Acer rubrum (American Red Maple) Project

[pJkatich]

Thanks Randy, I appreciate the feedback.

The particular variety of Red Maple that I have been growing is Acer rubrum 'trilobum'.

According to my reference books, Red Maple flowers on branches from previous years growth.

All my A. rubrum's have been grown from seed with the oldest being twenty years old this year. So I would agree that age must play a major factor in the flowering process.

Regards,
Paul

[plantmanky]

All my A. rubrum's have been grown from seed with the oldest being twenty years old this year. So I would agree that age must play a major factor in the flowering process.

Regards,
Paul

Paul,

If your trees are 20 years old they should be flowering by now! All of mine are less than 10 years old and my drumondii has been flowering every year for the last 5 years or so and it was also grown from seed. Later this summer heading into fall but before the leaves turn color, you might try and eliminate the nitrogen in your fertilizer and go with a 0-10-10 formulation that helps set flowers for the following spring.

Randy

[plantmanky]

Here's an update image from today. Looking better but it still has at least 3 more years to get the starting line of being bonsai.

Randy

A_rubrum1_0511-1_sm.jpg (181.27 KiB) Viewed 1933 times

[dbrock]

Wow, Randy, that looks really good. The live bark is rolling over the dead and is giving the trunk more character. It is very healthy and growing well.
My Red Maple is growing well. I wired that leader to put a little movement in it and it is leaning forward more now and the weight of the leader is bending it further forward. The funny thing is I could only leave the wire on for three weeks because it was begining to bite into the wood. That leader is now over an inch and a half at the base. I will throw a picture up later, maybe in the fall.

[plantmanky]

Hi Gang,

Just an update on what's been happen'n. I wanted to do some play'n around with defoliating this red maple of mine and thought I'd post some images and my impression of the results.

Before defoliation (5/14/2011)

A_rubrum1_0511-1sm.jpg (181.27 KiB) Viewed 1585 times

After defoliation (5/29/2011)

A_rubrum1_0511-2_sm.jpg (106.11 KiB) Viewed 1585 times

30 days after defoliation (6/24/2011)

A_rubrum1_0611_sm.jpg (193.66 KiB) Viewed 1585 times

My impression of the tree after defoliation was that the growth was more compact, the leaf petioles were shorter and some new smaller buds popped out on the inner branches of the tree. You can see that the tree after it leafed back out is rather bunchy which is from the shorter leaf peitoles and additional growing points but that can all be fixed with wiring next winter. I also noticed that the leaves (at least most of them) are smaller in size too. What I did learn though was that if I were to do it again, I would defoliate all of the vigorous terminal growth and only remove half of the leaves of the smaller weaker inner growth to get that smaller growth stronger. All in all it was a good exercise in seeing how our Red maple performs under stress. This exercise has also indicated to me that the strong terminal growth should be not only pinched back but cut out to give energy to the smaller weaker growth during the growing season. I'm really intrested in seeing how this work will affect the flowering next spring. We'll see, won't we!

Randy

[dbrock]

Great information! That has really pushed the tree forward in refinement. Can't wait to see it after refinement. It excites me to know the distance between nodes can be reduced by pushing out new nodes during defoliation. Exciting.
I have learned a few things on my tree as well. Last year when summer hit, I thought the tree got hit by a leaf mold as the leaves suddenly began to blacken and waste away. I was wrong. As soon as the first hot days of June hit, it began agian. Sounds stupid, but I now realize it is just leaf burning from the sun. Looks a little different from what I am acustumed to with Japanese Maples; but the leafs are thicker so it fooled me. None of the wild Red Maples seem to show this so I guess pot life is a little more fragile. Remember, I am a zone 8/9 area. I moved the tree to shade and removed most all of the burned leaves(which is most as of the leaves). I left what I could because I want to keep it growing the top leader so it looks like my kids did when they were small and decided to cut each others hair. The new leaves are coming out and no black. I will take a picture of some of the leaves that still have burn and post it so if anyone else makes the same mistake, they can learn from it. Side note: I do believe I will get my two inch growth on that top leader.

Dale

[plantmanky]

I will take a picture of some of the leaves that still have burn and post it so if anyone else makes the same mistake, they can learn from it. Side note: I do believe I will get my two inch growth on that top leader.

Dale

Dale,

NIce to know your going to get your 2 inches of caliper on your top leader this year. It must be that heat in Southern TX! (your in Houston if I recall correctly). Speaking of that heat, have you ever considered the leaf burn to maybe be from a combination of being overly hot and maybe a little dry? I'll be intrested in seeing your pictures of the leaves for sure. They often tell a story that can be deciphered. Maybe not the complete story but enough to ask some pointed questions on the sequence of events that lead up to them. I have another type of maple in the A. ginnala family that gets leaf burn and spots on it during the heat of summer and something tells me it's the soil (a lot of granite) that may be the cause so next year it will be repotted into some new soil and we'll see what happens. Growing plants in pots is alot like being a detective going through the evidence to see what's really going on! hehehe I'm visualizing Sherlock Holms being into bonsai! what a visual! lol

Randy

[dbrock]

Here is a picture of the burned leaves. When they first burn, the leaves appear black on the edges, much like Black Mold. Now they look more dried out and appear more like a leaf burn. Have any other ideas Randy?

[dbrock]

Here is a current picture of my wayward child with its bad hair cut. I posted it because if you look close at the base, the smaller limbs have already regrown their leaves. Just like yours Randy, they are twice as thick and about half the size. It is a neat comparison of the two sizes of leaves. Side note: Yes this is my coner of trees that have not enjoyed our current heat wave. The Japanese Yew is out of it's growing Zone and I am not sure it will make it in the end.
I previewed this posting and am not sure if you can see the leaves very well, but I posted it anyway.

[plantmanky]

Here is a picture of the burned leaves. When they first burn, the leaves appear black on the edges, much like Black Mold. Now they look more dried out and appear more like a leaf burn. Have any other ideas Randy?

Dale,

Those leaves look like normal leaf burn to me. it's usually caused by any combination of Dryness, windy conditions or other conditions that affect moisture getting to the edges of the leaves. It's just a seasonal thing caused by some sequence of events. I wouldn't worry about it to much since your new leaves are comming out in good condition. I would recommend though that you apply some ferterlizer to your tree. That mottled leaf look is an indication of low nitrogen. If your soil is free draining a few applications of general purpose Miracle Grow in liquid form will take care of that. I have found that red maple is a food hog when it's grown in containers.

ta ta for now bud,
R