i today bought an acer capillipes. it is approximately 1 metre tall. it had been staked and i presume has been staked all it's life. i repotted it and removed the stake. the trunk is thin and the tree cannot support itself. it droops and the top of it hangs just above soil level. now... i'll be the first to admit i don't know a lot about plants or trees. perhaps what i have bought is a poor specimen... but other than the thin trunk the tree seems healthy... nice green leaves and plenty of new growth. however when i repotted it, i was surprised at the roots... they seemed minimal given the height of the tree. i thought the roots would be more plentiful or longer... or something. but once again i don't know much about trees. it actually has the appearance of being a vine, which is what i thought it was before looking it up. so what do you think? am i better off leaving it unstaked? will that allow the trunk to develop so it can support the tree? or is it past the point of no return? many thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions!
perhaps stake it with enough restraint to keep it straight-ish) without putting great pressure or restricting its trunk movement to develop a basal flare and trunk strength on its own. Over restraint will result in a trunk that will not create the cells it needs to support itself without the restraint.
Wash the roots and look at them. There may be a pest/disease problem or the plant may have been left in a small pot too long, resulting in a tight cube of roots that needs to be opened up. The latter is very common.
