Hello all,

I finally got a chance to work on the 10 month old Trident Maple seedlings.
They are already coming out of dormancy due to the South Florida heat. Here
is what I did.

Upon my request they had been sent bare-root.
I took each of the 5 trees and cut lengths of trunk of about 8 inches. Each
tree provided about 3 such lengths and left a 4 inch base with roots. Each of
these lengths was cut at an angle at the bottom and placed in a seed tray
with potting medium at an angle of 45 degrees. They were pushed to the bottom
to develop good flat radial roots.

The base stubs were inspected and radically cut just below the first set of
roots. This was done to eliminate the tangle of roots growing down, crossing
and non-radial. Two of these stubs were placed in a very shallow but wide
terra-cotta pot and planted at an angle (these 2 had the best root
configuration - radial). The other 3 were placed in the seed tray and planted
at an angle.

None were placed in the ground at this time. I will let them acclimate and
generate better roots for a year and then trim again and place in the ground
for accelerated growth.

We shall see what success rate I get for rooting.
The above was based on your assistance (IBC) and Issue 23, 1993 - 1 of
'Bonsai Today', pgs. 13 - 20.


Breakdown:
14 - 8" cuttings
5 - 4" base stubs

Total of 19 possible future trees out of 5 original seedlings.

Luis Fontanills
Miami, Florida USA

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