Japanese Maples that Root from Cuttings

[penumbra]

For the benefit of all B nutters, self included, I would love to have here a list of Japanese Maples that others have success in rooting from either cuttings or air layers. As a logical starting point it was suggested that all of the maples listed at Evergreen Gardenworks are rooted. So I thank Pitoon for the suggestion and Brent for the hard work establishing the baseline. These are those maples listed.

A. palmatum seedlings
A. palmatum (small leaf dwarf)
A. palmatum (small leaf, small seed)
A. palmatum (Ryusen seedlings)
A. palmatum 'Ao Kanzashi'
A. palmatum 'Bloodgood'
A. palmatum 'Burgundy Lace'
A. palmatum 'Butterfly'
A. palmatum 'Coonaria Pygmy',
A. palmatum 'Fall Gold'
A. palmatum 'Ibo Nishiki'
A. palmatum 'Inabe Shidare'
A. palmatum 'Karasugawa'
A. palmatum 'Katsura'
A. palmatum 'Kiyohime'
A. palmatum 'Mure Hibari'
A. palmatum 'Novum'
A. palmatum atropurpureum 'Nuresagi'
A. palmatum 'Orido Nishiki'
A. palmatum 'Pixie'
A. palmatum 'Ryusen'
A. palmatum 'Sazanami'
A. palmatum 'Seiryu'
A. palmatum 'Shindeshojo'
A. palmatum 'Shishio Improved'
A. palmatum 'Whitney Red''
A. palmatum 'Yuri Hime'

If you have experienced even a modicum of success rooting JM, please share your experiences. And please include any details relevant. As an example, a recent post suggests "Orange Dream"as being relatively easy but no details are given. To be fair, the post was not about propagating.

 

[Oerc201]

I have had success with rooting sharps pygmy really easy. Koto Maru relatively easy. Pic attached is the Koto Maru. I just used a modified method of Canada Bonsai’s document on cuttings. I have layered Deshojos, Ukon, Orange dream, Koto Maru, Shishigashira, Katsura and kiyohime.

 

[Ohmy222]

Below are the ones I have and if I have been able to strike or layer. The only ones I am not confident can be done that I have tried are Shigitatsusawa and Bihou. The Bihou I have only tried smaller ones but they died above the layer point twice. Please note most of these cuttings and layers are in the last couple of years so I can't tell you if they are strong on their own roots yet. Not many issues thusfar. If you want a general set of rules I struggle with the larger leaf ones the most. I find the dwarfs are very easy. I don't have professional setup but do use a mister every 4 hours in the summer underneath a long bonsai table. Also, I don't take many cuttings, often times it will only be 5-10 at a time. Sometimes just one.

Cultivar	Cutting	Layer	Notes
Akaji nishiki	Y	Y
Akita Yatsubusa	Y	Y
Allen's Gold			Have Not Tried
Amagi shigure			Have Not Tried
Ao Kanzashi	Y	Y
Aoyagi	Y
Arakawa	Y	Y
Baton Rougue	Y	Y
Beni Chidori			Have Not Tried
Beni hime			Failed Cuttings
Beni Maiko	Y	Y
Beni tsukasa	Y	Y
Bihou			Failed Cuttings and Layer
Bloodgood	Y	Y
Bonfire	Y	Y
Caperci Dwarf	Y	Y
Chiri hime			Have Not Tried
Chiyo hime		Y
Chuguji			Have Not Tried
Coonaria pygmy	Y
Coral Magic			Have Not Tried
Coral Pink			Have Not Tried
Corallinum		Y	Cuttings struck but died
Deshojo	Y	Y
Deshojo nishiki		Y
Dixie Delight		Y	Cuttings Failed
Eimini			Failed Cuttings
Higasayama	Y	Y
Hime shojo			Plant Died
Hino tori nishiki			Have Not Tried
Hogyuko			Failed Cuttings
Hubble's Supercork	Y	Y
Ibo juhi	Y	Y
Ibo Nishiki	Y
Ichigyo			Failed Cuttings
Iso chidori			Have Not Tried
Issai Nishiki	Y	Y
Jewels	Y
Johnnie's Seedling	Y	Y
Kamagata	Y	Y
Karahawa rose	Y
Karasugawa	Y	Y
Kashima	Y	Y
Katsura	Y	Y
Katsura hime	Y	Y
Ki hachijo			Have Not Tried
Kiyo Hime	Y	Y
Ko chidori	Y
Komanche hime	Y
Kotohime	Y
Kureani jishi			Have Not Tried
Kuro hime			Have Not Tried
Lima gold	Y
Mikawa yatsubusa		Y
Murasaki kiyohime	Y	Y
Mure hibari	Y
Nishiki Gawa	Y	Y
Nishiki Sho	Y	Y
Nishiki yamato	Y	Y
Odd otto			Have Not Tried
Okushimo	Y	Y
Olsen's frosted strawberry	Y		Have Not Tried
Orange Dream	Y	Y
Osakazuki			Failed Cuttings
Otome zakura	Y
Peaches and Cream	Y	Y
Rhode Island Red	Y
Ruslyn in the pink			Have Not Tried
Ryoku ryu			Have Not Tried
Ryusen	Y
Saiho	Y	Y
Sango kaku	Y	Y
Sazanami	Y	Y
Scarlet Wonder	Y	Y
Seigen	Y	Y
Seigen Aureum	Y	Y
Seigen rubrum	Y	Y
Seiryu	Y	Y
Sekka yatsubusa			Have Not Tried
Sharp's pygmy	Y	Y
Shigitatsusawa			Failed Cuttings and Layer
Shin Chishio	Y	Y
Shindeshojo	Y	Y
Shishigashira	Y	Y
Shishio hime			Have Not Tried
Tsuma gaki		Y
Twombley's Red Sentinel		Y
Ueno Homare	Y	Y
Versicolor			Have Not Tried
Wilson's pink dwarf			Have Not Tried
Yama hime			Have Not Tried
Yuri Hime	Y	Y

