Looking for a reputable online Japanese maple seller.

wondering how you guys find a deshojo and/or shin? i've literally been to all nurseries in NJ/NY area in the past 2 years, and most of known online shops are sold out.
 
Hi!

For JPM it really depends.
Sometimes the cultivar are the same, so you should have a tree with the same characteristic over and over but it depends!

By asking the ''best for bonsai'' what does it means for you? which one has the smallest leaves or will be the easiest to maintain in proper conditions where you live?

The more I learn about maples and the more I think about the conditions I can provide for the tree especially during winter, on the final size of the tree I want (Thu the importance of a smaller or bigger basic leaf size) and the color during a given season.
Leaf size is ''adaptable'' yes to a certain point but even among cultivar of Acer Palmatum you can end-up with a slightly different size of leaves ''naturally'' depending on a lot of factor.
As for example @Lorax7 is suggesting Katsura, for me my Katsura is the tree that tend to produce the biggest leaves of all tree in my small pre-bonsai collection. Whatever I do it always have a tendency to produce bigger leaves.

If you order online you will have to be flexible on the leaf size of the tree you will receive if you can choose a tree in particular ask for pictures of everything!
Whatever your choice the thing I try is to always gets cuttings and as much info's on the parent trees, no graft (I made the mistake once..)

There is obvious bonsai appropriate cultivars amongs Acer Palmatum specie but judging in terms of beauty and depending of the season! my favorite one's are (Personal taste):
-Sango-kaku (Always beautiful every seasons, easy to grow)
-Deshojo (Beautiful leaf color in Spring/Summer if you take time to look at it)
-Bloodgood / Emperor (Leaf's are impressive in autumn you can't miss it)
-Katsura (For summer color)


A Bloodgood emperor in term of leaves color. This tree is not my favorite one during summer / the tree is grafted....
I didn't really know what I was doing but the owner was about to throw it in the trash! So I saved it! its color is beautiful and steal the show at the end of Autumn.
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If I go by the leaf's size this little guy wins along with my Yuki Hime.
Its not a beautiful tree, color are not exceptional, green in summer yellowish to a flat red in Autumn, A simple Acer Palmatum but that has a unique characteristic it has naturally really small leaves! The biggest are about a quarter to the smallest about 10 cents sized leaves.
I did not prune the tree to attain this leaf size.


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I subscribed to Mr maple and this is starting to turn into an expensive hobby! So far I have ordered 3 but haven’t got them in yet. What soil do you use for container grown JPMs? Do you up pot them after receiving or wait till fall?
 
wondering how you guys find a deshojo and/or shin? i've literally been to all nurseries in NJ/NY area in the past 2 years, and most of known online shops are sold out.
Evergreen Garden works is mostly cuttings and a great supplier that I have used for 20 years. Mr Maple is quickly growing and becoming a leader in Grafted Maples
 
I subscribed to Mr maple and this is starting to turn into an expensive hobby! So far I have ordered 3 but haven’t got them in yet. What soil do you use for container grown JPMs? Do you up pot them after receiving or wait till fall?
If you are container growing maples for non bonsai use, I recommend a mix of 3 parts high quality potting mix, 2 parts sifted pine orchid bark, and 1 part Pumice.

for bonsai either 50% akadama 25% lava 25% Pumice
Or
80% akadama 20% kiryu
 
If you are container growing maples for non bonsai use, I recommend a mix of 3 parts high quality potting mix, 2 parts sifted pine orchid bark, and 1 part Pumice.

for bonsai either 50% akadama 25% lava 25% Pumice
Or
80% akadama 20% kiryu
excellent, yea I was thinking to use orchid mix instead of pine bark nuggets. mini pine bark nuggets are really inconsistent. miracle grow has a trees and shrub mix that's mostly pine barks too but probably needs to be sifted.
 
Evergreen Garden works is mostly cuttings and a great supplier that I have used for 20 years. Mr Maple is quickly growing and becoming a leader in Grafted Maples
Interesting. Thanks. I didn't know evergreen garden's maples are not grafted. will have an eye on them. I've got pretty much all of J maples from Mrmaple. I was lucky to score a deshojo from them last week but it had a rough shipping experience. Will see how that goes.
 
excellent, yea I was thinking to use orchid mix instead of pine bark nuggets. mini pine bark nuggets are really inconsistent. miracle grow has a trees and shrub mix that's mostly pine barks too but probably needs to be sifted.
I use this. It’s pure pine bark and it’s sifted to the perfect consistent size. It’s really incredible how consistent it is.

 
I ordered 3 from Mr maple, Arakawa, Aureum and Maiku Jaku. Arakawa needs to be air layered the other two are garden trees so graft should be fine. I may end up planing the arakawa in the garden too.
 
If you are container growing maples for non bonsai use, I recommend a mix of 3 parts high quality potting mix, 2 parts sifted pine orchid bark, and 1 part Pumice.

for bonsai either 50% akadama 25% lava 25% Pumice
Or
80% akadama 20% kiryu
Is it ok to use miracle grow potting mix or it has too much fertilizer? Should I use peat instead?
 
Is it ok to use miracle grow potting mix or it has too much fertilizer? Should I use peat instead?
I think either would be fine. If container growing as a garden tree you don’t care about as many of the variables as if growing for bonsai.

With that being said, I like to use the happy frog mix because I like to take a more “organic” approach with my gardening.

You will probably see more coarse growth with miracle grow mix, but it will probably be fine to use just be conscious of adding additional fertilizer.
 
What’s your thoughts on this japonicom? Are the girdling roots big problem? I’m planning to get it in ground.
 

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