Japanese Maple help!

by Dallas
(Sydney, Australia)

Hiya,

I live in Sydney, Australia and we have recently entered spring. I bought a Japanese Maple around 6 weeks ago and planted it in a self-watering pot (this one http://www.yates.com.au/Products/PotsPottingMix/Pots/TuscanEdgeSquare.asp )
The tree hasn't started to flower as yet, and the ends of the branches/twigs are dying - they simply snap off or begin to curl. A person at the nursery I bought it from suggested treating it with some Seasol, so I have done this once. I have also watered the tree from the top of the surface, however it has been suggested that it may be getting too much watering (both from the top of the surface by me, and by the self watering pot).
I planted it in good soil, and added some sand to the mix. I have also recently noticed something happening to some of the branches, and have included a photo(which isn't real crash hot), it looks as though the wood is, I dunno, the trunk goes from fairly smooth to very rough and raised, the wood looking like it is stretching or something rather.

Any help or ideas???