Acer serrulatum

[Nickbb]

Came home from being away at work for a week and found these waiting for me. 5x little maples. The guy I bought them off on market place said they will grow well in qld. I was told there native to Taiwan. I think I will try the ziptie around the base method in attempt to fuse the trunk. Too much you tube after work while sitting in camp!.
I think the tops may need a trim as there about dry,.
Should I just let them grow or will I need to cut back and if so when? We have had a cold couple of weeks (single digit mornings) but I think winter will be done in a week or too up here.
Appreciate any help I'm very green

[melbrackstone]

Got any pics?

[Nickbb]

I will do shortly, I can't seem to get them up from my phone. I'll have to get on the computer

[melbrackstone]

Your phone pics are probably too large. If you have a graphics app you might be able to shrink them to "web-size" so they can be uploaded directly from your phone.

[Nickbb]

Im thinking they will go in a normal black pot for now or should I use something like an oil catch tub from bunnings?
I have some normal potting mix. should I add some crushed lavarock or sand to the mix? I also have some sphagnum, good or bad idea?
I also have some aquarium soil, I have never seen akadama but it seems to me to be the same principal. Aquarium soil is a baked product but small beads. ill post a photo. Its pricey but I have some already. I think I payed $50 for it, its made in Japan.

[melbrackstone]

Im thinking they will go in a normal black pot for now or should I use something like an oil catch tub from bunnings?
I have some normal potting mix. should I add some crushed lavarock or sand to the mix? I also have some sphagnum, good or bad idea?
I also have some aquarium soil, I have never seen akadama but it seems to me to be the same principal. Aquarium soil is a baked product but small beads. ill post a photo. Its pricey but I have some already. I think I payed $50 for it, its made in Japan.

I'd put them into a normal black pot for the next season, but not too big. Next season, if they're responding, you could give them a bit more room.

Your mix needs to be well drained, from my experience here in Brisbane the Japanese Maples don't much care for wet feet. That's why there's no need for sphagnum moss apart from some grated moss sprinkled over the top after repotting. You could trim the roots and spread them out a bit, with a cd or something flat under to make the roots grow flat. Everyone had a different idea on what a good mix is. Experiment and try your aquarium soil by all means. I'd use a mix of that and lava rock and maybe some potting mix or orchiata.

They should enjoy the cold weather, but you will probably have to get them used to the sun again after being in a post box for a week or so. Put them into a spot that's got part shade in the middle of the day, morning and afternoon sun should be ok. Over the next few weeks get them used to a bit more sun. I don't tend to leave my clumps in a hot space in summer, but they do ok with shade cloth over them in the worst of the heat.

I'd grow a clump, rather than tie them together, cos they're unlikely to be the same clone, and will likely have different growth patterns. Here's a youtube link to a search I did for Maple clumps: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... ump+bonsai

Good luck.

[Nickbb]

that video is the one that gave me the idea!

[melbrackstone]

OK, I thought you meant to try and fuse the whole trunk.

Should work well.

Check out shibui's and steven's posts on handling maple seedlings. Lots of info on this site.

[treeman]

A beautiful species which is more heat tolerant than palmatum but they have rather coarse growth and big leaves. Certainly worth a try.

[Nickbb]

I broke one before I even got it in the pot!
So I tried to wire it closed and help keep it upright, should I wrap the break in something? or just prune? The break is in the lower right corner where its heavily wrapped in wire. The rest of the wire is loose.

I ended up mixing potting mix, the aquasoil and perlite(only thing I could find locally) with a sprinkle of finely chopped sphagnum on top.

The little pot has a lot of holes in the base so put a piece of shade cloth in the bottom

[melbrackstone]

From my experience with JM's I'd say it won't shoot again from so low, so pruning it would not save it. If the break is only a partial one, you could try sealing it with some sort of putty or vaseline and then wrapping it. I would have done that before wiring it though, so unwiring it might just damage it more. You could try using vaseline over the wire?

When you prune it next,take some cuttings and at least you'll have some more to add to the clump later.