Shortening Internode Length

In order to shorten the internode length and in turn make branches more dense and increase growth at the trunk it is recommended here that the center apical buds be removed. So here goes...

A true sign of Spring

Nothing says spring like Bonsai and Belgian Cycling

Cotyledon's emerging again

Within 10 days of last years date the Cotyledon's are starting to emerge from the ground again. The first one emerged today. No picture because of the rain today but hopefully tomorrow. Added 3/25/2011

Below are shots from the previous day of the emerging leaves on the existing plants.

Spring activities start - wiring and new growth

The 3 year trees were wired up after the winter has passed more or less. The rising sap in the branches has made them more flexible and since the buds on the 3 year trees have not emerged quite yet now is a good time to wire them up without inflicting too much damage. I lost a branch or 2 along the way. Those branches were either a little too small or still too brittle to work with.

I removed the 4 mil sheeting over the seeds that were sown in the fall. I took one of the cold frames that were covering the large plants and moved it over top of the future seedlings so that they have space to grow unimpeded by the sheeting when the start to emerge in the next few weeks. Lets hope that is the case, eh?

The other shots are of the 2 year plants starting to have their buds emerge. I love spring.

Harvest Time

Today and over the past few days I have harvested all of my seedlings and placed them in pots in the cold frame for the winter.

I have pruned the older trees that were to large to fit in the frame and I will start to style the ones ready for bonsai training.

Notes:
With the fact that my daughter mixed all of the maple seeds (with the best of intentions) gathered last year and then some grew stronger than others I am still in the dark about which trees produced the best seeds.

I have produced a database and accompanying map of the trees I harvested from last year and will update the database with any new trees as well as the status of their individual seed prospects.

I will not be using a cold frame this year to cover the seeds but instead use a 4 mil clear sheet to cover the seed bed in an effort to keep off the elements and animals but with the hope of not having to build another cold frame. We will see how that goes.

I will be planting the seeds this year in a much more deliberate fashion in an attempt to prevent the large amount of collision between root systems of the seedlings.

This coming year I will be using only a soaker hose to water the seedlings as last year the overhead watering I feel damaged the way the plants grew. There tended to be a very crooked base for all of the plants that were beat down.

2 months later

Seedlings have started to really grow now but root depth is only about 1 inch so far. I am not sure if this is due to the soil that is underneath the topsoil cover or not. This next layer of soil is much denser and is made up of more clay than I am currently comfortable with.

The middle bed is suffering from a lot of seedlings taking a beating from watering. I installed a drip line as opposed to an overhead sprayer to allow the plants a better chance at not being knocked over. Once they get bigger I will let them be watered from above.

I transplanted about 10 seedlings into pots this weekend. Into a sandy loam soil recommended from Vertreess. I used a ratio of 2 to 1 topsoil to sand respectively. Just a test.

Cotelydon Madness

On 3/20 the first sprouts of Acer Palmatum seeds started to emerge from the ground. The Chinese Elm and Oak have not emerged yet but they are testers this year and also were attacked by a squirrel. Who knows what will happen with them.

On 3/22 while inspecting the upper bed and assessing squirrel damage, I also inspected the lower beds which are free from squirrel attack markings. Surprisingly the middle bed was teeming with life as the Acer seeds are now in all out sprout mode. It appears that I have between 30 - 40 shoots in the cotelydon phase already in the middle bed with another 10 remaining in the upper bed after the squirrel attack. Pretty awesome so far.

The lower bed and potted Acer Palamatum trees are also showing signs of growth detailed in the below bad photos. Exciting stuff for sure!