For Pine Bark the best way I've been able to do it is buy the nuggets, then I put it in an old blender in ice crush mode. I sift out the fines and super coarse after and it gives a more consistent result.
Hello, I'm curious as to why you filter pine bark fines and the chunks, is it for better aeration? Also I'm thinking of using your peatmoss, pine bark, pumice mixture for 3-4 ft. maple trees in zone 9 I'm hoping to hear your thoughts on it. Thank you
Yes the weather is pretty mild and we get many rainy days during winter in the PNW so i filter out fines to improve aeration and drainage. For zone 9, it may be helpful to add some pearmoss to improve water retention. Hope it helps!
Great video and great info! What type of soil should i use on maples that are maybe 3 to 4 years old.?should i still be using potting soil or maybe mix the potting soil with pumice? Also have u ever tried using a rooting hormone on a tree that is already established to get more roots to grow cause some places i bought trees from their roots are just in terrible condition.thanks
Thank you! For younger trees with a goal to thicken the trunk fast, I would use a mix of bark/Pumice and fertilize a lot in the growing season. I have never used rooting hormone to rejuvenate more roots. (It may help) I think it's important to do the good root work in late winter to remove strong and thick roots and encourage more finer roots to grow as the tree pushes new growth in the spring & get sugar back into roots in mid/late Spring.
@@MomijiEn thank u very much ! I just bought a young osakazuki and mixed pumice and potting soil maybe i should change that.? Its a 5 gal bucket and to fill the bucket i put bigger rocks at the bottom then half way up start with the potting soil and pumice mix. I think it should be pretty free draining though. Thanks for the info and reply!
Thanks for sharing,. An exciting time, getting ready for spring! Do you get your pumice locally or ship it in? And for your refined maples, what fertilizer do you like to use?
Exciting time for sure! I usually get pumice locally from a bonsai nursery in the PNW but they are temporarily closed due to change of ownership. Hope they will reopen soon! I wonder where else I can source it. Fore refined maples, I love using bio gold fertilizer in late Spring.
Thank you for that video tutorial. I have JP seeds in the frig that are rooting, the he seeds came from my brothers tree. So Far I have 5 seeds in soil right now. The seeds have sprouted 🌱 look like the emoji 🌱 2 leaves. So the fertilizer you showed us in the video when can I put the fertilizer crystals on them. Have you heard of Happy Frog JP maple fertilizer? Which do you prefer? Can you give us a link where you can purchase bags of akadama like you showed us.
Nice! Always exciting to see new sprouts :) My JM seeds have not germinated yet. You can put the fertilizer crystals in early/mid spring for younger trees. I have used Frog JP maple fertilizer for my garden trees but I did not personally notice any significant differences. If you are interested in getting Akadama, Bonsai Tonight or Portland Bonsai Supply would be a good place to start. I know there are other places you can order online.
Nice! I use EB Stone too! ...their Cactus mix for all my trees (it’s 30% pumice and 70% bark/organics) - deciduous, broadleaf evergreen, conifer... since it’s super dry and hot in SoCal in summer... and too lazy to make my own mixes nor have diff mixes per type of tree. I don’t sift neither... fines are good for moisture in dry hot summers. Basically, I’m lazy and cheap lol... but it’s been working great for years. I use Kellogg brand if the store I’m at atm doesn’t have EB.
That's perfect whatever works best for you and your climate! I am frequently asked about the best soil mix. I can provide the general feedback but it all depends on the climate (heat, cold, how often you can water, shade/full sun etc). You are lucky you found one that does the job with least work required, that's ideal :)
@@MomijiEn Yeah.. it all depends on climate and/or if you have workers/apprentices that can water your plants 3x per day in SoCal, haha ;) I learned the trick from an old-school JBP grower from LA (he grows thousands of JBPs for 40-50 years).
@@MomijiEn I wouldn't really say I'm lazy... it's just that, I'd rather reserve all the time and effort on more important things that takes many hours/labor - garden cleanup and maintenance, weeds, pruning and momiage of JBPs (which take several hours/days), pruning all the other plants, etc.
