more pictures

chop 

Here is my trident a few months later. I repotted it a cheap plastic pot (79 cents a piece). It's a shallow tray used to place your houseplants in to keep them from dripping on your floor. Aside from being flimsy, it worked great for my other maple (japanese green maple). It's in a a bonsai soil composed of red lava, I think turface, and also pine bark. When I repotted it, it had only ONE fresh (white) root, and very few additional feeder roots. It's surprising it was still alive. The old soil it came in was some sort of white, large grain size, light rock. I chopped the trunk higher than I originally planned because I was afraid the short second trunk might not get buds. So far I am right, no buds on that piece. I also chopped off the high horizontal root, which has left a large wound. When i repotted though, there are 4 or 5 nice size rotos forming a nebari, not all at the same elevation though, so some might need to come off, or some new ones grafted in the future.

Right now, I am just going to left the new leader grow and grow, and hopefully develop a nice healthy root ball.

Here are the pictures.

Sorry, no i didn't forget. I reduced my image sizes to about 40k a piece and tried uploading them 1 by 1, but I continue to recieve and error stating the file size is too big. Frustration ensued, then I gave up. I'll try again now...

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Here is my first trident maple. Purchased from a nursery online for $40. Th chop at the top is quite mangled, and it looks like some sort of glue was used as a cut paste. There is also a fat long root which is maimed at the end, projecting from the side of the tree. Here are some pictures from all angles. I'd appreciate some advice where to go. I was thinking I would start by repotting into better soil early spring, taking off that side root and using whatever roots are buried deeper, and maybe lopping off the entire mangled top of the tree. Thanks.

Can I ask where you purchased it?

Next time check upon arrival. If the root system is not good, plant it in pure sand. All-purpose sand from Lowes will work. leave it in sand for at least six-month, do not feed at all, just water it regularly and you will see massive roots by the end of the year, that's when you pot it into rich medium and start fertilizing.