名媛直播

Hello 名媛直播 people!

This is my first post, and generally new to 名媛直播, but not growing plants. I have a horticulture major.

I'd like to purchase a 3.6 gallon Japanese Maple, online and wondering if this is too large of a tree to consider as "pre-bonsai".

I'm interested in Formal Upright for this tree, and since this particular species is unavailable locally, I have to rely on mail-order.

Your advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated

Hello and welcome.
I am sorry, but i don’t have a clue as to how a 3,6 gallon plant looks ( this is an international forum, so please refrain from using local measurements).
But because you ask If it’s too big for I pre bonsai I assume it’s ( a lot?) bigger than what you consider a bonsai.
First of all there are heights in bonsai, going from 10cm max ( mame ) bonsai, to over a meter and larger.
Second: as a horticultural major you know that length is width, so depending on how thick a trunk you want on your final tree you have to let it grow freely, which sometimes means that you have a tree that is a few meters high before you cut back and restart ( google trunk chopping).
Big plants ( pre-bonsai) mean thick thick branches, which are 1) less pliable, 2) mostly not in ratio with the final trunk so you have to cut them all back really hard and 3 ) in the case of an acer, because of the long internodes have the foliage way out and ramification also way out.

So, it all depends really. Mostly on the knowledge of the bonsai-ist really, or what the plas for the tree are.
A picture of your tree would help,so we know what we are talking about.

Edit: forgot to mention that I would not buy a tree online, judging from a 2D pic is really difficult, sometimes you don’t get what you ordered, and the shape they are in- if bought from a let’s say, not tree minded website- is often very poor.
Better is to go to a lokal ( bonsai?) nursery and choose your plant there

I dont buy decidious trees or prebonsai online. For formal upright Acer all you really buy is a trunk, the rest will be chopped down anyway. So I am not that worried to buy Acer online from a reputable seller.

No Acer is too big for bonsai material. Put it in the ground, grow a few years, trunk chop short and then regrow. Repeat until happy with trunk dimesions. Then regrow for a season, repot into a training pot while doing root work. Now you can start on primary branches and develop the crown.

This is an international forum, not just European, so it would be a good idea for us all to be able convert roughly units that appear here.

1 gal is about 4 liters.
4 inches about 10 cm
Temperatures is harder F=9/5 C + 32.
0C = freezing, 32 F, 10C =50F = chilly, 30 C = 88 = warm.

3,6 gallon tree still dont say much. Do it? Ruffly 12 liter tree??

Thank you all for your replies. My apologies on not including the metric system.
3.6 gallons=approx. 13.6 liters.

The Deshojo is 3' tall= approx 1 miter
1.5" diameter trunk, = approx. 3.8 cm

I decided to purchase the maple online, as there are no bonsai retailers within 300 miles(480km)

I researched trunk chopping as recommended, and it looks straight forward. My question at this point , is should I trim the roots simultaneously? There seems to be a lot of controversy in what I have read regarding this at the same time.

Of course, thank you for the suggestions and considerations.

You can take the taproot off before replanting in the ground or a bigger pot. I prefere not to do two big Jobs on a tree the same year. So if I do root job one year I wait to next for trunk chop. My deshojo purshased (online) last spring is similar to what you are looking at. It is still in the nurcery pot aclimaticing to my area. It was grown last season in Italy and mowed to Sweden. I made the desition when I got the tree that it will look good in my garden so I will plant it come spring and do some air layering off the biggest branches for bonsai. It is really hard to make suggestions based on a tree that neigther you or me has seen yet. But remember, bonsai is a maraton, not a sprint. Sometimes the best action is no action at all. Wait and study your tree, let it grow while you make up a long term plan.

Thank you again. Sounds like a thoughtful plan. I'm in no rush,