Care and Management Methods for Japanese Maple Bonsai

Bonsai Care and Management of Japanese Maple

Placement:

Japanese maple is best placed in a spot with good ventilation and light, warm and humid. In summer, it should be properly shaded to prevent exposure to scorching sun. However, for those whose leaves turn red in autumn, ample light is needed so they can turn red when autumn arrives. In winter, simply move it indoors to prevent the pot soil from drying out and freezing.

Watering Japanese Maple Bonsai:

Normally, the pot soil should be kept moist, especially during the sprouting and leafing period, when it must not be kept too dry. After autumn arrives and the leaves turn red, the pot soil is best kept on the drier side. In summer, watering should be done in the morning and evening to avoid sudden changes in soil temperature that would affect the physiological function of the roots. After autumn arrives, slightly dry conditions are preferable.

Fertilizing Japanese Maple Bonsai:

In spring and summer during the vigorous growth period, dilute liquid fertilizer can be applied frequently, with attention to increasing the phosphorus and potassium content, which helps produce vivid leaf color. If fertilizer is insufficient, when the autumn frosts arrive the leaves often fail to turn red and instead fall off.

Pruning: Mostly done after leaf fall during the dormant period. Cut away diseased and weak branches, crossing branches, parallel branches and overlapping branches. Also, according to the tree shape, the overly long branches of the current year should be shortened, generally leaving 1-2 nodes per branch. Pruning should not be done during the growing period, to avoid sap flowing out from the wounds and affecting growth.

Repotting Japanese Maple Bonsai:

Carry out once every 2-3 years, preferably repotting before the sprouting period, removing 1B2 of the old soil and replacing it with fertile, loose leaf mold or pond mud, mixed with an appropriate amount of rice husk ash and sand. Pest and disease control: The main diseases of Japanese maple are brown spot disease and powdery mildew, which can be controlled by spraying Bordeaux mixture or lime sulfur mixture. The main pests are slug moths, bagworm moths and longhorn beetles, which can be killed by spraying with 80% dichlorvos emulsion at 1500 times dilution.

Production Methods and Care Management of Japanese Maple Bonsai

(1) Botanical Knowledge

Belongs to the Aceraceae family, genus Acer. A deciduous small tree or shrub-like plant, with slender and smooth branches; first-year twigs are brownish-red. Simple leaves opposite, palmately 7-9 deeply lobed, with double serrations on the lobe margins; young leaves are green, turning red in autumn, brilliant as morning glow. Small purplish-red flowers form corymbose inflorescences, blooming in April. Samaras are relatively small, purplish-brown when ripe.

Main Varieties and Forms

1. Red maple (var. atropurpureum (Venh.) Schwer), leaves red or purplish-red all year round, with relatively deep lobes; branches sparse and spreading horizontally, samaras slightly larger than the original species, a common material for bonsai.

2. Feather maple (var. dissectum (Thunb.) Maxim.), also known as straw-cloak maple, fine-leaved Japanese maple. Tree form dwarf, branches sparse and spreading, slightly drooping. Leaves 7-11 deeply lobed, almost to the base, lobes narrow and long, further finely divided in a feathery manner, very beautiful.

3. Red feather maple (var. dissectum f. ornatum (Carr.) Schwer), also known as red fine-leaved Japanese maple. Leaves purplish-red all year round, otherwise the same as feather maple.

4. Golden-leaved Japanese maple (f. aureum Nichols), leaves thin in texture, 7-11 deeply lobed, golden yellow. Japanese maple is produced in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin in China, in various provinces, and also in Shandong and Zhejiang. It is also distributed in Japan. It is a common ornamental tree species in gardens, and is also often found wild in mountainous areas. It likes light and prefers a warm, humid climate; it is not very cold-tolerant, and thrives in humus-rich, fertile, moist acidic or neutral soil. For pot cultivation, it should be protected from west sun and direct sunlight, and properly shaded during high summer temperatures.

