Japanese Maple and Trident Maple Cuttings

AndyJ

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Hey folks.

Does anyone know if there is an idiots guide to growing Japanese Maple and Trident Maple cuttings somewhere in BNut? I’ve got a heated propagation tray - will that help? Do you mist? Do you keep humid etc.

Thanks all

Andy
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Heated propagation tray should help, target around 25 C to 28 C for temperature of the media.

I would keep the tray covered or tented by clear plastic to keep in humidity. Misting can help, but can also cause problems. Moist media and high humidity is probably better than hand misting. If you have an automatic mist system that can work well. See Dirr, "Manual of woody tree and shrub propagation", it is a standard textbook, probably at your local library. My copy is the 6th edition from 1987. Most ag and hort schools still require it as mandatory reading. Used copies are available fairly cheap.

Once you have roots. The development of cuttings into pre bonsai to bonsai is covered pretty well here:

 

Tree by River

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Well I do know this I have a trident and have been taking cuttings off of it as the long shoots grow long and stick them everywhere I can, outside, inside of large Tupperware containers with moist soil and my wife’s flower pots with plants in them. That has been going on for the past 3 weeks and I’m noticing strikes on every place they are in. I love the containers though they are semi dark inside when I close them up and man it generates some great humidity inside and the cuttings almost don’t have a chance to wilt and they just strike up. One thing I do is dip and soak the tips in a liquid root hormone and stick it in my make shift plant trays and let them grow. They’re not hard to strike. Have a go at it and have fun with it and you will see. Good luck.
 

Canada Bonsai

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an idiots guide to growing Japanese Maple and Trident Maple cuttings

This is all you will ever need for cuttings. If you follow these guidelines, you are guaranteed success. If you deviate, the percentages drop.

There’s no magic when it comes to cuttings. If you set yourself up for success, you will have success 👍🏼
 

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KiwiPlantGuy

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Hey folks.

Does anyone know if there is an idiots guide to growing Japanese Maple and Trident Maple cuttings somewhere in BNut? I’ve got a heated propagation tray - will that help? Do you mist? Do you keep humid etc.

Thanks all

Andy

Hi,
I would be looking into using Perlite or Pumice in a 80% mix with an organic as the other 20% etc. They seem to like very well drained and aerated mix. Like others have said, humidity is also key, and a bit of hormone would be useful.
Great book recommendation too.
Charles
 

zanduh

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When I was researching, this was what I had found and it was super helpful for my understanding. The paper is much longer and has documentation on softwood propagation and grafting but it concluded that hardwood was very easy, less risky than softwood cuttings, and coincided perfectly with completing for the start of the spring growing season.


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Canada Bonsai

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When I was researching, this was what I had found and it was super helpful for my understanding. [...] it concluded that hardwood was very easy, less risky than softwood cuttings

The author of your write-up says in the first paragraph that they "consider the notion of hardwood cuttings of Japanese maple to be of unrealized merit", and that "one paper" from the annals of the Combined Proceedings of the International Plant Propagator's Society "stood alone"

This should set off alarm bells when you consider that they are referring to a plant variety that has been enthusiastically propagated since the 1600's, and whose documentation we can trace back to the 7th century. The first mention of intentionally produced Acer Palmatum 'cultivars' goes back to the 1700's, and there has been an unbroken history of publications ever since.

The global nursery industry has almost entirely opted to propagate Acer Palmatum via grafting, but if you speak to people who have had success propagating Acer Palmatum via cuttings--and who have tirelessly tried every option imaginable under ideal conditions--they will invariably tell you that softwood cuttings are standard practice and that they are best taken from early to mid May in most of the northern hemisphere. This applies to all of the traditional Acer Palmatum cultivars used for bonsai, as well as standard Acer Palmatum. (Beni Chidori and Deshojo have a lower yield, but still work well under the right conditions.)

Propagating Acer Palmatum for bonsai is extremely easy, as long as you understand what the factors are (listed below), and can keep the parameters within their fairly wide 'sweet spots'. If anybody doesn't succeed, it is because one of the parameters are off (i.e. it is never because we need to re-invent how cuttings are taken, or buy some new gadget like a plant 'cloning machine'). The old way is still the best way.

Timing
Substrate
Substrate Temp
Humidity
Mist
Light
Hormone
 

zanduh

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The author of your write-up says in the first paragraph that they "consider the notion of hardwood cuttings of Japanese maple to be of unrealized merit", and that "one paper" from the annals of the Combined Proceedings of the International Plant Propagator's Society "stood alone"

This should set off alarm bells when you consider that they are referring to a plant variety that has been enthusiastically propagated since the 1600's, and whose documentation we can trace back to the 7th century. The first mention of intentionally produced Acer Palmatum 'cultivars' goes back to the 1700's, and there has been an unbroken history of publications ever since.

The global nursery industry has almost entirely opted to propagate Acer Palmatum via grafting, but if you speak to people who have had success propagating Acer Palmatum via cuttings--and who have tirelessly tried every option imaginable under ideal conditions--they will invariably tell you that softwood cuttings are standard practice and that they are best taken from early to mid May in most of the northern hemisphere. This applies to all of the traditional Acer Palmatum cultivars used for bonsai, as well as standard Acer Palmatum. (Beni Chidori and Deshojo have a lower yield, but still work well under the right conditions.)

Propagating Acer Palmatum for bonsai is extremely easy, as long as you understand what the factors are (listed below), and can keep the parameters within their fairly wide 'sweet spots'. If anybody doesn't succeed, it is because one of the parameters are off (i.e. it is never because we need to re-invent how cuttings are taken, or buy some new gadget like a plant 'cloning machine'). The old way is still the best way.

Timing
Substrate
Substrate Temp
Humidity
Mist
Light
Hormone

I absolutely don’t dispute the way that it has been done for hundreds of years or the way that nurseries opt for today. You’ve inspired me to to do some citizen science to test the success rate using the hardwood cuttings this winter. Skeptical science is the best science!
 

AndyJ

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@AndyJ , Did you have any success?
Yes mate - plenty!

Everything was placed in 4” pots containing fines from my sieved Akadama, pumice and lava and mixed in equal parts. I got 2 litre coke bottles and cut the bottoms off. Each cutting was about 3“- 4” long and reduced to one pair of leaves, dipped in Clonex rooting gel and placed in the pots with the coke bottles on the top. All were placed on the heated propagator. And after only 6-8 weeks I had roots.

Maples taken were Arakawa, Kashima, Trident, Beni Maiko and Katsura. I reckon I had about 80% strike rate!
 

63pmp

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I got excited about J maple cuttings about 15 years ago. I had some success with Kashima and shindeshojo, but others failed. Shishigashira would only root as layers, but they are so slow to develop on there own roots that there is no point in doing small layers. Unable to get Okushimo to root at all.

Success rates were low, about 30% for Kashima.

I used bottom heat, incubator, pure perlite, organic matter in medium led to all cuttings rotting. 4000ppm IBA, and soft wood cuttings, took nodal cuttings late spring when growth hard hardened.
 
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