Acer palmatum 'Bi hoo'

If after a short heatwave you had the same weather as here (that is not too hot with regular showers of rain but some sun too), and if you repotted it last spring, no wonder.

Mine needs repotting next spring, but also I would like to prune it so it doesn't get too high. That is what I fear the most for if it has been very healthy so far (except this year with a few brown spots), I don't know how it will take it. I'll spray BB after leaf fall and Nordox when pruning it. Fingers crossed...

 

Finally got round to staking/training the 'Bi hoo' because all the top growth was growing in the same direction towards the light. I really hadn't expected it to grow so much in one season, the tape measure revealed it is now over 2 metres (not including the pot) and has put on about 70cm in height this year. The growth seems to have stopped now and the shoots are hardening quite well so fingers crossed for the winter and spring! .... I will wait till after the killing season has finished before I make any pruning decisions as there is always the chance nature will make the decision for me.

Leaves on the vigorous new top growth are up to 10cm long while on lower twiggy wood some leaves are only 2cm. The main stem is still very green so hopefully it will colour up when the leaves fall.

 

here's my bi-hoo. it was like 2 years in the nursery and i felt like it needed a rescue

 

Well done !

 

thanks

 

A lovely specimen Karl. I do struggle with mine that gets smaller every year, Lol. Wonderful to see a good one.

D

 

thanks D.

say...what is that cultivar on your profile pic? i bet everyone has asked that question.

 

They have Karl lol. But I don't mind answering again, it's Grandma ghost in Autumn.

D

 

Photo from this afternoon. Current year twigs a good, strong orange, older stems yellow all the way down to the base on a ten year old tree. No signs of twig or stem blackening.

 

Looks pretty much like mine...

 

So healthy M. You have one if the good ones!!!

D

 

Haven't managed to get 'Bi hoo' out of the wet, so I took some pictures of it. Now in a 35l pot, the plant is still recovering from almost dying while in the ground. I bought this as a little graft from Dick van der Maat in 2011 (probably a 2 yr graft, though I didn't record the information.) It was planted in Spring 2014 at a 12l size, but in Spring 2016 it froze really badly. There was only a 2mm strip connecting the top to the understock. I pulled it out, stuck it in a pot, treated and forgot about it. A couple of years later it was thriving, and the wound was slowly healing. As you can see, 6 years later it is still not entirely healed. I'm waiting for it to fill in before putting it back in the ground.



There's a picture of the whole tree, the base starting to turn brown with age -- which will be a relief! -- a typical bit of gall along a branch, the base (nearly healed!, and the main wood. I had a hard time getting the color to come out, it is a bit showier than seen here.

Now I have to lug the thing out of the rain, and put those hydechiums in too. -E

 

Good morning E and a happy new year to you. Tbh I struggle with this cultivar. Mine gets smaller every year due to die back. It started off as a 12ft tree and is now 6ft at best. I wish you good luck.

D

 

best show of this maple is with snow!! (pics some years ag0) the expo of mine is mid shade on a very little hill .(clay soil)

 

Perfect !!

 

3rd April 2022 and it's still with me, but getting smaller each year ....

 

True colours :

 

My problem child. Isolated and undergoing tlc. I was hoping it was Pseudomonas syringae but the internal cut shown makes me believe it could be verticillium wilt.

 

I think its everyone's problem child @stg Mine gets smaller every year. Nearly a dwarf maple now.

 

I just "slip-potted" it this afternoon. Surpisingly, the rootball was not "crammed" and there were very few dead twigs.

Good rootstock ?...

 

Mine similarly is a very healthy maple. I repotted it last spring and it grew much through the year, fairly soft growth but still no dieback. I have owned it since 2013, so it is at least 10 or 11 years old and I have been waiting since the first day I bought it for it to start black deathing on me... not happening yet...

Maybe we are just lucky @AlainK, and have received plants that are not contaminated, or maybe there is something in our cultural practices that prevents the pathogens taking hold.

In any case it really seems like a lottery maple - some you win and some you lose!

 

I wish it is the case... ;°)

But seriously now, it's hard to say.

 

Definitely a buyer beware maple !! But possibly a bit like Taylor, as you say M some you win some you lose.

 

27th May 2022 and my ever shrinking Bi hoo has made some good growth this Spring. I'm still pondering on this tree !!

 

18th June 2022 and some new leaves on the ever shrinking Bi hoo. Tbh I hope it slows down nicely before September. Maybe not so much die back then.