How to prevent and treat diseases in trident maple

Trident maple, also known as Acer buergerianum, is a deciduous tree whose leaves turn dark red or orange in autumn. It is often suitable as a shade tree, street tree and bank-protection tree species. It can also be planted as a hedge, but various diseases occur during cultivation, so how do you treat diseases in trident maple?

1. How do you treat diseases in trident maple?

Trident maple suffers from diseases such as brown spot, powdery mildew and tar spot. For brown spot, spray 1-2 times with Bordeaux mixture at 1:1:125-170 (copper sulfate: quicklime: water) in the early stages of the disease. You can also spray the canopy with 65% zineb at 400-500 times dilution. For tar spot, from early May spray an equal-strength Bordeaux mixture at 100-200 times dilution once every 10-15 days; spraying 2-3 times in succession can effectively control it.

2. How do you grow trident maple?

1. Potting: Every year from February to March is the best period for potting trident maple. Use loose, fertile leaf mold rich in humus as the potting soil. Choose a relatively shallow oval or rectangular glazed ceramic pot.

2. Styling: The root system of trident maple is robust and well developed, making it very suitable for root-exposed or rock-clinging bonsai. In the early stage of creation, there needs to be a long branch-building phase to ensure strong branches and trunk. Once the branches grow to 40 cm long, wiring should be carried out. At this time, the working technique should focus mainly on wiring, with pruning as a supplement. The branches of trident maple are relatively brittle and hard, so be careful when wiring and do not break the branches. Once the bonsai has basically taken shape, pruning should become the main method to maintain the tree form. Around early August, remove old leaves in several sessions; this can make the leaves of trident maple smaller and the autumn leaves turn red.

3. Location: Trident maple likes ample light, so place it in a sunny spot for cultivation. During the high-temperature period in summer, pay attention to shading, and in winter move it indoors to overwinter.

4. Watering: Trident maple likes plenty of water, so keep the potting soil moist regularly. After autumn begins, when the leaves turn red, it can be kept slightly dry.

5. Fertilizing: Trident maple grows rapidly, so it has a high fertilizer requirement. In the peak growing seasons of spring and summer, apply a thin cake fertilizer once every half month, and appropriately supplement with phosphorus and potassium fertilizer so that the autumn leaves are brightly colored.

6. Repotting: Every year in spring, in February-March, is the best period for repotting. Trident maple has a well-developed root system and grows rapidly, so it can be repotted once a year.