Enjoyed your video as usual ! I have a question I was hoping you can answer , I plan on air layering this year a Japanese maple that is in the ground and almost in all day sun. I want to try using your method, with a plastic pot, so how often should I water the pot? How moist should it remain during those super hot days? Keep those videos coming 😊
Thanks for watching! Under all day sun, I suggest you wrap it with moss and almost close it with a plastic bag and aluminum foil so that the moss will remain cool and wet inside the bag and you only need to water it when needed.
Momiji , can you help me with the maple die back? , I have a really small tree like 2-3 years old and it start to die back in fall. Istart to cut it back, but it doesn't help, no leaf left. I don't know what to do. THank you for your answer
Japanese maples sometimes die back for no reason. You can reduce the chance by pruning them at the right time, sealing the wound properly, and keeping it healthy. Based on what you are describing, I would just protect it in an unheated greenhouse or garage and see if it will push out the new growth next spring.
@@MomijiEn hmm I see. :( Sadly I don't have a garage or greenhouse, I just can leave it in the room. But I will hope for the best. Thank you for helping me Momiji! Good luck with your trees and youtube channel.
@@maithaomai They need a period of dormancy so keep the tree somewhere cool (35-45F) during the winter so they can rest and hopefully will push new growth next spring! Good luck!
👍🏻👌👌Highly valuable information,thank you sir!!
Thank you I enjoyed watching your videos. I’m new in Bonsai hobby especially Japanese Maple.
Thanks for watching and welcome! It's a lot of fun learning and working on trees! (Especially Japanese maple 😁)
Very helpful video as always!
Thanks for watching as always!
For Pine Bark the best way I've been able to do it is buy the nuggets, then I put it in an old blender in ice crush mode. I sift out the fines and super coarse after and it gives a more consistent result.
Thx for the tip!
EB stone is an amazing brand. Full on organic!
Thank you very much for your videos I would like to know where the akadama comes from
Thanks for watching! I get Akadama from a local bonsai nursery & from Portland Bonsai Supply :)
You can find it in aquarium shops, or in the internet as aquarium soil
Hello, I'm curious as to why you filter pine bark fines and the chunks, is it for better aeration? Also I'm thinking of using your peatmoss, pine bark, pumice mixture for 3-4 ft. maple trees in zone 9 I'm hoping to hear your thoughts on it. Thank you
Yes the weather is pretty mild and we get many rainy days during winter in the PNW so i filter out fines to improve aeration and drainage. For zone 9, it may be helpful to add some pearmoss to improve water retention. Hope it helps!
@@MomijiEn I see. thank you for the help as always :D
Super
Thanks!
Great video and great info! What type of soil should i use on maples that are maybe 3 to 4 years old.?should i still be using potting soil or maybe mix the potting soil with pumice? Also have u ever tried using a rooting hormone on a tree that is already established to get more roots to grow cause some places i bought trees from their roots are just in terrible condition.thanks
Thank you! For younger trees with a goal to thicken the trunk fast, I would use a mix of bark/Pumice and fertilize a lot in the growing season. I have never used rooting hormone to rejuvenate more roots. (It may help) I think it's important to do the good root work in late winter to remove strong and thick roots and encourage more finer roots to grow as the tree pushes new growth in the spring & get sugar back into roots in mid/late Spring.
@@MomijiEn thank u very much ! I just bought a young osakazuki and mixed pumice and potting soil maybe i should change that.? Its a 5 gal bucket and to fill the bucket i put bigger rocks at the bottom then half way up start with the potting soil and pumice mix. I think it should be pretty free draining though. Thanks for the info and reply!
@@Chris-oq6kn No problem! As long as the soil is not damp and drains water well, it should be fine. Good luck!
what can we use instead of akadama, its too expensive where I am 😖
Thanks for sharing,. An exciting time, getting ready for spring! Do you get your pumice locally or ship it in? And for your refined maples, what fertilizer do you like to use?
Exciting time for sure! I usually get pumice locally from a bonsai nursery in the PNW but they are temporarily closed due to change of ownership. Hope they will reopen soon! I wonder where else I can source it. Fore refined maples, I love using bio gold fertilizer in late Spring.
Thank you for that video tutorial. I have JP seeds in the frig that are rooting, the he seeds came from my brothers tree. So Far I have 5 seeds in soil right now. The seeds have sprouted 🌱 look like the emoji 🌱 2 leaves. So the fertilizer you showed us in the video when can I put the fertilizer crystals on them. Have you heard of Happy Frog JP maple fertilizer? Which do you prefer? Can you give us a link where you can purchase bags of akadama like you showed us.
