Tartarian Maple Cut Wounds

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takeme4granite

Yamadori
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Location
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USDA Zone
6b
Hi guys, I am new to bonsai, and this is my first time posting not in the beginners forum. This is the first tree I bought. It is a Tartarian Maple variety Hot wings (acer tartaricum). It started off with 4 branches all coming out of the trunk. I chose one and cut the other 3 off.

My dilemma is that when I did it, I did a small amount of research and saw someone say that cut paste isn't really necessary. So I didn't use any. Now I am worried that the wounds won't heal well, that I will get die back, or just generally that I messed up this tree. There are cracks forming where I cut the branches from. I cut the branches off about a month ago

Do you guys think that I should apply cut paste now? Is it too late? Does cut paste really matter?

Pics below
Overview.JPG
Cut wound.JPG
Cut wound2.JPG
Cut wound 3.JPG
 
you are not going to get dieback, but you need to prevent the cambium (the green ring in the wounds) to dry up in order for the wound to close. That is the function of cut paste: to seal the wound to prevent it from drying up
 
bonsaichile said:
you are not going to get dieback, but you need to prevent the cambium (the green ring in the wounds) to dry up in order for the wound to close. That is the function of cut paste: to seal the wound to prevent it from drying up
Click to expand...
I cut them off about a month ago and it seems pretty dry (the wood is cracking). Is it too late? SHould I apply cut paste now?
 
It is fine and it will close on its own. I have experience with this maple. I raised one from seed gathered at the arboretum around 30 years ago. It has had hard pruning now and again. It is a very very tough maple. Never thought of it as a bonsai.
 
Think there are may different schools about using cut paste.... I do on everything. But that being said... in your 4th pic there is a cut healing nicely on your leader. Did you do that or was it nature doing its thing?
 
AaronThomas said:
Think there are may different schools about using cut paste.... I do on everything. But that being said... in your 4th pic there is a cut healing nicely on your leader. Did you do that or was it nature doing its thing?
Click to expand...

That is nature doing its thing, before I bought it
 
Right now, I would not re-wound the cut wounds. It is probably too late to add cut paste. You could add it, but chances are it will not make a difference, one way or another. If you had applied cut paste right when you cut, it would have helped. But its probably too late to make much of a difference in healing rate. Just leave it alone.

Next year, or the following year is when re-wounding the cut would help with the healing.
 
Not only would I expose the cambium, I'd hog out a bunch of wood so the wound looked like you dropped a rock into some water. The healing edge will roll into the groove around the edges and will close up around the "tail" leaving a flatter healed wound.
 
LanceMac10 said:
Not only would I expose the cambium, I'd hog out a bunch of wood so the wound looked like you dropped a rock into some water. The healing edge will roll into the groove around the edges and will close up around the "tail" leaving a flatter healed wound.
Click to expand...
How/ what tools would I use to do that?
 
penumbra said:
It is fine and it will close on its own. I have experience with this maple. I raised one from seed gathered at the arboretum around 30 years ago. It has had hard pruning now and again. It is a very very tough maple. Never thought of it as a bonsai.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I haven't really found anything on tartarian maples as bonsai. What is your experience with them and why would you not think of them as bonsai?
 
I have always shied away from trees with larger leaves but my views are changing. I collected several oaks this years.
 
takeme4granite said:
Yeah, I haven't really found anything on tartarian maples as bonsai. What is your experience with them and why would you not think of them as bonsai?
Click to expand...

The Tartar Maple, or tartarian maple is Acer tartaricum. You won't find much information on that maple as bonsai. This is because the subspecies of Acer tartaricum that is used for bonsai used to be listed under its own name, the Amur maple. The Amur maple is today considered to be Acer tarticum var. ginnala. It used to be Acer ginnala, but modern systemics show there were insufficient differences to justify keeping it as a separate species. The difference between the greater species and the Amur maple subspecies is that the nominal type has matte leaves, where the leaves of the Amur maple subspecies has leaves that are glossy on their upper surface (axial surface). That is the main difference between the two.

So use the BNut Search function and search Amur maple, and at least 50 threads will show up. It is commonly used for bonsai and is superior for being a very cold winter hardy maple. The Amur maple, and its nominal species form the Tartar maple will survive through all of zone 4 and possibly into zone 3. They are extremely cold tolerant. Japanese maples can not take much cold beyond zone 6. They do zone 5 only with protection. So definitely the Tartar and the Amur maples are great choices for Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other northern tier states and Canada.

There is no difference between techniques suggested for Amur maple and techniques that would be used for the Tartar maple. So read away.

Search results for query: Amur Maple

www.bonsainut.com www.bonsainut.com
 
Interesting Leo. When I moved into my house 30 years ago I planted a Tartarian maple from seed and an Amur maple from an established nursery container. Today the Tartarian maple is about 30 feet tall and about 25 feet across. It has an outstanding formal look similar to a Norway maple but with more refinement. The Amur maple is about 12 to 15 feet tall, maybe 8 feet across and somewhat tangled and a bit unruly in appearance. Leaves are also quite different. I would never have thought the two were so closely related. The Tartarian maple is a much prettier tree but the Amur blows it away in red fall color.
 
penumbra said:
Interesting Leo. When I moved into my house 30 years ago I planted a Tartarian maple from seed and an Amur maple from an established nursery container. Today the Tartarian maple is about 30 feet tall and about 25 feet across. It has an outstanding formal look similar to a Norway maple but with more refinement. The Amur maple is about 12 to 15 feet tall, maybe 8 feet across and somewhat tangled and a bit unruly in appearance. Leaves are also quite different. I would never have thought the two were so closely related. The Tartarian maple is a much prettier tree but the Amur blows it away in red fall color.
Click to expand...
Would love to see some photos of the two.
 
penumbra said:
Interesting Leo. When I moved into my house 30 years ago I planted a Tartarian maple from seed and an Amur maple from an established nursery container. Today the Tartarian maple is about 30 feet tall and about 25 feet across. It has an outstanding formal look similar to a Norway maple but with more refinement. The Amur maple is about 12 to 15 feet tall, maybe 8 feet across and somewhat tangled and a bit unruly in appearance. Leaves are also quite different. I would never have thought the two were so closely related. The Tartarian maple is a much prettier tree but the Amur blows it away in red fall color.
Click to expand...

Does the tartarian have much larger leaves than the amur?
 
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