I'm new to bonsai but I'm quite interested, I'm looking for something that requires a little more long-term commitment then my veggie garden haha. A few days ago I collected 10 tiny sugar maple (I believe they're sugar maple) seedlings and potted them up in some commercial bonsai soil. I'd say the soil is atleast 50% peat, which I recently learned isn't so great for acer bonsai. There are still a lot of seedlings out in my garden and I'd like to try another 10 in a less organic mix, something like 1/3 organic to 2/3 inorganic? I've heard a lot about using pine bark, worm castings, fir bark and lava rocks, but I'm not sure on the most effective way to combine them? Right now I'm thinking that I'll use 1/3 worm castings, 1/3 pine bark, maybe 1/6 fir bark and 1/6 crushed lava rock (or maybe it would be better whole?). Any Advice.
If you want to train and shape this plant into bonsai, plant it in the ground (or big container) until the trunk gets bigger. You can also tourniquet it in that pot.
I'm going to take your advice and plant the rest outside in a seperate bonsai bed I have made space for in the yard. I took a look at the tourniquet method for creating a shallow root system suitable for bonsai and I discovered another method that suggested the same results using an easier method for small saplings. Growing a tree through a hole cut into a old ceramic tile to force the growth of a lateral root system is quite interesting. I think that I'll leave the smallest maple saplings to grow on their own this year and introduce the idea next spring. I have several willow cuttings that I'm trying to root and I'm going to be forced to up-root some older maples to make room for an extension on my veg garden so maybe I'll start those this year. Any other suggestions on ways to get creative with maples or willows?
