Top Tips for Starting Trident Maple Bonsai

[@maplejapanese9375]

I love maple videos, especially those that show training from the beginning in its first pot to its final refinement. Thank you so much Terry!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much! Appreciate it and thanks for watching.

[@sueb1317]

Beautiful trunk line - what a labour of love it must have been to grow it! Really enjoyed your thoughts on branch selection and shaping. Very helpful info on wound healing as well - so interesting to see the tools and technique applied to a bunch of different examples. Thanks so much for the helpful info!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

As always Sue, so nice to read your feedback. Yes, it’s been quite some time in development. I’m glad the information I share is of value to you and I commit to making more more of the same 😉 (provided you keep writing me such nice feedback)

[@sueb1317]

@@TerryErasmusbonsaiHaaahaa - your videos are always the highlight of my day!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Aaaah you’re too kind Sue. 🙇🏼‍♂️

[@brandonsmith3447]

I’m sure this bonsai turned out beautiful but in this moment I cannot get the vision of a tardigrade from my mind. This tree hopefully is as resilient as one.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Uhm. Ok. The tree is doing fine and in fact I recently sold it.

[@razor2ts]

Excellent as always Terry! Thank you for sharing your wonderful knowledge 🙂

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much for the feedback. I really appreciate it. Thanks for always commenting too, I wish more people would as it’s most helpful to me.

[@marcoreptile86]

Hi terry, i love your videos, Have you ever thought about making a layering? I would like this plant as you show it to us at the end of the video

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Marco. Yes, I have made many air layerings. There are several videos of this on my channel. Thanks for the compliment!

[@stephencreswell229]

Hello Terry, have you ever successfully thread grafted a Hornbeam or Celtis Sinensis?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@stephencreswell229 hi. No I’ve never tried Hornbeam. However I’ve tried many times on celtis and it doesn’t work. For them try this instead www.bonsaitree.co.za/blogs/tree-talk/two-methods-for-grafting-hackberry

[@W9SL9Y]

I still absolutely love this tree Terry , from that first video of you digging it up. Beautiful trunk line and I remember some great root spread too still to be uncovered there 🤩 great to get another progress update.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Wesley! At this early stage of development it can be tough to build branches only to cut them off and repeat. But then all of a sudden, while you weren't looking you created a bonsai. Thats the way it always is with deciduous, that and its highly addictive :)

[@gerritdevos4707]

Great video. Thanks a lot Terry.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you Gerrit 👍🏻

[@thevaluehorse]

I appreciate that you wire the branches up sometimes. I hate when they are wired completely like pines with all downward branches

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Mmm, yeah to me it makes sense to wire branches in the apex upward as they would naturally grow towards the sun, plus where I live we don’t get snow so why would apical branches droop? 😉

[@TOMSAI]

Thx for showing us. Nive Project and the Tree look good whit some movment . By see you

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you so much! Yes, this one has little movement but I like the movement higher up in the tree, it is a little less typical and I am going to enjoy developing the canopy on this one.

[@TOMSAI]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai yes that is a very Good Plan i think too ! 👌👍

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Be sure to sure subscribe to follow the progress then 😊

[@DanielBorman]

Another fantastic video. Quality of info and production on par with the big paid subscription sites. Great grafting tips! Thanks Terry! Just wondering what the climatte is like where youre at in SA. By the types of trees youre working on seems like the SE US.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Daniel! Much appreciate the kind compliment. I live in the Western Cape of South Africa. Climate is Mediterranean more or less. Winter rainfall, dry and hot summer.

[@bonsaipage_]

Hey Terry, another great video! So I may have missed it but what time of year would one do this type of work?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you! mmm the best time would be late spring or early autumn. Alternatively when you have time :)

[@acer_p_bonsai]

Phenomenal tree, and concise yet detailed descriptions of your work. Very well done yet again Terry! I love seeing your videos from the southern hemisphere showing a 6 month reminder of what’s to come! 🙏🏽 Currently enjoying spring color here in Virginia, US. Hoping to see some new buds on a massive Acer rubrum I collected about a month ago. 🌱 Apologies if I you covered it in the video and I missed it, but how long did it take you to grow this tree to the current state? 🪴 🍁 Edit to add: found the video from 2 years ago…so brings this tree up to about 12+ years old from seed! 🤩 😯 👏🏽 💥 🪴 🌳

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Glad it is so helpful to you! Thanks for the compliment. Ah, Virginia - a very beautiful part of the USA for sure. Its hard to say how long but this one like the others at least 10 years but mostly as much as 15. Were I to do it again, with the knowledge I have now it would not take me that long but maturity in a bonsai is so highly prized that sometimes trying to do things as fast as possible is not necessarily the best thing.

