Very large Acer rubrum

[Bonsai Nut]

Out of everyone in the comments I think we are on the same page as far as this red line chop points you pointed out. I Intentionally left the three leaders long because most likely they will be lowered during the growing season but thought leaving more right now would help the tree recovery from all the trauma it Endured during the excavation process. I'm really just waiting for a good transition for each trunk to lower the tree a bit. I'll definitely get my chance during this summer.

If you decide to go this route, be very careful about inverse taper - and the likelihood that the tree will develop a thicker trunk where the three upper trunks join together.

 

[jeef16]

good luck on this! I'm growing a lot of acer rubrum myself currently! Apparently they respond decently to the more traditional maple techniques like pinching, once you start to get to refinement

 

[MMJNICE]

If you decide to go this route, be very careful about inverse taper - and the likelihood that the tree will develop a thicker trunk where the three upper trunks join together.

I doubt I'll cut back as short as your red lines so that should help to lessin the inverse taper i hope. I'm kinda playing it by eye for the time being.

 

[MMJNICE]

good luck on this! I'm growing a lot of acer rubrum myself currently! Apparently they respond decently to the more traditional maple techniques like pinching, once you start to get to refinement

I have a at least one red that has entered into refinement so all the traditional techniques are starting to be implemented with very good results . All that tree needs is a bonsai pot. Will be looking for one to repot into in a year or two when I get the ramification where I want it.

 

[MMJNICE]

Just a couple of updates on the maple. It’s been growing very strongly all spring and has been cut back three times as of today. First picture is before cut backs and the other pictures of cut backs I've made today. Didn't take pictures of the before today but im having a lot of double branches growing from one spot up top. It's coming along nicely so far and I haven't had the urge to do any hard prunning of the trunks to reduce the number or to make them smaller..... yet..

 

[MMJNICE]

 

[MMJNICE]

Also I like this little 5 inch shohin red maple though it's definitely deserved to been seen one's or twice

 

[MMJNICE]

View attachment 599075

Would like to get the leaf size reduced a bunch but that will come over the coming growing season and next couple of years. Overall im pleased

 

[MMJNICE]

Just a little update the larger red i can't wait till leaf drop so I can do branch selection and bring some of the vertical growing branches horizontal to complement the future design. They're is a lot of branches i can't really use too. But it has had a halfway decent growing season so far. I had a problem with black spot because I stopped spraying for it around late June. I thought I had it under control but that was not the case. It has mostly recovered so no real issues with that.

 

[MMJNICE]

I'm still debating on taking some of everyone's suggestions on future designs for the tree like possible airlayering the main trunk shorter or removing one trunk down to two main trunk lines. The shohin red maple i showed is doing a fairly good job keeping its internodal leaf distance tight and compact. It's still under 8" even though it had grown a bunch. That tree will need some serious branch selection this winter because I have branches going on top of each other. Ohh yea i dropped the grow box and broke it so i replanted it in this pink colander...

 

[MMJNICE]

Update on the large red maple. The fall colors are amazing on it. Really brilliant im pleased. The tree will get cut back pretty hard after leaf drop this fall. Probably take off the top 4 or 5 inches to the line. I don't understand why my photos all of a sudden are posting sideways? I've never had this problem before smh.. man this sucks

 

[MMJNICE]

This is where ill cut back probably if my photo is sideways sorry I haven't figured out how to fix it. Ok why is this photo not sideways??

 

[MMJNICE]

Tree hight is 36 inches right now so im trying to get the tree to be close to 30" inches

 

[KateM]

This is where ill cut back probably if my photo is sideways sorry I haven't figured out how to fix it. Ok why is this photo not sideways??View attachment 619387

Hi.
There is a bug in the system. It will be fixed during next site upgrade.
To get the pics post the right way ( the best way I found that works for me), take a pic in landscape format instead of portrait. You can crop it on the sides if you want, but it will post upright.
I am watching your progress with great interest.

 

[PA_Penjing]

I like this tree at the current height. It has a nice natural feel. If it were mine I’d trim just above the line you drew and give it more of a curve. Like a gumdrop type shape. Just like a street/park tree. Jealous of it. Would love to have that rubrum

 

[PA_Penjing]

In fact, if you ever want to sell it, message me

 

[Ininaatigoons]

Very nice trunk! That's a great place to start! My fear is the training pot is too small for this stage in development. It's a large tree and should have great big nebari. Also maple trees are good at using shallow pots that develop and exemplify the shallow root system. I would try to repot in a shallow grow box in the springAnd then you got three major branches coming out of the basically the same spot. I feel it may cause reverse taper at some point. If this were my tree I'd do a major trunk chop at about a foot up to bolster the taper. I love the thought of growing the native maple and as always look forward to the development of your beautiful tree.

 

[Ininaatigoons]

Mine was grown from a cutting in 2021. The top in it's entirety will be cut off or airlayered in a few more years. The tree is 32" wide and 48" tall the trunk is about 1". The present training pot is 18×24×3 sadly the trunk has no movement, but when it's chopped the trunk will gain taper and movement.

 

[MMJNICE]

Hi.
There is a bug in the system. It will be fixed during next site upgrade.
To get the pics post the right way ( the best way I found that works for me), take a pic in landscape format instead of portrait. You can crop it on the sides if you want, but it will post upright.
I am watching your progress with great interest.

The way I got the picture with the green lines on it right way up was i had to put the picture in the editor and draw a few lines on it then save the draft and post the draft. I got it figured out on the tuskmo Cypress page I just created. But thanks for the tip..