newbie, acer palmatum too young for bonsai?

tran383

Hi Everyone-

I planted these two acer palmatums (one is red and one is green) hoping to train them for bonsai's but I am beginning to wonder if they are too young and delicate.

I know they like it a bit more acidic but the lady at the nursery told me to just use a bag of Cactus mix since it had most of the ingredients of the bonsai mixture and peat moss which is acidic. So here's the specs on the acer p., they are both around 1/4" to 3/8" thick. I mixed some of the original dirt in with the cactus mix, root wasn't very thick. It wasn't even in a 1 gallon container, just in a seedling container. Are they too young?

I was actually looking for rootstalk for grafting but I saw these and thought how ideal for a bonsai, perhaps now is the time to start... thoughts?

I've attached a photo. Thanks for looking.

Hien.

Attached Images

acerp.jpg (52.7 KB, 71 views)

Advertisement

subnet_rx

I don't have any maples, but in my opinion, they need much more growth. The leaves on red maples are fairly big, at least enough to require shohin size bonsai. I would say you need at least a 2 inch trunk before you start training, but a 3" would be much better. These need to be in the ground or training pots for many more years.

kcpoole

__________________
When engineers work out how to make something Idiot proof, humanity invents a better Idiot