[@gregoryh4601]

Dear Sir. When is it a Good time to Do Thread Grafting on Two of my Japanese Maple Trees? Thanks for your Videos

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Early spring is the best time, before the buds open with new leaves.

[@sherpa4204]

Brilliant and helpful video, thanks as always Terry. May i ask something? I have collected 3 days ago, 2 field maples, 12/14 inches diameter base. Followed your previous videos about that topic, but i barely have roots and 3/4 leaves for each tree. Should i consider using a black plastic bag to have constant humidity and maximize shade? Or i should to stick to the standard treatment of shade and no wind?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

If the trees were healthy and growing in the field they will have a lot of stored nutrients so having a lot of roots is not necessary although of course a bonus. I’ve never found I needed a bag but I know sometimes it can be used but this is on species which are not as vigorous as Tridents, to the best of my knowledge. Shade and little wind is fine. Shadehouse or greenhouse even better.

[@sherpa4204]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai 2 weeks passed, already have gems all around the trunk. Thank you very much!💪

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

I’m so happy for you!

[@fredmanfv]

Another beautiful video Terri. I love your attention to detail. I see the wooden box isn't nailed...it has proper dove tails😁 Do you do the thread grafts in winter?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Ha ha Fred, seems your eye for detail is equal to mine! Actually no, I managed to buy 6 or so of these boxes from a local wood seller, apparently they were special order fruit crates or something. I bought what they had left. Nope, thread grafts should be done in very early spring. If not then wrap grafting film over the buds where inserting so they are not brushed off.

[@fredmanfv]

That makes more sense to me doing a graft when the roots wake up. Thanks Terri.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@fredmanfv yip. Grafting in winter makes about as much sense as fertilising in winter as some people suggest.

[@andrewclack4881]

Hello Terry. I have a largish trident maple that has 1 third of the trunk missing all the way down one side. Do you think this will ever heal or do you have any other suggestions?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

That’s a tough one Andrew without seeing it. 1/3rd is a lot. However a healthy Trident can heal extremely well. I’d suggest trying to heal it yes but do so with it in the ground on planted on top of the ground. Let it run and the sapflow with accelerate healing. Good luck.

[@karabibanerjee834]

Thanks

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you so much Karabi! Your support is most appreciated 🙇🏼‍♂️

[@narayanbarailee9903]

what reason dieback problem in maple ?which temperature needed maple sir?from nepal.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Dieback could be a few things. Overwatering is the most likely cause. But it is not that simple to diagnose a problem like that just by describing the result. I need to understand the care, environment etc.

[@alexandruiordache30]

Hi, I have noticed that the tip of the leaves is brown. Is it something common to trident or is it a fungus? Because that's how my leaves look like too. Thank you very much!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Could be a few things. Could be leaf burn from the wind, which I think is the case here. Also could be root related issues such as too wet.

[@alexandruiordache30]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai I appreciate it, thank you!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@alexandruiordache30 my pleasure.

[@amgadmedhat6211]

Hey Terry! I just wanted to know if maples can survive the middle east and how can I import the species? P.S. am talking about small scake not for business!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks for the question. In my opinion they will not survive as deciduous trees need a period of dormancy which it will not have there.

[@amgadmedhat6211]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai But I've read that they can go dormant in as high as 5 degrees centigrade, we reach that temperature in Egypt. Won't it still survive! In some places in Giza it reaches 1 degrees at night.

[@randolphfriend8260]

💚 🎉

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

👍🏻

[@Peartrees2023]

Just found your channel.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Great! Just curious….finding my channel was a good thing?

[@Peartrees2023]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai oh yes for sure. Years ago before I moved in where I live now I had a nice tree garden going with potential bonsai projects. I’m fortunately. Where I live now I had no space to move them into so I had to leave them behind. But now I have a friend that has let me use a part of his yard to start up again. This year I’ll be digging up a mulberry tree. Had one done up years ago the was producing fruit. I grew it in the ground for five years. Then in a pot for three years. Sadly that had to go back in the ground. So I figured I’d watch more videos before I get back into it. Can’t wait for the next video

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@Peartrees2023 that’s awesome. Welcome back then to the bonsai fraternity then 😊 There are plenty of videos on my channel about field growing as it’s the primary source of my material. Knock yourself out, but don’t comprise on sleep - it’s good for you 😊

[@Peartrees2023]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai I’m also a woodworker/cabinet/furniture maker.