just started growing.

This is after trimming the roots back some. You can see where the old soil line was and there is another 2" of trunk I was able to expose this time.


Removed all roots from the underside of the trunk and back into the same pot.


During last year's freeze, a branch from a yard tree fell on this trident and scarred the right side of the trunk and chipped the pot on the rim. Instead of trying to hide the chipped edge, I thought it went well with the scarred trunk so I put the chip on the front. Here it after repotting. You can see how much more tunk i uncovered-the nebari went from 7" to 9".


And the scar:


After repotting it I thread grafted the first three branches (bottom branch, right branch, and back branch) using last year's growth. The pictures don't show the grafts well since they're in 2-D but I went ahead and wired a bit of movement on the new branches.



I'll be keeping an eye on the wire to make sure it doesn't bite in. I will rub off the buds before the graft pointas soon as it starts growing and will begin fertilizing heavy in 4-6 weeks.
Looking forward to seeing how it keeps improving.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

What are the dimensions on that pot, including depth? I need a deep one and that looks about right.

 

[james]

This is an awesome start, very interested to your progress. Keep us posted!

 

[Rodrigo]

What are the dimensions on that pot, including depth? I need a deep one and that looks about right.

This pot is 18.5" L x 15.5" W x 4" tall. Good luck with the search! I got lucky with this one and got it heavily discounted a few years ago

 

[Gaston]

Good job!!!

 

[Rodrigo]

This tree is the last of my trees to leaf out but I finally have buds moving.
At the end of last year I had some fungal issues at the tip of the branches. To try fix it, I sprayed it with dislited lime sulfur as soon as I saw green on the buds to hopefully take care of the issue. Anyone know what it was?


Buds are looking pretty healthy so far but the buds at the tips of the branches are a little behind the rest.

 

[mapleX]

Hi Rodrigo, how are those grafts going?

 

[Rodrigo]

Hi Rodrigo, how are those grafts going?

HI Maple,

Of the 3 grafts, 1 failed and 2 succeeded! I thought it was ready to remove from the parent branch because it was way thicker than the entrance and was very calloused at the exit point but overnight the branch died and fell off.

The other two I waited an extra month before removing them and are doing well. I just pruned and wired them into place today and also pruned the leader back since it was coming out directly to the front of the trunk. I'll redo the graft that failed and do another one for the next section of the trunk next spring.


I'm having fungal issues though that I haven't been able to control. The leaves turn a weird green color and then every now and then all the new buds turn black and die then come back a couple weeks later. That's why I hadn't pruned them until now. If anyone has any idea of what it is or how to stop it I'd appreciate it!
This last picture is after the buds turn back and die, the tips always look like this when it start growing again. Same issue I've had since my post in March

 

[Rodrigo]

This trident is doing well but I could use some opinions on the next leader.
I had a bud pop on its own practically in the perfect spot, BUT it grew from a stub I left from the grafts, not on the actúa trunk. Is it viable to use this bud as the new leader or should I graft onto the actual trunk in the spring?

It's kind of hard to take pictures but here are a few angles


I'm not sure how it will look once it thickens up and the chop is made. Is it too low? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[leatherback]

I had a bud pop on its own practically in the perfect spot, BUT it grew from a stub I left from the grafts, not on the actúa trunk. Is it viable to use this bud as the new leader or should I graft onto the actual trunk in the spring?

You have me confused. What happened to the branch that you were growing out as next section of the trunk, with which you also put the grafts on? Why did you remove that completely and not use as next section?

Grafts are typically weaker than the normal branches. I suppose however if you let this grow out, it should work. It sits too low in my opinion

 

[clem]

Is it too low? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

If the stub on the top the tree is dead, you won't be able to graft a new crown on it to create a new apex above this shoot.. So if the top stub is dead, your only solution is to let this shoot grow, imo

 

[erich_raudebaugh]

Maybe just let everything grow for a season before worrying about more chops. You'll have time to think about it. I'd thread graft new roots to fill in gaps, the success rate is pretty high for maples. Perhaps give the roots another year to grow because you cut them hard last year, but there's no other reason to delay root grafting.

 

[Rodrigo]

You have me confused. What happened to the branch that you were growing out as next section of the trunk, with which you also put the grafts on? Why did you remove that completely and not use as next section?

Grafts are typically weaker than the normal branches. I suppose however if you let this grow out, it should work. It sits too low in my opinion

I only grafted 3 branches, none of which were for the next leader section. Of those three branch grafts, only 2 took, which are the two in the pictures.
This new branch I'm pointing out came from the stump I left from the parent branch, but that one was also only for grafting purposes and was cut off when the grafts were severed, it was never meant to be the next leader.

I do appreciate the input though! I figured it was too low but I'm glad to get a second opinion

 

[Rodrigo]

If the stub on the top the tree is dead, you won't be able to graft a new crown on it to create a new apex above this shoot.. So if the top stub is dead, your only solution is to let this shoot grow, imo

I believe it's still alive but I need to double check. As of a few months ago it was still green but I hope it's still alive by spring when I do the grafts

Good point though, definitely need to be sure before I make a decision

 

[leatherback]

I only grafted 3 branches, none of which were for the next leader section. Of those three branch grafts, only 2 took, which are the two in the pictures.

I was referring to this one:

 

[MHBonsai]

Mine get similar fungal issues when I work them too hard too fast. Need to recover from the repot with lots of heathy growth and it likely will have less fungal/tip dieback.

 

[Rodrigo]

I was referring to this one:
View attachment 456963

Ahh, gotcha. I'd tried using that as the next leader but it came out of the trunk too horizontally to look good so I opted for using it as a grafting branch and then I'd graft a better angle next year

Mine get similar fungal issues when I work them too hard too fast. Need to recover from the repot with lots of heathy growth and it likely will have less fungal/tip dieback.

Interesting. Thanks for the tip, I'll look into that.
To be honest, compared to some of the work I see on here, I'm taking it very slow. Since it doesn't get as much sunlight as I wish it would, it grows relatively slowly (for a trident) so I can't do too much even if I wanted to lol. Not getting enough sunlight may have to do with the fungus though

 

[Rodrigo]

A few days ago I went ahead and did round 2 of grafting this trident. Since last year I cut the right branch graft too soon, I tried it again but this time I'll make sure to give it plenty of time. I also applied systemic fungicide to try to prevent the issues I've been having the last couple of years.



I made sure to leave buds close to the graft to prune back to. You can kind of see the scar from last year's attempt right next to the new brach.

I also grafted the new leader. Unfortunately the top of the tree died back after I cut back last year's graft so I couldn't take advantage of most of the taper of the stump and had to graft as high as I could within the live section.



This is always my last tree to bud out. It's just starting to bud now when most of my other trees have been growing for a few weeks. I have also recently moved from an apartment to a house with a yard and the bench I built gets double the amount of sunlight as last year, I hope that helps to reduce the internode length as they're rather long.





With that being said, how should I be fertilizing considering I'm already working branching on some parts but also growing out the next section?

 

[leus]

I have also recently moved from an apartment to a house with a yard and the bench I built gets double the amount of sunlight as last year, I hope that helps to reduce the internode length as they're rather long.

Sunlight should also help with fungal issues I bet.