Nice! Always exciting to see new sprouts :) My JM seeds have not germinated yet. You can put the fertilizer crystals in early/mid spring for younger trees. I have used Frog JP maple fertilizer for my garden trees but I did not personally notice any significant differences. If you are interested in getting Akadama, Bonsai Tonight or Portland Bonsai Supply would be a good place to start. I know there are other places you can order online.
Do you use the pine bark fines for japanese maples or the bigger pieces of bark for containers?
I don't use fines. I use sifted pine barks for young and developing trees. (Mixed with pumice and some organic soil)
Nice! I use EB Stone too! ...their Cactus mix for all my trees (it’s 30% pumice and 70% bark/organics) - deciduous, broadleaf evergreen, conifer... since it’s super dry and hot in SoCal in summer... and too lazy to make my own mixes nor have diff mixes per type of tree. I don’t sift neither... fines are good for moisture in dry hot summers. Basically, I’m lazy and cheap lol... but it’s been working great for years.
I use Kellogg brand if the store I’m at atm doesn’t have EB.
That's perfect whatever works best for you and your climate! I am frequently asked about the best soil mix. I can provide the general feedback but it all depends on the climate (heat, cold, how often you can water, shade/full sun etc). You are lucky you found one that does the job with least work required, that's ideal :)
@@MomijiEn Yeah.. it all depends on climate and/or if you have workers/apprentices that can water your plants 3x per day in SoCal, haha ;)
I learned the trick from an old-school JBP grower from LA (he grows thousands of JBPs for 40-50 years).
@@MomijiEn
I wouldn't really say I'm lazy... it's just that, I'd rather reserve all the time and effort on more important things that takes many hours/labor - garden cleanup and maintenance, weeds, pruning and momiage of JBPs (which take several hours/days), pruning all the other plants, etc.
@@LessTalkMoreDelicious makes sense 😁
I know Japanese maples grow well in PNW. I’m in The LA area. Any suggestion on soil mix proportion?
Probably you want to increase the amount of soil material that retains moisture longer in the soil mix and create shade for deciduous trees.
What type of soil would you suggest for sowing the seeds into for germination?
pretty much anything will work for example, bark/pumice mix, cactus mix, akadama etc
Enjoyed your video as usual ! I have a question I was hoping you can answer , I plan on air layering this year a Japanese maple that is in the ground and almost in all day sun. I want to try using your method, with a plastic pot, so how often should I water the pot? How moist should it remain during those super hot days? Keep those videos coming 😊
Thanks for watching! Under all day sun, I suggest you wrap it with moss and almost close it with a plastic bag and aluminum foil so that the moss will remain cool and wet inside the bag and you only need to water it when needed.
If I were to use Peat moss, would you recommend sifting that too?
No you don't need to do that. I assume you are using peat moss for seedlings?
Momiji , can you help me with the maple die back? , I have a really small tree like 2-3 years old and it start to die back in fall. Istart to cut it back, but it doesn't help, no leaf left. I don't know what to do. THank you for your answer
Japanese maples sometimes die back for no reason. You can reduce the chance by pruning them at the right time, sealing the wound properly, and keeping it healthy. Based on what you are describing, I would just protect it in an unheated greenhouse or garage and see if it will push out the new growth next spring.
@@MomijiEn hmm I see. :( Sadly I don't have a garage or greenhouse, I just can leave it in the room. But I will hope for the best. Thank you for helping me Momiji! Good luck with your trees and youtube channel.
@@maithaomai They need a period of dormancy so keep the tree somewhere cool (35-45F) during the winter so they can rest and hopefully will push new growth next spring! Good luck!
@@MomijiEn understood ! Thank you ❤
And I still should watering , right ?
Would I be able to use kanuma and spaghnum moss as a good soil for a Japanese Red Maple? Or is that to acidic?
I personally use Kanuma for azaleas, not for Japanese maples due to high acidicity.
I live in eureka California where can order a complete Japanese maple bonsais soil that ready to use
Bonsai tonight may have some soil available :)
What sizes are your sieves? What sizes are you keeping?
For these Akadama bags, I use 3/32" to just remove all fines. For barks, I usually use 5/16" (or 3/16").