 

[Oerc201]

Below are the ones I have and if I have been able to strike or layer. The only ones I am not confident can be done that I have tried are Shigitatsusawa and Bihou. The Bihou I have only tried smaller ones but they died above the layer point twice. Please note most of these cuttings and layers are in the last couple of years so I can't tell you if they are strong on their own roots yet. Not many issues thusfar. If you want a general set of rules I struggle with the larger leaf ones the most. I find the dwarfs are very easy. I don't have professional setup but do use a mister every 4 hours in the summer underneath a long bonsai table. Also, I don't take many cuttings, often times it will only be 5-10 at a time. Sometimes just one.

Cultivar	Cutting	Layer	Notes
Akaji nishiki	Y	Y
Akita Yatsubusa	Y	Y
Allen's Gold			Have Not Tried
Amagi shigure			Have Not Tried
Ao Kanzashi	Y	Y
Aoyagi	Y
Arakawa	Y	Y
Baton Rougue	Y	Y
Beni Chidori			Have Not Tried
Beni hime			Failed Cuttings
Beni Maiko	Y	Y
Beni tsukasa	Y	Y
Bihou			Failed Cuttings and Layer
Bloodgood	Y	Y
Bonfire	Y	Y
Caperci Dwarf	Y	Y
Chiri hime			Have Not Tried
Chiyo hime		Y
Chuguji			Have Not Tried
Coonaria pygmy	Y
Coral Magic			Have Not Tried
Coral Pink			Have Not Tried
Corallinum		Y	Cuttings struck but died
Deshojo	Y	Y
Deshojo nishiki		Y
Dixie Delight		Y	Cuttings Failed
Eimini			Failed Cuttings
Higasayama	Y	Y
Hime shojo			Plant Died
Hino tori nishiki			Have Not Tried
Hogyuko			Failed Cuttings
Hubble's Supercork	Y	Y
Ibo juhi	Y	Y
Ibo Nishiki	Y
Ichigyo			Failed Cuttings
Iso chidori			Have Not Tried
Issai Nishiki	Y	Y
Jewels	Y
Johnnie's Seedling	Y	Y
Kamagata	Y	Y
Karahawa rose	Y
Karasugawa	Y	Y
Kashima	Y	Y
Katsura	Y	Y
Katsura hime	Y	Y
Ki hachijo			Have Not Tried
Kiyo Hime	Y	Y
Ko chidori	Y
Komanche hime	Y
Kotohime	Y
Kureani jishi			Have Not Tried
Kuro hime			Have Not Tried
Lima gold	Y
Mikawa yatsubusa		Y
Murasaki kiyohime	Y	Y
Mure hibari	Y
Nishiki Gawa	Y	Y
Nishiki Sho	Y	Y
Nishiki yamato	Y	Y
Odd otto			Have Not Tried
Okushimo	Y	Y
Olsen's frosted strawberry	Y		Have Not Tried
Orange Dream	Y	Y
Osakazuki			Failed Cuttings
Otome zakura	Y
Peaches and Cream	Y	Y
Rhode Island Red	Y
Ruslyn in the pink			Have Not Tried
Ryoku ryu			Have Not Tried
Ryusen	Y
Saiho	Y	Y
Sango kaku	Y	Y
Sazanami	Y	Y
Scarlet Wonder	Y	Y
Seigen	Y	Y
Seigen Aureum	Y	Y
Seigen rubrum	Y	Y
Seiryu	Y	Y
Sekka yatsubusa			Have Not Tried
Sharp's pygmy	Y	Y
Shigitatsusawa			Failed Cuttings and Layer
Shin Chishio	Y	Y
Shindeshojo	Y	Y
Shishigashira	Y	Y
Shishio hime			Have Not Tried
Tsuma gaki		Y
Twombley's Red Sentinel		Y
Ueno Homare	Y	Y
Versicolor			Have Not Tried
Wilson's pink dwarf			Have Not Tried
Yama hime			Have Not Tried
Yuri Hime	Y	Y

