Progressive Maple Challenge - Japanese maple #18

[Walter Pall]

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[Walter Pall]

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[barrosinc]

what is the grey stuff on the roots?

 

[Walter Pall]

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[Walter Pall]

Now the tree will be watered a lot, fed a lot, partial sun, I will prune it like a hedge by the end of June and beginning of July. In March/April next yeasr the crown will be edited and fully wired. In two years this will be on any large exhibit. Bonsai is fun. Life is good to me.

 

[barrosinc]

the amount of taper on that tree is amazing!

 

[Walter Pall]

The gray stuff on the roots is lime sulphur. I do this to bleach the roots which were under the soil and have a darker color than the others. Look at the last images to see the effect.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

The nebari is so nice. Forgive me if this is a silly question, but what do you use to dress the soil surface?

 

[Walter Pall]

The final soil dressing is fine crushed baked loam (what you would call turface) in several shades of gray (!) and nice natural structure. This is only for the eye.

 

[sorce]

Holy Highly Organic Fertilizer Cakes!

The best thing about the tree is the Nebari.

The best thing about the Nebari is its proportion to the tree. Makes it look huge!

Sorce

 

[akhater]

Walter can you please shed some light on the repotting while it is in full leaf ? is it because you just got the tree? or you didn't bare root it?

 

[Walter Pall]

The overwhelming number of trees is repotted too early. Now, when then foliage is just out is is late, but not too late. This is better than too early. I do this every year. You should not think that I am an idiot who cannot wait a few months and kills a ten grand tree. I have done this hundreds of times.

 

[Walter Pall]

I would not bare root a maple regardless of time. Bare rooting was only necessary when we still used soil. Now with substrate it is not necessary, you can shake out the old substrate. Bare rooting is high risk! Don't do it!

 

[AboveBeyond]

Wow, I love the nebari and bark! Thanks for sharing Walter.

 

[barrosinc]

The gray stuff on the roots is lime sulphur. I do this to bleach the roots which were under the soil and have a darker color than the others. Look at the last images to see the effect.

thanks, I always thought that stuff was yellow.

 

[Jason]

Amazing tree. As you proceed in developing this tree (not that it needs much) I'd be interested in your thoughts on developing ramification with this variety compared to other Japanese maple cultivars.

 

[leatherback]

-- No need to add anything
But wow..

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Nice pickup Walter!

 

[MACH5]

YOWZA!!

 

[Walter Pall]

Jason, as with all trees. Just the contrary of what they tell you. Let grow freely very long. Then cut back ruthlessly. The tree will respond with lots of buds. It's called the hedge cutting method. All hedges are developed by it. And my bonsai. Ever wondered about the great ramification of hedges?