Bonsai Maple - growing from seeds at home

Bonsai is a small copy of any tree that has been grown at home. This effect can be achieved by adjusting the size and shape of the roots. It is not easy to grow a bonsai maple on your own, the process requires a lot of patience and free time. Due to its compact size, a dwarf plant can be kept in an apartment, and larger trees can decorate balconies, terraces or a summer cottage.

Kind of maple for bonsai

Maple bonsai, whose homeland is Japan, is a deciduous species. Unlike coniferous miniature evergreen plants, it can have different shades of leaves and sometimes changes color during growth.

Bonsai maple

The most famous maple varieties that are ideal for growing bonsai:

• Cuneiform;
• Rocky;
• Ashenaceous;
• Field;
• Platanolic.

Bonsai maple

Execution options

Styles of growing maple bonsai trees:

• Upright;
• Inclined;
• Broom-shaped;
• Grove.

You can grow an elegant tree from a seed or cuttings yourself in any style, you just need to adhere to a clear sequence of actions and not ignore important points.

Maple Bonsai Inclined

Seed selection and planting

You can grow a house bonsai tree from seeds, if you follow certain rules exactly.

Preparing planting material

To plant the seeds you need to cook like this:

1. First, break off the wings on the seeds, place them in a plastic cup. Pour hot water and leave to swell overnight. In the morning, drain the water.
2. Dry the moist seeds and put in a plastic bag. Top with cinnamon powder, shake, so that it spreads over the entire surface of the seeds.
3. Close the bag, but loose, and put in the refrigerator. Periodically check that the mixture is slightly moist.
4. After 60 days, the seeds will begin to germinate. From all you need to remove weak and thin sprouts, the rest should be placed in the refrigerator.
5. When the root system appears, planting material should be placed in the prepared soil.
6. Place containers with landings in a warm and bright place.

Soil and capacity

To grow maple bonsai, you must:

1. Take alumina, humus and sand in equal proportions.
2. Heat the soil in the oven, then cool, dry and sift through a sieve.
3. To process soil with bioactive additives like Fitosporin.
4. Feed the soil with fertilizers.

Planting seeds

How to plant bonsai maple seeds step by step:

1. Pour the soil into the prepared container.
2. Spread the seeds at 1 cm intervals.
3. Press a layer of seeds onto a wooden board.
4. Top up with soil (thickness 3 cm).
5. Pour the earth and cover the container with a film.
6. When the first shoots hatch, remove the film.
7. After the appearance of the leaves, transplant the plant into a new container.

Work with a handle

Propagation of bonsai maple by cuttings should be performed as follows:

1. On a bonsai maple handle, make a circular cut on one side. The second same cut should be made 2-3 cm higher than the previous one.
2. Remove bark between incisions.
3. Apply a rooting agent to the cut place.
4. On the cut, attach sphagnum moss, seal it with a film and leave it in a dark and cool place.
5. When the roots sprout in 3-4 weeks, the moss must be removed.
6. Plant the cuttings in a separate container.

Maple shanks bonsai

Landing escape

Take a pot (with a drainage hole), pour round pebbles, soil into it (crushed bark and ripe peat). Take the volume so that there is a sufficiently strong fixation of the tree. To remove the thin bark from the shoot (without affecting the roots) and plant it in the prepared soil. A little sphagnum moss can be added to the ground. It will serve as fertilizer and soften hard water.

Landing care

Blue maple, blue and red develop in the same way as ordinary green. A plant transplant should be done in the spring every two years. The soil is completely replaced, and the central root and side roots are cut by 1/5. Pinch the shoots after the formation of two leaves.

Location

Optimal conditions for growing bonsai maple:

• sunny place;
• a sufficient amount of fresh air;
• shade in hot weather.

The plant needs to be protected from sunburn, otherwise it is quite unpretentious.

Cold protection

In the house, bonsai should not be left in the drafts, placed on the street, where the temperature can drop below 0 ° C. During the flowering period and when the first leaves appear, the maple should not be subjected to stress in the form of a low temperature (below 6-10 ° C).

Care and watering of blue maple

The bonsai root system is superficial; a minimal amount of soil creates a risk of soil drying out. For proper growth and development, it is necessary to properly care for the plant:

• daily water the tree;
• spray the crown at least once every 3 days;
• moisten several times a day in hot weather;
• in winter, water no more than once every 7 days.

Pruning branches

Shoots can be removed all year round. If there is a need for pruning old thick branches, it is better to do this in the fall.

When trimming, the following conditions must be observed:

• remove the young shoot to the first pair of foliage;
• pinch growth on a bonsai with strong branching so that the branches do not thicken;
• sharp tools to cut;
• pinch the tops as soon as a couple of leaves open to stop further growth;
• treat wounds at the cut sites with special compounds that prevent the penetration of infection and accelerate healing.

Transfer

Transplant maple bonsai should be carefully and accurately, being careful not to damage the delicate roots. Procedure:

1. Water well.
2. Cook a new pot, shallow and wide.
3. To fill up a drainage layer.
4. Fill the container with soil.
5. Take out the tree and move it to the prepared container.
6. Sprinkle with chernozem and sand on top.
7. Seal with hands and pour plenty of water.

Maple transplant

Crown formation

The most common types of crown formation:

• Fan or broom (hokidati);
• Formal vertical (tekkan);
• Informal vertical (moyogi);
• Inclined (shakkan);
• Tree bent by the wind (fukinagashi);
• Roots on a rock (sekoyoyu).

Maple Bonsai Crown Formation Techniques

To make bonsai from maple, you can use branch pruning when five pairs of full leaves open on the shoot. It is necessary to shorten them by 2-4 sheets, separately plucking large sheet plates, leave their cuttings. Over time, the stalk will fade and fall off, and large leaves will be replaced by small, more suitable for bonsai.

If in summer, growth buds are plucked from healthy trees with green foliage, this will lead to:

• stunted growth;
• the gradual formation of shorter shoots;
• increase the density of the crown.

Diseases and Pests

Bonsai Blue Maple is a plant that is resistant to various pests and diseases, which can be affected by other types of bonsai. In the spring, aphid often attacks a miniature maple. It is easy to destroy with insecticides. Another misfortune is a fungus that can completely destroy a tree. Fungal disease verticillin wilt manifests itself in the form of black spots on the slices. It is impossible to cure from this disease, but it is necessary to protect neighboring cultures from the spread of infection to them.

Red Maple Bonsai

In order for the plant to grow correctly, when pruning, transplanting and with general care, it is necessary to observe safety rules, as well as thoroughly disinfect tools and all materials used.

Watch the video: How to Grow Maple Bonsai From Seeds Japanese Maple for beginner - 6th june 2017Mammal Bonsai (April 2024).