bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Trident Maple / too much water?..

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevesick

Hello,
I'm wondering why my trident's spring leaves look so sad and droopy? I have attached three images - one showing the sad leaves, and another showing leaves from a grafted seedling on the same tree that are much more perky looking, and the third shows both my trident and my arakawa next to it that is receiving the exact same watering regime and seemingly very happy and healthy..

I'm suspicious that I'm overwatering since I have an automatic watering system (I only get to visit them on the weekends), so I've reduced from twice a day to once a day. It's been really windy this year also, so maybe it's that?

The fact that the arakawa next to it is doing so well may help determine the problem - do arakawa's like more water, and trident's prefer less?

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

Steve,
Why are the other leaves grafted onto your trident? They look like amur leaves to me, and I much prefer your trident. They are very delicate.

I don't know that there's anything at all wrong with the trident leaves you showed. Theres a great deal of variability in leaf and petiole (leaf-stalk) size and color. Yours looks fine and that red petiole is actually pretty desirable. Because it's so thin, the leaves hang vertically. The other leaves you show are much coarser and of course stand out more horizontally.

Where did you get this tree, how long have you had it? Who grafted the other foliage on there and why? Do you have some shots of the whole tree?

Good luck!