AusBonsai

legoman_iac wrote:Bahaha ... I just realised I misspelt the heading of this thread, my apologise ... should be "dire" not "desire".

Fixed for you
Ken

Magic! Thanks Ken!!!

Hey AusBonsai-ers,

Wondering if I can get some further feedback ... was looking at this poor maple this evening and realised that the exposed roots are quite exposed. Looking through old pics it was never this exposed. Should I pack on some soil to help it out (see below highlighted pic) or are these roots not going to benefit? This tree had moss and soil in and around the roots back at the beginning of the year and just wondering if that would help?

Or should I stick with "seasol and wait for new leaves, then repot" apprach?





- Daniel

If it was mine I'd slip it out of the bonsai pot without disturbing the roots and pot it in a larger black plastic pot with fresh soil under and over the roots and keep up the seasol. Then if its still alive look at putting it back in bonsai pot next winter and keep it planted deeper than it currently is in the pot. And don't keep it inside. Unless its a ficus, bonsai do not belong inside.
Cheers

I have lost a spectacular slo plum tree. It went from full green foliage to dead over night. I never knew the cause. It was like some one had poisened it. I defoliated it and treated it with seasol. The tree is dead. I have had new growth come out from base of dead trunk on some living roots. I have decided to let the new growth grow on and I will use the old dead trunk as some deadwood and train the new growth into the dead wood. You always have to look for a positive from a lost tree. I recently lost a spruce I have spent many years training. It got sick and just slowly died. Maybe to much full sun or root rot. I have left it go for a bit as their is always a chance for a recovery. Tridents are very resilient. Defoliate dead bits right away. Lots of seasol. Repot when it's dormant. You may be lucky. Good luck. Keep us informed of its progress. It most likely may push for new buds with in 3 weeks. I just had exact same thing happen to a small silver birch tree. Defoliated and fed seasol. All new buds with in 3 weeks.

Thanks for the input, so we have:

+1 maintain current treatment
+1 slip pot and current treatment

I'll need to get a bigger boat (hehe sorry, jaws quote) ... bigger pot on the weekend.

Also not sure I defoliated correctly (first timer). I looked online, and originally tried pinching the leaves though being quite dry not sure I did it right. Free weeks ago I also trimmed back the ends of about half the branches, to hedge my bets.

My understanding (which I'm not confident with) ... is when you pinch to defoliate, the branch will correctly register that the leaf is dead/gone and sprout new growth from the base of the leaf's stem, where as cutting a branch can cause the end third of the branch to die back to the previous "node"? Is this right? I haven't noticed much die back of the cut branches, hence my doubt.

Be great to clarify this if possible.

Thanks,
Daniel

At this stage you don't need to worry about trimming/pinching back right or wrong. If the tree is still alive it will produce buds at its own discretion. As for your trimming question, Its all relevant to species, different needs for different trees and timing. Best to look up care of the paticular tree you are working on at the time, or join a club for more info. The most important thing is to work on a healthy tree. A tree in poor health is already under stress best to leave things like trimming/leaf removal etc... to the following season or insome cases two seasons.

legoman_iac wrote:
Also not sure I defoliated correctly (first timer). I looked online, and originally tried pinching the leaves though being quite dry not sure I did it right. Free weeks ago I also trimmed back the ends of about half the branches, to hedge my bets.

I have updated the wiki page on defoliation for you
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... efoliation

To defoliate, Cut the leaf off by severing the petiole 1/2 way.

ps. I would bury those unsightly roots completely. Hopefully they might layer themselves at the top near the base of the trunk and then the next repot you can remove them completely and rebuild a nice flatter nebari

Ken

Thanks for the reassurances. Aiming to slip pot tomorrow and will then play the waiting game.

Ken, thanks for updating the wiki ... that's a good summary of what I've been reading online.

- Daniel

Quick update: have slip potted the mapple into a new pot from Bunnings, said UV protected - not sure what that means, guess the tree won't get sunburnt? This was the only pot I could get, it is massive!!! Going to be tricky to soak in seasol, need to use either a bucket or the bath tub I think.



- Daniel S

Much better you could still cover the exposed roots as the soil will settle lower in a week or two as you water. UV just means the plastic pot will last a bit longer outside before it becomes brittle. Nothing to do with regards to protecting the plant.
Cheers

Thanks Kirky. I've just added some more soil this morning, and seasol'd it too. Though could not dunk it as the pot is too big, so just poured a chunk in.

Will update again if/when leaves appear, hopefully soon.

- Daniel

have you tried scratching the bark back to check where you still have live wood? might give you an idea how to proceed when/if the tree bounces back.

Daniel

No need to soak anymore, that was just for the inital start to try and revive/kick start the roots. Seasol is a good overall tonic for plants.
I noticed that this pot looks to have a saucer built in? If so just mind how often you water as it is easy to over do it as the tree has no leaves at the moment it wont draw that much water let it dry out a bit (not too dry) between watering you dont want to rot the roots especially if its sitting in water with the saucer. I know its confusing too dry dead tree to wet dead tree...
I once saved a Bonsai Trident Maple for a work colleague, she then took it home sat it in a tray of water and basically drowned it.
Now for patience, time will tell.
Cheers

Naimul wrote:have you tried scratching the bark back to check where you still have live wood? might give you an idea how to proceed when/if the tree bounces back.

I scratched the trunk the other day, still green. How far up should I scratch? What do I do next? Assumed just wait now for new leaves?