Acer palmatum sharp's pygmy [#07]

[Dabbler]

There's bonsai and then there's bonsai!

 

[roberthu]

It is soft not the baked stuff. It starts to brake down in 2 to 3 years but by that time it is time to repot again.

Do you use 100% Akadama or do you mix in some pumic or lava rock? I found a nice on at the local nursery and want to be prepared for next spring's repotting.
Thank you!

 

[roberthu]

Didn't realize it's the first time I am updating this thread with pics this year. Not quite yet where I need this tree to be so delayed exhibiting it at the Winter Silhouette Expo this year.

It's fascinating that when I first saw your post suggesting repotting into this blue pot, I thought to myself that the color of the pot would take attention away from the tree. However, when I saw this post, I was drawn by the fine ramification of the branches and it took me at lease 30 seconds to notice the blue pot. It is such a wonderful match!

 

[MACH5]

Do you use 100% Akadama or do you mix in some pumic or lava rock? I found a nice on at the local nursery and want to be prepared for next spring's repotting.
Thank you!

I typically use a mix of 80% akadama with 20% Kiryu. However please adjust your mix according to your environment. If it's very wet use less akadama.

 

[roberthu]

I typically use a mix of 80% akadama with 20% Kiryu. However please adjust your mix according to your environment. If it's very wet use less akadama.

Thank you for your help!

 

[MACH5]

Here it comes! Can't wait to see the beautiful fluorescent green spring leaves and spend hours cutting the hundreds of beautiful dainty flowers that will surely appear!

In any case, this tree is back on track and looking strong! After a brief decline a few years back in which it lost a couple of larger branches it is coming around. Was heavily fed with Osmocote the past two years and the plan now is to put the brakes on this season. A bit more development and refinement needed in a few areas but getting there.

As mentioned in a previous post, the back now has evolved to become a better front.

 

[Statics]

Stunning! This is a great front. At what time do you cut the flowers, before the first leaves have unfurled? Is it true that the buds bearing flowers won't extend from the first two leaves if the flowers are left in place?

 

[MACH5]

Stunning! This is a great front. At what time do you cut the flowers, before the first leaves have unfurled? Is it true that the buds bearing flowers won't extend from the first two leaves if the flowers are left in place?

I pretty much pinch them off right away. Always bound to miss some which they get cut later. Sometimes I keep them on this tree for a bit longer as the contrast of the bright red flowers against the bright green spring leaves is strikingly beautiful.

Yes, that is true from what I have seen. The shoots will not develop further if the flowers are left on not to mention the energy required to produce seeds vs vegetative growth.

 

[Mr. Watanabe]

Awesome Sharp's Pygmy! The structure is perfect! I bought a grafted one last month with very good structure and going to use your as the benchmark for what I want mine to look like. Was your's originally a graft?

 

[NateDyk47]

Like always, your tree is spectacular. I really like the pairing with that blue pot.

 

[MACH5]

Awesome Sharp's Pygmy! The structure is perfect! I bought a grafted one last month with very good structure and going to use your as the benchmark for what I want mine to look like. Was your's originally a graft?

Thank you! I don't believe it was grafted. A grafted tree is never an issue for me unless it looks obvious which unfortunately it is about 95% of the cases.

 

[MACH5]

Like always, your tree is spectacular. I really like the pairing with that blue pot.

Thank you! Funny, I think the pot is a very good pairing. But I have also gotten the opposite where some folks think it is too distracting. I beg to differ

 

[clem]

A very nice and very elegant tree
how do you know when to remove the wire ? do you unwire a few terminal wire turns to check the bark (wire marks) or do you remove when the branch maintains its position ?

 

[MACH5]

A very nice and very elegant tree
how do you know when to remove the wire ? do you unwire a few terminal wire turns to check the bark (wire marks) or do you remove when the branch maintains its position ?

From experience I can tell when wire begins to bite in even slightly. With the deciduous this is often enough and branches are set. Of course, in those cases when a branch is not quite in the desired position I rewire it.

 

[MACH5]

As is the case every year, this tree needs to be thinned out without fail. Its density is profuse and if left alone many of the interior branches will wither in no time. This is only for those trees that are more developed and ramified. On young and more sparse trees this is not necessary.






A few hours later about 50% of the foliage was removed. One can hardly tell. But the difference will be significant to keep all interior growth healthy.






Sharp's pygmy require a different approach when thinning it. The first two leaves are removed on most shoots except the weakest ones. Notice in the photo how short the first node is. Practically negligible and thus unusable for the ramification development.






However, on some shoots, there will be some extension. In these cases I cut only one leaf off the first pair. If necessary I will also cut off the central leader as in the photo below.






Here I needed the length so I eliminated both basal leaves and cut back to three nodes and in addition removing alternate leaves along the shoot.






Interior leaves will quickly turn yellow and fall off leading to the weakening and ultimate dieback of the interior branches if nothing is done and the tree is left to its own devices.