Acer Palmatum Kashima progression -

[Gaitano]

Almost ten years——In the summer of 2014 I purchased a Acer palmatum Yatsabusa Kashima from Mark Comstock. Here’s a chronicle of its growth.

August 2014

February 2015

February 2017

February 2018

December 2022

May 2023

November 2023

 

[misfit11]

Very nice progression and work. It's got a very nice natural Maple feel to it. My only nitpick is that some of the internodes look a bit long and there is a lack of taper in the branches. This can, of course, be improved with cutbacks over time. Well done

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Bravo!

 

[Gaitano]

Thank you. Yes the refinement stage is where I’m going now that’s it’s been healthy for a few years. I had a set back in 2015 where I lost the apex. It spent a few years in a grow box. I’m at the stage now where I’m able to start cutting back long shoots to shorter internode growth, but this is going to take a few years. Hopefully that will help with taper in the long run. Bud pinching the last two springs has helped this process start.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

I really appreciate your photo sequence, it's hard to imagine maples trunking up that much in a pot. Not that you need it but considering @misfit11 comment here was a mark up that could be helpful. I think I should do the same with my trees , I'm just not as advanced as you are yet. Funny thing, I bought a similar one from Mark in 18 or 19 and killed it with the first root pruning, not so lol, but lol

 

[Dan W.]

Nice! Do you know if he's still selling stock? I haven't seen him on Facebook like I used to.

Do you have any photo's of the roots/nebari at re-potting? He seemed to excel at getting great radial roots on his cuttings.

 

[Gaitano]

Nice! Do you know if he's still selling stock? I haven't seen him on Facebook like I used to.

Do you have any photo's of the roots/nebari at re-potting? He seemed to excel at getting great radial roots on his cuttings.

I checked his page out recently and I’m not sure if he’s selling more wholesale or what. I bought a six pack of Kingsville boxwoods the following year. They are fantastic.

So I dug back into my archives and this went into a box in the spring of 2019 through 2020 and back in the pot in 2021. There were some big wounds that needed to heal because it lost a big back branch area, which also had to be rebuilt.
Spring 2019

November 2020

Spring 2021

 

[johnl445]

I checked his page out recently and I’m not sure if he’s selling more wholesale or what. I bought a six pack of Kingsville boxwoods the following year. They are fantastic.

So I dug back into my archives and this went into a box in the spring of 2019 through 2020 and back in the pot in 2021. There were some big wounds that needed to heal because it lost a big back branch area, which also had to be rebuilt.
Spring 2019
View attachment 519163
November 2020
View attachment 519164
Spring 2021

View attachment 519165

When you put this maple back in the box, What potting mix do you use from the photo? It looks like 100 percent acadama

 

[Dan W.]

I checked his page out recently and I’m not sure if he’s selling more wholesale or what. I bought a six pack of Kingsville boxwoods the following year. They are fantastic.

So I dug back into my archives and this went into a box in the spring of 2019 through 2020 and back in the pot in 2021. There were some big wounds that needed to heal because it lost a big back branch area, which also had to be rebuilt.
Spring 2019
View attachment 519163
November 2020
View attachment 519164
Spring 2021

View attachment 519165

Thanks! That last photo is exactly what I was hoping for.

 

[Gaitano]

When you put this maple back in the box, What potting mix do you use from the photo? It looks like 100 percent acadama

I did use all akadama and have used 100% since 2019 and its health has been much better than the 1:1:1 mix I used the first few years.

 

[Ruddigger]

Right on, I use that on my maples as well, they do great.

 

[Gaitano]

Spring 2024