Arakawa color

Very nice :) Do you know how long these take to bark up in a pot?
 
I believe most sources say around 5 years, which is more or less the same time scale of a regular vigorous Japanese Maple to get it's smooth bark. Only time will make the bark really thick and corky though, 10 years minimum i'm guessing.

EDIT: The 'Nishiki Gawa' cultivar will develop thicker wartier bark even faster, so that might be an option if you're on a time constraint.
 
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I keep them in Sydney Australia mate, just as hot as SoCal! You just need to pick your cultivars and leaf characteristics well. Smaller straighter edged leaves do much better in sun and heat than larger serrated leaves. Greens do better than red etc. I have photos for example, I should do a thread on it.
 
Yes far better than most. I had mine under full sun all year without a trace of leaf burn.

I've tried 10 different cultivars, including arakawa, without luck. I'm not sure it's the sun as much as the lack of humidity and the dry wind that does them in. If I had the room, I would buy a cheap greenhouse, whitewash the panels, and use it for my maples and other 'tender' deciduous. This summer was brutal... even my elms were getting crispy.

Even two japanese maples I had planted in indirect sun next to a koi pond dried up and died. I replaced them with a camellia, and the camellia is thriving in the same location.
 
Very nice, only i got bothered by the straight part in the top (maybe you need stronger taper there or movement).
 
Nice color sequence! I'll have to try something like this next year.
 
I've tried 10 different cultivars, including arakawa, without luck. I'm not sure it's the sun as much as the lack of humidity and the dry wind that does them in. If I had the room, I would buy a cheap greenhouse, whitewash the panels, and use it for my maples and other 'tender' deciduous. This summer was brutal... even my elms were getting crispy.

Even two japanese maples I had planted in indirect sun next to a koi pond dried up and died. I replaced them with a camellia, and the camellia is thriving in the same location.


BNut yes that's exactly the problem. You are too dry for maples. They much prefer humid conditions to help them stay in good shape.
 
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