Long internodes

TBlake84

Hey guys,

I recently bought a trident maple seedling and I have to say, this is a great species. It grows very fast this time of year and gives you with plenty to do every few days. I am happy with the size right now (about 10" tall or 25cm for you metric folk). When I bought it, the internodes were quite long and there wasn't a lot of foliage on it. I have been pinching off the new buds as they form and the ramification and leaf density has increased quite a bit. However, I read that pinching off new growth would induce "back-budding" but for me, it has not yet. My internodes are still quite long and the tree looks top-heavy. What can I do to decrease the internodes on the sides of the tree? I was thinking of waiting until autumn to just prune off the shoots I don't like and start over. Is this a good option?

Thanks

-Tim

P.S. I have recently been getting deformed leaves (four points, two points, holes, etc.) The leaves are the normal color and otherwise appear healthy but aesthetically don't look right. Any suggestions?

__________________
Cycas revoluta
Acer buerguerianum
Acer saccharum
Acer palmatum atropurpureum
Ficus neriifolia
Eugenia myrtifolia

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BlackDeathTuna

i too recently got a trident maple, repotted into a growing box and leaf pinched due to reading somewhere that repotting in late spring would cause too much stress and it was a wise idea to leaf pinch now its been a week and a half and nothing, just wondering if anyone knows if ive killed it?

md4958

Blake,

fall is a good time of year to prune because you can see the branch structure with out the leaves in the way. Take care to seal all wounds with cutpaste so that they do not dry out during the long winter. Also, err on the side of caution when pruning because many species, maples included, will "dieback" the the next bud, shoot, branch, etc...

The deformed leaves might be from your leave pinching. You may have inadvertantly damaged the bud while you were pinching. It could be a pest too, I would check closely to see if there are any insects on your tree that might be causing the mutation.

TUNA,
When you say you leaf pinched...what are you talking about? Are you confusing pinching with defoliating (where you cut all the leaves off the tree)? If you did in fact PINCH then you should still have leaves on the tree....if they fell off, then youve got an issue. if you DEFOLIATED, and you dont have leaves yet...give it some time. Remember when you defoliate your tree wont use as much water as when it has full leaves.

More info will be required for a better diagnosis.

Best of luck,
Moe

__________________
"Bonsai do not belong to us; it is our responsibility to care for them and pass them on to future generations"

BlackDeathTuna

sorry bout that i defoliated, not as worried no though its starting to get some leaves here and there, now that i think about it its probably better to l;eave the leaves on when i repot and let the tree decide if it can support the leaves if it can itll keep the leaves if not the the leaves will just drop.

TBlake84

MD4958 -

So my method of pinching right now is appropriate for shortening the internodes? Or am I doing it at the wrong time? I wasn't planning on pruning until autumn if at all. I just have the tree in a large pot right now to grow out the roots and trunk. But while that was happening, I wanted to work on the internodes. Am I doing it right?

__________________
Cycas revoluta
Acer buerguerianum
Acer saccharum
Acer palmatum atropurpureum
Ficus neriifolia
Eugenia myrtifolia

md4958

Blake,

well...yes and no.

I commend you for trying to thicken up your trunk, but unfortunately you cant really thicken your trunk and ramify at the same time.

by pinching the leaves you are basically stunting the growth of that branch...it stimulates back budding, but if you want to thicken you trunk you should not restrict the growth of the branch at all.

basically you should first thicken the trunk...let the branches grow like crazy, espically the leader (the strong growing top branch) the longer this gets the better as it will rapidly thicken the trunk (at least rapid in the bonsai sense).

Please read Brents excellent article http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/trunks.htm on trunk thickeng...while youre there check out some of his other excellent articles. Brent says it better than I ever could, so I will deferr to him.

best of luck!
Moe

__________________
"Bonsai do not belong to us; it is our responsibility to care for them and pass them on to future generations"

TBlake84

Moe-

Thanks so much for your help. I just have one more question for you. Since I don't want a tree that is more than a foot tall, I assume the trunk to be around 1.5-2" at the base. My tree right now is about 10" tall (the final height I want) but the trunk is only about .5" thick at the most right now. Would a trunk chop be beneficial now? I would chop it down to about 3" (just above the first branch that is currently on the tree). I am shooting for the elegant informal upright style. I will also halt pruning of any sort and let it grow for a while. Let me know what you would do.

Again, thanks.

-Tim

__________________
Cycas revoluta
Acer buerguerianum
Acer saccharum
Acer palmatum atropurpureum
Ficus neriifolia
Eugenia myrtifolia