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Hello all!

I recently purchased a plug Red Maple Seedling. I was hoping it wouldn’t come pruned, but unfortunately, it looks like it was.

My little seedling resembles a 12-14 inch stick with 4 tiny leaves sticking out rather than what I imagined (shorter with maybe more leaves…). I was really hoping to be able to create a true miniature tree at a maximum of 12-14 inches.

Are there any techniques that I can use to help the seedling fill out at its current height rather than continue in its current beanstalk trajectory?

Many thanks!!
S

Can you send a picture?

The two techniques used to limit hight and stimulate backbudding in bonsai is pruning and wiring.

Wiring will help, this allows you to be able to bend the branches into a style.

Sounds like you have a seedling whip. Take a look at clip-and grow and/or trunk chopping information.

In most cases bonsai are created by growing a bigger tree first, chopping it to a very short stump, and then growing tall, cutting back etcetc.

Thanks everyone for the comments! I’ll definitely look into those suggestions.

Here’s a picture of my little guy.

Hello.
Seems like it's a good moment if you want to add some movement on it's lower trunk (if that's not wobbling on the pot).

And I wouldn't prune now, getting taller helps you to get it thicker, But if you still wants to prune back down, I think it would be better on summer flush, I've seen people saying that on spring, maples have a really intense sap flow, not being ideal for major cuts.

About the size you want to have, you may think about the root base and the trunk to match it. You must have a trunk thickness proportional with the bonsai size you are aiming for, even the movement amplitudes must have some proportion and taper, so I suggest you take a look on trunk thickness and tapering techniques.
There are different approaches to that.

There’s no wobbling on the pot and the little seedling does have a leftward motion to the base near the trunk. I was thinking of a Moyogi style since it already has some motion at the trunk - continuing with the natural curve it already has.

I was really hoping to create something quite miniature for this Red Maple, but if the tree is telling me it wants to be taller, perhaps it should be.

Thanks again!