Awesome . How difficult was Seigen Aureum to get the cuttings to root? I am going to try this spring and was curious, if you can share. Thank you

 

[penumbra]

Impressive. Much appreciated.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

A.P "Fireglow" will air layer

I think @Ohmy222 covered every other variety I've worked with.

 

[Ugo]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ohmy222]

Awesome . How difficult was Seigen Aureum to get the cuttings to root? I am going to try this spring and was curious, if you can share. Thank you

Probably average. My mother plant is pretty small so I have taken very few and currently only have 1 or 2. I had no issues layering. It is not as vigorous as Seigen or Seigen Rubrum though so I will have to monitor. It is striking in the spring with the yellow. One of my favorites.

 

[Oerc201]

Probably average. My mother plant is pretty small so I have taken very few and currently only have 1 or 2. I had no issues layering. It is not as vigorous as Seigen or Seigen Rubrum though so I will have to monitor. It is striking in the spring with the yellow. One of my favorites.

Yes, i wasn’t aware of the cultivar then @clem got me interested in it. It looks like an amazing tree.

 

[leatherback]

Arakawa & Nishiki gawa root from herbaceous cuttings.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

Root well from cutting in my experience & proven to be appropriate for bonsai:

• Arakawa & Yves' Arakawa
• Beni Chidori
• Deshojo & Shin Deshojo
• Kashima
• Katsura
• Kiyo Hime
• Koto Hime
• Yves' Select

Difficult to root in my experience (and known to be difficult to root) & proven to be appropriate for bonsai:

• Seigen
• Shishigashira (Momiji-en seems to have got some cuttings to root, but it remains to be seen how they do next spring; looking promising: https://www.instagram.com/momiji.en/)

 

[penumbra]

Response / info traded has been fantastic. Its going to be an interesting spring.

 

[Oerc201]

Response / info traded has been fantastic. Its going to be an interesting spring.

Can’t wait!!! May need to take a couple of weeks off from work

 

[Ohmy222]

Root well from cutting in my experience & proven to be appropriate for bonsai:

• Arakawa & Yves' Arakawa
• Beni Chidori
• Deshojo & Shin Deshojo
• Kashima
• Katsura
• Kiyo Hime
• Koto Hime
• Yves' Select

Difficult to root in my experience (and known to be difficult to root) & proven to be appropriate for bonsai:

• Seigen
• Shishigashira (Momiji-en seems to have got some cuttings to root, but it remains to be seen how they do next spring; looking promising: https://www.instagram.com/momiji.en/)

Interesting. I have no issues with Seigen or Shishigashira at all. One of the easier ones for me except I don't have enough material to propagate a lot (so I could just be lucky). I have definitely read they are difficult though. I really struggle with Shin Deshojo. They root at a lower % but then a few more die within the year. I have a few still. Deshojo is not the easiest for me either but better. Ironic since Shin Deshojo literally means 'improved Deshojo'. Kashima, Kiyo Hime, and Koto Hime are the absolute easiest. I would say Kiyo Hime is close to 100% for me.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

Interesting. I have no issues with Seigen or Shishigashira at all. One of the easier ones for me except I don't have enough material to propagate a lot (so I could just be lucky). I have definitely read they are difficult though. I really struggle with Shin Deshojo. They root at a lower % but then a few more die within the year. I have a few still. Deshojo is not the easiest for me either but better. Ironic since Shin Deshojo literally means 'improved Deshojo'. Kashima, Kiyo Hime, and Koto Hime are the absolute easiest. I would say Kiyo Hime is close to 100% for me.

Oh that's great to hear, very exciting!

Which shishigashira are you working with? O Jishi, Meijishi, or both? (link below) Are you taking cuttings May-June and current year's growth? Are you doing anything differently for Shishigashira?

