jazzaero
Seedling
I am pretty green to the art of bonsai although I have been interested in it for years. This summer I decided to jump right in and get some trees. One of those trees is a japanese maple. I live in Dallas and understand that it may be difficult here with the warm weather. I saw a japanese maple at my local bonsai nursery and decided to bring it home.
When I got it home I noticed some aphids under the top leaves. I decided to spray with Bayer's Rose and Flower Insect spray. That seemed to take care of them for now. I will spray again 7 days later. I also gave it a light dose of Jack's 20-20-20 at a 1/4tsp per gallon a few days after I bought it.
I am going to repot it for root growth before the winter. I thought about putting it in that pot sitting next to it on the table but, I am thinking I should just plant it into a normal 12" container instead for more growth. I would like to plant it in the ground to beef up the trunk. Unfortunately I live in an apartment and don't have that option. I also thought about putting it into an inorganic substrate. I have never grown anything that way so it makes me nervous to go ahead with it.
My patio gets a few hour of direct sun in the afternoon, unfortunately. I know that more would be much better for vigorous growth. I would keep the tree outdoors for the most part and especially during winter, but I am curious if I could bring it inside for a time under some T5s or HID or maybe even a LED grow light. I will be building a small stand and light area for my tropicals over the winter anyway. Would a good 14-16 hours of light inside help speed growth up over the few direct sun hours outside?
For the most part I posted this to keep track of my maple's growth and to jump into the community. I would love some suggestions on repotting, lighting and fertilizing. Thanks!
When I got it home I noticed some aphids under the top leaves. I decided to spray with Bayer's Rose and Flower Insect spray. That seemed to take care of them for now. I will spray again 7 days later. I also gave it a light dose of Jack's 20-20-20 at a 1/4tsp per gallon a few days after I bought it.
I am going to repot it for root growth before the winter. I thought about putting it in that pot sitting next to it on the table but, I am thinking I should just plant it into a normal 12" container instead for more growth. I would like to plant it in the ground to beef up the trunk. Unfortunately I live in an apartment and don't have that option. I also thought about putting it into an inorganic substrate. I have never grown anything that way so it makes me nervous to go ahead with it.
My patio gets a few hour of direct sun in the afternoon, unfortunately. I know that more would be much better for vigorous growth. I would keep the tree outdoors for the most part and especially during winter, but I am curious if I could bring it inside for a time under some T5s or HID or maybe even a LED grow light. I will be building a small stand and light area for my tropicals over the winter anyway. Would a good 14-16 hours of light inside help speed growth up over the few direct sun hours outside?
For the most part I posted this to keep track of my maple's growth and to jump into the community. I would love some suggestions on repotting, lighting and fertilizing. Thanks!