red maple help

Hi to all. Im Oliver from Detroit area,new in bonsai art. Recently I bought red maple 1 yr old tree in nursery pot(prebonsai)as they call it. Now i've red here and there online about red maple care...apart from instructions from the seller..i couldn't find anything about fertilizing. The seller recommended organicare pure granulated but didn't mention anything about frequency of feeding and watering. This is what I've learn so far:
keep it outside all year round. .filtered light not direct sun..water every day or every other. Nothing about fertilizing. Repot in fall or early spring.
I would gladly listen to any advice on how to successfully continue growing these eautiful tree and make it art.

Thanks

Hi Oliver!

Try this link: http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/AcerPalmatum.html

I can't get trident maples to live through a season no matter what I, but Acer Palmatums have restored my faith in maples.

Good luck to you.

Is it Japanese maple or American red maple. They are 2 different animals completely.

It is american red maple..I'm sorry for lack of info.

The american red (or swamp) maple, Acer rubrum, won't care what kind of fertilizer you give it. While it is in the nursery pot soil, every 2-3 weeks according to directions on the fertilizer container. After it is moved to a bonsai pot and bonsai soil, fertilizing at 2 week intervals will be OK.

These are not easy as convincing bonsai. We have had a few articles about their care here, using the search block on our home page should bring them up. Acer rubrum would be the best search term.

Hi Oliver,
The good news about red maple - Acer rubrum - is that it is very hardy and a vigorous grower. If it is in a plastic pot, there will be no problem wintering it outdoors in your Detroit area back yard. It will do better out there than being brought inside and ''protected''. Good tree to learn bonsai basics with. Acer rubrum will bounce back right through winters with -20 F (-28 C) temperatures, no problems.

It does have ''issues'' in terms of making a competition quality masterpiece tree, but you can make a pleasant bonsai from it. First suggestion is to think big, plan on going for a tree over 24 inches tall, the leaf size and leaf petiole length won't be as big an issue visually. Be sure to read Arthur Joura's thread on American Bonsai at the Asheville NC Arboretum. I believe the collection has a red maple or two. https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t12772-american-bonsai-at-the-nc-arboretum

Learn from this tree, it is the start of a hobby that can be satisfying enough to last a lifetime. Enjoy the process, and eventually results will come.

https://flic.kr/p/sy7746

here is my youngster maple. i think it will take some time to grow.i feed  him with organics pure fertilizer.the thing i want to ask is..can i add miracle grow (or something else to speed up the grow)and how frequent to change from one to another at this stage?? also should i cut the branches to 2 pair or leaves or just leave it to grow wild ??

I am not an expert on maples, but I don't see why you couldn't switch to miracle grow or something like it right away.  I alternate between Bonsai-pro and Miracle grow, feeding watering every two weeks during the growing season at half the recommended strength (in the case of Miracle-Grow) for houseplants.  I don't know about the pruning - most of my surviving trees have been ficus and junipers.  

Best of luck.

That's a japanese maple. Most likely Bloodgood.

Ok its blodgood jap. maple. Now..should i leave it grow wild until winter then prune or doing it now pruning will be more fruitful?
Why i cannot find online any step by step for young trees tutorials or advices...it's little anoying

Hi, I admit I'm a bit "old school" but how about a book on bonsai? Not everything can be found on the internet ...oh gasp!! I have found many good books at book resale shops and I'm sure even Amazon will have some inexpensive bonsai books. Libraries also have books on bonsai!!

Another avenue to learning is a local bonsai club....our club has a library for our members!! I would imagine Detroit would have a club you could join!! My club also have a once monthly class for beginners and we encourage new members to bring their questions to the club meetings.

Good luck..
Norma

Really,the first step for that tree is it needs to grow. A lot. I would plant it in the ground and leave it there for a few years. Then when the Bloodgood part above the graft is thick enough air layer it off of the parent stock.
Being a Bloodgood it will need to be a larger tree. The leaves on these don't reduce a whole lot,the internodes aren't very close and the petioles on the leaves are long.
Sorry but they are best suited for the landscape not bonsai.

M. Frary wrote:   Really,the first step for that tree is it needs to grow. A lot. I would plant it in the ground and leave it there for a few years. Then when the Bloodgood part above the graft is thick enough air layer it off of the parent stock.
 Being a Bloodgood it will need to be a larger tree. The leaves on these don't reduce a whole lot,the internodes aren't very close and the petioles on the leaves are long.
  Sorry but they are best suited for the landscape not bonsai.

Have to agree stick it in the garden and forget about it for a good few years

Maybe...I've seen online pretty good looking bonsai maples, i don't know about you...maybe patience is the key instead of quick success.

renejas wrote:Maybe...I've seen online pretty good looking bonsai maples, i don't know about you...maybe patience is the key instead of quick success.

Always.

There are many fantastic maple bonsai but the specific variety is important. Bloodgood can make good bonsai but as M. Frary said they need to be of a larger size to look convincing. Patience is the name of the game in bonsai and this tree will take that so don't slow the tree down by pruning or repotting yet. Let it grow and observe its growth patterns, understanding the habits of the species is the first step to success.