Acer Palmatum

submitted by Max Orcutt

Common Name

Japanese Maple

Background:

Great tree for bonsai small delicate green leafs and fine branching brilliant red in fall.

Sun:

Lots of sun but shade slightly in the middle of summer as not to burn the leaves.

Temperature:

should be fine up until -5° celcius. In winter keep on north side of house because it get the idea of spring faster than most species. If it comes out of dormancy to early t will get hit by the next frost (possibly death) on the north side it does not realize that it is spring until all the early spring frosts are gone preventing it from putting on its leaf to soon.

Watering:

This tree needs plenty of water the soil should always be evenly moist.

Training:

Wire after leaf pruning anywhere from late spring to late summer to get older appearence trim back to 1-3 leaf pairs repeatedly this will result in a intricate branching system

Fertilizing:

I like to fertilize after shoots appear in spring a diluted solution of mirical grow once a week until last leaf falls.

Repotting:

Before shoots appear; young trees every 1-2 years, older trees every 5 years.

Propagation:

Easy to do as a cutting or air-layering. For Cutting I like to take the cutting and push it into a small pot of moist soil and put a Zip-lock bag over it. leave it in indirect sunlight for 9 months and it will be well rooted. it does not need any additional watering while in the bag it is its own greenhouse inside the bag.

Pests/Diseases:

Chlorosis- leaves turn a yellow color like jaundice from lack of iron

Additional Comments:

I hope this helped

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