(2) Material Collection and Cultivation Measures

Artificial propagation: Generally propagated by sowing, and grafting can also be used. After the samaras mature in October, sow immediately after collection, or store them in stratified layers of moist sand and sow again the following spring. Sow in rows with a row spacing of about 20 cm, cover with soil about 1 cm thick, and cover with rice straw. They sprout and emerge in late March, and the straw should be removed promptly. To prevent scorching sun, a shade frame should be set up in July-August, watering to prevent drought, and topdressing with dilute, well-rotted cake fertilizer water to promote the growth of the seedlings. Seedlings of the current year can reach 30-40 cm in height; leave them in the seedbed for another year before transplanting separately. Ornamental varieties such as red maple and feather maple are usually propagated by grafting, carried out before spring sprouting, using 2-3 year old Japanese maple seedlings as rootstock. Cut grafting or side grafting, needing to be several cm above the ground. After successful grafting, growth is relatively slow, so management must be strengthened. If single-bud side grafting is carried out in summer, the survival rate is relatively high and the resulting plants are also faster. Wild Japanese maples are mostly tree-like and not suitable for making bonsai; wild saplings from under the forest can be dug up and potted, and can be processed and styled into beautiful ornamental bonsai.

(3) Potting Process

Pot selection: Japanese maple is best used with a relatively shallow oval or rectangular glazed ceramic pot; among them, for the red-leaved varieties, colors such as grayish-white, light blue, light green and light yellow are suitable, and black also works very well. For green-leaved types, colors such as purple and red can be chosen.

Soil: Japanese maple likes fertilizer and moisture, and is best grown in fertile, loose and moist slightly acidic or neutral soil. For potting, humus-rich mountain soil or leaf mold can be used.

Planting: Can be done in March in spring or after leaf fall in autumn. When planting, take care to let the root system spread out, and do not let it curl up in the pot soil. For precious varieties, management should be strengthened after planting, keeping the pot soil moist and placing it in a shaded spot; once growth is vigorous, move it to a spot with good ventilation and light.

(4) Styling Techniques

Processing: Japanese maple is mostly styled by combining wiring with pruning. For wiring, palm fiber is best, and it must be removed in time, otherwise it very easily cuts into the bark. If metal wire is used for wiring, then cutting into the bark must be guarded against even more. Wiring processing is best done during the plum rain period or after leaf fall. The large branches of Japanese maple can be wired, while the small branches are better pruned. Generally, each branch is left with 1-2 nodes, and the front end is cut off, so that the two side branches that grow form a fork shape, and later pruning is done in the same way in turn, finally forming the crown.

Tree shape: Japanese maple is best made into a combined planting style or forest style. A single planting can be made into slanting trunk style, curved trunk style and other tree shapes. The leaf shape is elegant, red and colorful, quite beautiful. For making the combined planting style, attention must be paid to handling the primary and secondary, sparse and dense, high and low, near and far aspects; one may refer to the layout of combined planting of golden larch, the difference being that golden larch is mostly straight-trunked, while Japanese maple often has curves, so when combining plantings, attention must also be paid to the direction and degree of trunk curvature, so as to achieve unity and harmony.

Bonsai Care and Management of Japanese Maple

 Placement: Japanese maple is best placed in a spot with good ventilation and light, warm and humid. In summer, it should be properly shaded to prevent exposure to scorching sun. However, for those whose leaves turn red in autumn, ample light is needed so they can turn red when autumn arrives. In winter, simply move it indoors to prevent the pot soil from drying out and freezing.

Watering Japanese Maple Bonsai:
Normally, the pot soil should be kept moist, especially during the sprouting and leafing period, when it must not be kept too dry. After autumn arrives and the leaves turn red, the pot soil is best kept on the drier side. In summer, watering should be done in the morning and evening to avoid sudden changes in soil temperature that would affect the physiological function of the roots. After autumn arrives, slightly dry conditions are preferable.

Fertilizing Japanese Maple Bonsai:
In spring and summer during the vigorous growth period, dilute liquid fertilizer can be applied frequently, with attention to increasing the phosphorus and potassium content, which helps produce vivid leaf color. If fertilizer is insufficient, when the autumn frosts arrive the leaves often fail to turn red and instead fall off.

 Pruning: Mostly done after leaf fall during the dormant period. Cut away diseased and weak branches, crossing branches, parallel branches and overlapping branches. Also, according to the tree shape, the overly long branches of the current year should be shortened, generally leaving 1-2 nodes per branch. Pruning should not be done during the growing period, to avoid sap flowing out from the wounds and affecting growth.

Repotting Japanese Maple Bonsai:
Carry out once every 2-3 years, preferably repotting before the sprouting period, removing 1B2 of the old soil and replacing it with fertile, loose leaf mold or pond mud, mixed with an appropriate amount of rice husk ash and sand. Pest and disease control: The main diseases of Japanese maple are brown spot disease and powdery mildew, which can be controlled by spraying Bordeaux mixture or lime sulfur mixture. The main pests are slug moths, bagworm moths and longhorn beetles, which can be killed by spraying with 80% dichlorvos emulsion at 1500 times dilution.