So cute!

I love this time of year. I was trying to remember the name of my little JM. It looks so pretty all decked out in its new leaves.

I see I have some reverted leaves that need to be trimmed off. I totally forgot about pruning this little one when it was dormant. Shoot.

Very pretty Kell. Is it possible that this is a japonicum? I will be very interested to see what it's IDed as.

Very nice, what is it?

Laura

I can't get the images to enlarge or I would take an educated guess. It does look interesting though.

There are no reverted leaves or shoots on that plant. It is a palmatum, but it is not producing stable or settled growth which will make any variegated dissectum a challenge to Identify. At this point, you would likely find that plant being sold as Toyama nishiki, but there are some ins and outs of what it might actually be. That should get you by for now. It looks like it has just about outgrown that pot, and for truest characteristics it needs a few years in the ground and some age on it.

Here is an unrelated variegated dissectum that I once had....maybe I'll try again some day.

That one is so pretty, Ryuzu. Mine has white and pink variegation. And it was sold as Toyama nishiki, so thanks. I keep it in that pot to keep it small on purpose. I did forget to prune it this year though and it leafed out suddenly. It has a few whole branches of just green and they are quite aggressive I see already. I was going to prune them out.

Thanks Doss and Laura, I like it too. I will get better pics in the day light this week to post. It is quite pretty.

I agree with Ryuzu...you should upsize the pot ...it will still stay small ..or you could root prune but if you don't know how I'd pass...it will likely be a tangeled root bound mess.... unless the trimming you mention is the roots ...I took it as "branch" trimming ...anyway you may want to wait til fall since any drastic move will shock the tree...and even repotting if the roots are as i expect, will require severe doctoring ( unless as I said you've been doing that then you could repot now.) David

Your vigorous branches will likely eventually settle down to produce more variegated characteristics, but not all parts of the tree will be highly or even moderately variegated...the intensity of the characteristics will vary though the plant. I would pinch back vigorous shoots by 1/3 to 1/2 of the new growth in a season if they are out growing the rest of the plant, but not remove as if they are reverted. That plant does not revert very often.

As for the repotting. Some root pruning or a renewal of potting soil looks like it is in order. If you plant to keep it in a small pot for a while, something wider would be in order rather than a standard one gallon nursery container.

Cheers!

Thanks for the info. But it is going to stay in this pot for a few years. Maybe forever.

Here is a picture of the leaves in daylight. They are so delicate.

Here is the branch that is all green. I really think it has reverted. I need to clip it.

Kell, are you trying to Bonsai the tree? Otherwise I'm confused as to why you would want to keep it in the same pot for so long.

Laura

Yes, Laura. I want it to stay small. I have trained as a waterfall. I have no room for another big maple. This one is darling as it is and I keep it up on my porch.

If so, you may wish to take Ryuzu's advice and give it a root pruning then in order to keep it from getting pot bound. It is such a lovely little tree that I would hate to think of it not having any "toe space", lol! He really knows his stuff.

I have an upright variegated JM 'Kagiri Nishiki'. It only gives colors on its new growth, and some years are more colorful than others.

I wonder if the winter temperatures make a difference for the next year. Does yours always have the same amount of variegation spread throughout the tree?

Laura

You can keep it in that pot as long as you like and you can care for it as it gives you feed back about the situation. I would recommend, if you intend to keep the one gallon size that you switch of a wider more shallow pot as one would do with bonsai. Culture will require that you regularly root prune to remove wood lignified roots so that then can be replaced with more fibrous feeder roots and so on and so forth. You will also have to keep the top in-check to balance canopy with roots. You will have to replace soil every year or so as it will break down. Of course, fertilizer will be required as well.

I have no idea what your knowledge is of bonsai type culture, but you should read up in it if you have little or no knowledge. It is not possible to keep a maple in a one gallon pot indefinately without using some techniques that maintain new growth and vigor in the plant, no matter how small the scale. It will certainly perish if nothing is done but water and feed. The roots will eventually replace the soil and there will be no room left for the root-bound plant and no room for soil or nutrients.

By the way, I don't know how small you need to keep that plant, but it is not overly vigorous and stays very small in comparison to some dissectums. Giving it a healthy planting environment and room for the roots (a larger pot) will still afford you the opportunity to keep it sized down by some yearly pruning. Just use a good potting mix and do not supplement with much nitorgen. Use some micro nutrients and some phosphorous and pottassium form time to time, making sure one of the P-K salt forms contains some calcium. Of course, you will always get better color with a variegated dissectum when you stress it, so you might just want to leave it be.

Best of luck.

Hmm, I suppose that explains my different color from year to year on my variegated JM too...more stress=better color. We had a mild winter last year, but colder this year, so if this is the way it works, I should have a bit more variegation to look forward to. Can't wait to get some leaves to see how it looks!

Laura

Thanks for all your info, Ryuzu. I used to grow tons of different variegated JMs when they were not readily available. I had an Oregon connection and got the rare ones. I had them all over. I was truly in love. I kept most in pots for years and years, sizes going from very small up to 30 gallons. I would pot up to a certain point then stop, depending on the plant. In fact I still grow so many different plants in pots even now. I take a small saw and zip zip the roots in early spring when you can get away with lots more root pruning and less canopy pruning. Fast and easy! Not traditional bonsai but same principles. But thanks for caring.