Canada Bonsai on Instagram: "There are 2 forms of SHISHIGASHIRA: O Jishi (left & 2nd pic) has larger leaves that are krinkled, but they are not quite as krinkled as Meijishi (right & 3rd pic) which has smaller leaves. I grow both because each has it

209 likes, 1 comments - Canada Bonsai (@canadabonsai) on Instagram: "There are 2 forms of SHISHIGASHIRA: O Jishi (left & 2nd pic) has larger leaves that are krinkled,..."

www.instagram.com

Are you sure that you have 'seigen'? (I attached an image from Meriggioli). I'm only asking because there are a few strains in North America being distributed as 'Seigen', which are not in fact 'Seigen' (long story). I am wondering because even in Japan where they have been working with 'Seigen' for a VERY long time, grafting is the preferred method and I have heard many times that cuttings are 'impossible' or 'very difficult'. I have been searching for Seigen in Japan for a few years, literally at +100 nurseries/sellers, and have never found one that was not grafted whenever I happen to find one at all (they are rare!) -- they have largely been replaced by Deshojo. Are you doing anything different/special for your Seigen cuttings compared to other cultivars? Are you taking cuttings May-June and current year's growth?

 

[penumbra]

Great dialogue, keep it coming.

 

[Pitoon]

I can also confirm Bihou will not root by cuttings or air layer at least for me it didn't two seasons in a row.

Shishigashira I have gotten to air layer, but not root by cuttings.

No luck either on Garnet or Viridis on either method.

 

[Ohmy222]

Oh that's great to hear, very exciting!

Which shishigashira are you working with? O Jishi, Meijishi, or both? (link below) Are you taking cuttings May-June and current year's growth? Are you doing anything differently for Shishigashira?

Canada Bonsai on Instagram: "There are 2 forms of SHISHIGASHIRA: O Jishi (left & 2nd pic) has larger leaves that are krinkled, but they are not quite as krinkled as Meijishi (right & 3rd pic) which has smaller leaves. I grow both because each has it

209 likes, 1 comments - Canada Bonsai (@canadabonsai) on Instagram: "There are 2 forms of SHISHIGASHIRA: O Jishi (left & 2nd pic) has larger leaves that are krinkled,..."

www.instagram.com

Are you sure that you have 'seigen'? (I attached an image from Meriggioli). I'm only asking because there are a few strains in North America being distributed as 'Seigen', which are not in fact 'Seigen' (long story). I am wondering because even in Japan where they have been working with 'Seigen' for a VERY long time, grafting is the preferred method and I have heard many times that cuttings are 'impossible' or 'very difficult'. I have been searching for Seigen in Japan for a few years, literally at +100 nurseries/sellers, and have never found one that was not grafted whenever I happen to find one at all (they are rare!) -- they have largely been replaced by Deshojo. Are you doing anything different/special for your Seigen cuttings compared to other cultivars? Are you taking cuttings May-June and current year's growth?

I got the Seigen from a very reputable Maple (not bonsai) nursery that has over 500 cultivars. They get most scion material from a huge nursery in the Netherlands called Esveld or something like that. I can’t swear it is of course only that the source is trusted in the maple community. Seigen is sometimes confused with Bonfire which is also confused with or thought to be Akaji Nishiki or Seigai. Valnvannis also had said the same about Seigen and I have read Merriogli book.

They say the same about Shishigashira too but I have had no issues with it and it is unlikely it is confused with another cultivar. As you called out there is a YouTube video of someone doing them with a high success rate. I think some things differ based on luck or regurgitating past information. The few sources I have found on cuttings tell you Bloodgood is the easiest and I struggle a lot. Same with Ozakasuki. I also suspect there are translation issues similar to people thinking they will have a world class shohin JBP is 6 years . I also have struck Japanese Beech cutting too and they are impossible (but not high percentage at all)

On my setup, cuttings are when I prune but June is typically the time. I have done them (in general) even as they leaf out or late summer. I don’t use bottom heat. I have a long table and strike my cuttings underneath it. I have a mister/fogger underneath that goes off for 2 minutes every 4 hours during the summer. It is possible the Georgia hot humid summers comes in handy for once. Soil I have used tons of mixes but old akadama / pumice or straight pumice works best. Other soil would work but would stay to wet with my mister. Setup is all cheap and from dripworks so not a professional setup. Maybe 75-100 bucks with the timer being 40 of it.

 

[Pitoon]

I did get cuttings from a Bloodgood to root, but still no air layers.

 

[Ohmy222]

Which shishigashira are you working with? O Jishi, Meijishi, or both? (link below)

Meijishi - most of them are. most of the time O jishi is treated as a separate cultivar and Meijishi and Shishigashira are synonomous. Oddly enough, it is one of my least favorite cultivars despite its popularity in both maple and bonsai circles. The beauty of maples to me is the delicate wispy foliage and that is not a feature for Shishigashira.