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Japanese Red Maple Micro Farm

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

This is my first Bonsai experiment...

I grittified the Hoffman Bonsai mix w/ the addition of composted bark from my grown from seed family heirloom maples' original soil and grow stone, I put this over a layer of pea to large bb-sized tumbled aquarium gravel which was prevented from escaping 2 large drainage holes (at least the size of quarters) by a fine copper diamond grate... not sure if I arranged their long roots appropriately. . I kind of placed them into respective divits and twisted them into spirals while integrating the finer but still very coarse granuales of the mix, the roots seemed fond of the mulchy bits in their last home so I let them cling to some of the original pieces rather then rinsing them bare.... Now, should I add some slightly larger river rock pebbles as a top coat? some even larger boulder looking fellas? I am leery of giving my now dwindling mold gnat foes (from other planting projects) access to composting materials.. What should I do? And what shoud I feed these guys? I saw they make special Japanese Maple Fert.... Ayuda me, por favor! (can't say "help me, please" in Japanese.. but I did shout BONSAI! as I dove into this project without my customary days of internet research and note taking, as I am in a rush to get them happy and keep them gnat free.

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Comments (5)

coppice
8 years ago
Soil looks OK. I have never been able to keep Japan maple indoors, light levels are too low, humidity is much too low, and it (indoors) gives no dormant season.

Cut some holes in the bottom of a margarine tub and slip soil into it and then into a garden bed.
coppice
8 years ago
In zone 5, and those were my trees, I might slip the seedlings out of their china-pot and into something frost-able. Like a tupperware pot with drains.

In four to eight weeks as it gets cold at night I would want something to serve as a cloche. it will need to come off in the morning and be covered at sunset. Eventually the soil will freeze and the cloche can stay in place will March or so.

The deal here isn't to protect it from freezing but from too many freeze-thaw cycles.

If you go to where ever you collected those wings from, seedlings there got nothin' for protection. Yours will not prosper for the protection.

The cloche is to keep cold-cold, and reduce damage from compacting snow-ice.
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What kind of Japanese maple -- ID please
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Comments (2)
Hi, very interesting tree! I would e-mail them (Sooner) a picture and ask them what it is because a) the shape of it has been trained in over many years and tells you nothing about the variety, and b) even with a close-up picture of a leaf (which is really the only thing that would help anyway), it still might be hard as you've acknowledged, as there are hundreds of Japanese maples, loads of them looking alike, and even an expert might have trouble. Also, many have been mixed and matched genetically over time so whether or not any one is even not-a-graft or an original species is impossible to tell sometimes unless you actually know.
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Red Emporer Japanese maple
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Comments (3)
Without photos, impossible to tell if there is any underlying problem for the lateness/lack of foliage......could be any of a number of issues. And not all JM's leaf out uniformly or at the same time. If you could supply pics and an explanation of soil/siting conditions, perhaps you will get more helpful responses.
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So I got this Japanese Maple
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Comments (4)
atropurpureum has become a generic name for a basic red japanese maple ... but if NOT grafted it may or may not be as red as some or it may be redder than some who knows what it will look like it will NOT be necessarily true to the "mother" tree...youse get what youse pay for ... My atro is a nice medium red in spring and fall and almost green in mid summer and rust color the inbetween times ...whether yours will follow suit is a good question ...It also may have been grown under shade cloth or in shade which would cause it to green up more...you will likely know next year ...one of the reasons saving your money and buying a named grafted variety from a reliable dealer local or internet is ALWAYS the best way to go.... but even then soil and summer hot conditions and placement can effect how much color you will get especially in mid summer
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Differing colors on nearby Japanese Maples
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Comments (1)
More important is the genetics of each plant. The seedlings have mixed heritage, and are different from each other and from the parent.
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coppice
8 years ago
There is no way to keep these trees indoors. They need to go outside, and live or die outdoors.
tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
8 years ago
They need to be outside. Once they lose their leaves they also do not need light. They can be over-wintered with protection in an unheated garage/shed. For protection a box of shredded dry leaves works well too.
Mike McGarvey
8 years ago
What Zone are you in or what large city is near you? That will make a difference on how you over winter them outdoors or in your unheated garage.

Mike

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