Triple Trident Maple - Very small leaves

[Deep Sea Diver]

A year ago was given a triple trident maple group. Rough shape upon receipt. All three tree had very small leaves. Since it hadn’t been repotted in memory, thought perhaps the leaf size thought perhaps it was due to compacted roots and media, lack of fertilizer.

Anyways began this thread to document progress (or lack thereof. )

Since then, immediately pulled out of pot, cleared drain holes, aerated root ball multiple times and added larger pumice as lower layer.

Fertilized with Osmocote Plus and Miracid with humic acid and kelp.

Put in cold frame all winter. Unfortunately images take then were lost.

In spring repotted, just about bare root. Cut trunks away from each other, trimmed roots back. Placed in 30:30:30+ APL+ Biochar. Reset trees. Tree a month after repot:



That was March 2024

Since then fertilized strongly with same fertilizers as above. Trimmed down apex of secondary trees. Pushed in growth as possible once. See longish stretches without ramification.

Expected the leaves to eventually increase in size. Maybe not as big as those of the other Trident’s in pots, but bigger.

August 9 2024 - Little change.



Wondering. Seems possible this is a cultivar.

Hs anyone seen these before, I so is there a source of seedlings or seed stock out there!
.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[Paradox]

Not sure of the variety but I have heard some tend to have smaller leaves than others

 

[River's Edge]

This 'Miyasama yatsubusa' dwarf trident leafs out with salmon to deep red foliage fading to green by mid-summer. The small, rounded leaves show this yatsubusa trident is actually the subspecies Acer buergerianum ssp. formosanum.​

This describes one smaller subspecies of trident. Merrigioli describes eighteen cultivars of trident. The dwarf characteristics seem to be clear in Acer Buergerianum " Miyasam yatsufusa" also called Miyasama yatsubusa" Page 99

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Thanks very much Frank!

Believe we have a couple Miyasama Tridents in boxes. Will post a couple close up images of both these leaves and of the triple trident.

In any case, given the time, may attempt to strike a couple once these guys get stronger.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[leatherback]

Good observation to make.

However.. I do think one growing season might not be enough to draw conclusive conclusions; The whole fysiology / internal infrastructure is set up for small leaves now. To adjust the tree needs to invest in a lot more water carrying capacity in the tree, and do this just with the limited foliage. This basically is reverting the bonsai process. I know you know that trees take a few years in bonsai pots to drop aggressive growth habits and slow down enough to no longer need massive pruning sessions. I personally feel this has a lot to do with what part of the tree is still actively supporting the foliage & the stores of energy available to the tree.

It could well be that planting it in a large container for multiple years [or feeding well, and allowling runners to grow out when in a pot] drastically changes the situation.

That being said...
I do feel people often overlook checking bonsai traits with many of the varieties and cultivars used for bonsai. There is this snubby attitude to growing from seed for instance, although that is the way to find exactly a plant with special characteristics. Small leaves & naturally fine twiggy growth is one of them. Grow a thousand seedlings, throw away 999 and find one that is special enough to build upon..

Hs anyone seen these before, I so is there a source of seedlings or seed stock out there!

At one point there was a seed trader that sold trident seeds from "small leave trees". So it certainly is a thing also with regular tree-growers.
I must say, the tridents I am growing in my forest also have retained smaller trees than some other tridents I have. Those seeds came from trees growing along a road; did not select for small eave size.

 

[Shibui]

I also have some tridents with small leaves but they all came from the same stock. Conditions and care can have a big impact on leaf size.
Agree that one season is probably not enough time to get a good handle on leaf size. It often takes 2-3 years for trees to realise they can grow again.
I'd like to think you have something unique but would not bet huge amounts on it.

 

[Maiden69]

I don't think this is a Miyasama, I have one and the leaves are a little different than the regular trident.

Last years leaves growing in full sun.


This year in the covered patio. About double the size as the leaves grown in full sun.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Thank you all for your input on the Triple Tridents!

Here are some side by side images. All have been strongly fertilized the same concentrations and roughly the same application amount per unit area for Osmocote this year.

Miyasama from kaede bonsai-en on left. Grown here for four years. Mostly in shade this year. Triple on top and to the right. One issue wit this side by side is Miyasama leaf is reputed to change shape a bit during the year… and the Miyasama was pruned about 4 weeks ago. Don’t know if that’s enough time to grow out fully.

The Triple was also recently pruned, but only to stop the terminal growth.


Trident on bottom, triple on top. Trident is in a box 30% sun. Should be the smaller leafed variation from Evergreen Gardenworks.


Triple alone comparison to thumbnail {about 7/8”}. Largest leaves on the group.


Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Maiden69]

I went to MrMaple as they have a decent amount of trident cultivars. The leaves look a little like the "Sliding Rock" trident they sell, here is a list of the ones they have. Also, definitely agree, the leaves on miyasama do change shape sometimes as they mature.