Am i sick? a trident maple with...

verrlara

Hello my name Anna, i live in Berkeley california, my trident which has been in a training pot since last spring has leaves that are turning brown instead of their fall color, there are little bugs on the stems and the soil looks saturated. i am getting the feeling the tree might be on "death row". my only idea is urgent replanting? but it's really the wrong time of year....

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Here is the tree

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you only get one life, use it well, touch all the things worth touching and see all the wonderful sights worth seeing. one of those sights worth seeing is watching a bonsai grow from seed...

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verrlara

Some other pictures of this tree......

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you only get one life, use it well, touch all the things worth touching and see all the wonderful sights worth seeing. one of those sights worth seeing is watching a bonsai grow from seed...

node

I wouldn't worry too much about bugs at this time of year. As the temperatures drop, so do the bug populations.

I do see two things you can easily do to this maple to improve it's chances. Remove the dead leaves on top of the soil, they don't improve the drainage any, and maple want lots of drainage. Fallen leaves also provide shelter for unwelcome houseguests.

I also see that the pot is standing directly on the ground, which also means that excess water can't run off properly, because the holes at the bottom are blocked. Place it on two small pieces of wood I'd say.

Repotting is iffy this time of year. I don't quite know how cold you expect it to become over the next two month, but new roots that haven't had the time to get lignified (that means woody), can't tolerate freezing temperatures.

Given the size of the pot and the size of the plant, repotting simply to go for a larger size pot isn't really indicated. That can wait until spring.

If you can put the pot under a porch or an overhang were it has the chance to dry out once in a while it should be o.k. I don't think the lack of fall color is anything much to worry about.

Hope this helps...

Stefan

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verrlara

one of the probloms with this tree is the soil is very moister obsorbant, so if we get alot of rain the tree is then sitting in soggy soil. i am afraid i might need todo an emergency repotting to make sure the poor tree doesn't have root rot. but then i would need to know what to use for "free draining soil"

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you only get one life, use it well, touch all the things worth touching and see all the wonderful sights worth seeing. one of those sights worth seeing is watching a bonsai grow from seed...

soonami

leave the tree until spring, if you do anything to it now, you will prolly do more to kill it than to save it. You have pretty mild winters where you are at so, just leave it be until about february when you know that you won't have anymore freezing temps, then you should repot.

As for soil, use equal parts pine bark and coarse sand, about 1/4 or 1/2 inch in diameter. I'm not sure if you know how to screen soil, but that's something you can find out more about on the forums

verrlara

i am not going to repot(which will give me time to get better soil and soil sieves) but do you think i should get the tree out of an the area where it would be right in the line of rain?

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you only get one life, use it well, touch all the things worth touching and see all the wonderful sights worth seeing. one of those sights worth seeing is watching a bonsai grow from seed...

soonami

Yes, tridents have very vigours root systems and they really don't need all that extra moisture, keeping the soil a little on the drier side would be best. That's why you want very free draining soil with them, looser soil will help its roots expand.

Being where you are at, in zone 9-10, you could almost get away with repotting now. Fall repotting is not a customary practice where I'm at, where I'm at where it gets very cold, but where you are, some people might have relative success with it, so I guess maybe if someone from your climate zone could comment they'd be much more helpful

Joanie

You could also put a bag or something over the top of the pot to lessen the amount of rain getting into the pot. Certainly remove the leaves, and keep the soil surface clean. Let it dry out between waterings, until the soil is just moist when you stick your finger into it.

Joanie

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Vonsgardens

OK, you have a young trdient maple. I am not sure how much experience the previous posters have with this species (doesn't sound real confident)? We raise several thousand a year. It is "fall" (even in coastal california), so you can do just about anything to the little devil.It looks wet and sunburnt. So, go to your nearest nursery= get some perlite, and some Oil dry (it doesn't freeze hard in Oakland) and if you must some fir/pine bark. Mix them 1to 1 to 1. Don't woryy about sifting. Tease the curent muck away from the roots (like a bad hair day at the beach...) plant in the new mix in the nursery container. Waer thoroughly, place in afternoon shade. In January add a little fertilizer (biogold, osmocote).

You have some tremendous bonsai talent just a few miles away- Johnny Uchida in Hayward, Boon in Alameda and I would expet Mike P and friends across the bay- sign up and do the club thing.

Best of luck.
John

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