My first maple repot. Been watching all the repot videos in the calendar app and the Japaness maple repot stream as well. Found alot of broken down akadama that was pretty much mud and black roots around the bottom and some sides so i had to take more of that i wanted but didn’t completely bare root. Cleaned top bottom and sides. removed strong course roots back to fine roots and any down growing roots and crossing roots. I tried to remember all the key points ryan mentioned so its all a learning curve at the moment and i’ll watch the videos again to see what i missed but i’m confident i hit those score points he mentioned about repotting!
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looks like a solid repot and she is developing very nicely . Are you thinking about having that apex go left or pushing it to the right ?
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Thanks, got alot of pinching to do depending on the strength moving. Some buds are swelling now.
Not sure but i’ve left the apex open for options but i will have to choose…
Agree with @NEBeech re solid work here. Plus you sound like you care a lot and that is the key in order to succeed with this peculiar hobby so well done.
I’m sure you know the drill but remembering this is your first acer I can’t help to advice you on giving it an extra tlc this growing season esp when it comes to wind exposure. People say ‘acers are primadonas and tends to suffer from scorched leaves’ the truth is acers are resilient more than one would have thought (at the end it is a mountain tree!!) and the thing it causes or increases chances of scorched leaves drastically is weakened roots which includes bonsai repot.
My few cents here.
It is nice to see the progress from when you got it. You might have your very personal library of development in this convo 
keep these updates coming and enjoy the spring burst of gorgeous orange mini leaves 
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Thanks for your kind words. Its just really good to put it to practise one of the most important skills to master at a high level. I’m far from it and i still have to do my Larch and Scots pine further down the line and these are more trickier. This will be my first full growing season with my maple and my two other trees so it will be exciting to see what they produce.
I do have a question anyone can answer please - why is maples non shin based? I understand we want that root plate with only finer roots radiating out towards the pot walls for water and nutrients but why don’t we create roots below the nebari?
Thanks
This is a great question and I actually cant recall any reason “WHY” any tree are or not shin based. Since some can be cultivated as shin based over time if started when young I would speculate it has to do with a beneficial fungal/root relationship and possibly with the ability/speed to move water. As for why dont we grow roots under the nebari, this is aesthetically a way to enhance the buttressing of the flare. hopefully someone with a deeper understanding can answer this with greater accuracy
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What subspecies is this? Right now there doesn’t apear to be one… Great question BTW, its typically very noticeable, here is where it would be as a reference
Far as i believe i got told a mountain maple. Maybe the repot? Enough to sustain but not add
That’s pinching done @Jockpine 
But yes,never seen such thing 
I’ll keep an aye on it but these are the first strong shoots to appear so you would believe these are the strongest buds getting allocated all the energy but having no central stem.
How are your buds looking?
I will have to wait for the weekend to take some pics. Leaving the house early am and still dark when getting home. Last weekend - early stages aka maximum swelling noted except for one very young maple and field maple.
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I can’t say for sure but I believe you will eventually get a central stem that emerges from there or else your holding the golden ticket tree😁.
I would love to know why this happens so if anyone can tie it into their next QandA post it would be greatly appreciated.
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Your tree has enough energy to produce two leaves only. not enough to produce more at the terminal branch. You just repotted. Probably next year you’ll be able to pinch. Not this year with depleted stored energy. My opinion
Still just the young ‘golden dream’ leafing out
This year seems to be everything late, cca 3-4 weeks behind previous years.
I would say this also as it was a 70% repot but never bare rooted. I’ll fertilise lightly in late spring to just help it along. What do you think? Also should i do any pruning this spring once the growth hardens off or just let it be over the summer and correct it in the leaf drop pruning?
Hello again
If the tree sends out super long shoots then I’d cut back and defoliate but my suspicion is that won’t happen this year so I’d address styling etc at leaf drop I know it’s a little disappointing, I know I’d be upset I couldn’t advance my tree but next year, hopefully, it will explode with growth
So last summer when i got the maple i done some 50% maybe more pruning and defolation. Then leaf drop pruning to correct structural flaws! I guess i gone too far?
But this season i’ll let it rock out and keep an eye on strong pushes if it happens.