New member, red maple help?

[Masonsk]

I just got these red maples in the mail. I was wanting to cut them down a bit so the leaves would be lower. Any tips to help propogate them would be greatly appreciated!

 

[sorce]

If you lay them down, the leaves will be lower.

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[HorseloverFat]

Nice Atropurpureums, traveller!
Some of the Woody Dwarves call them “Bloodgoods”.

I would let them grow. Wire them into visually pleasing shapes while the trunks “get swol”.

You say you’d like to propagate them.. I’d wait until after full-spring “push” and take some cuttings IF i was going to trim them at all. (I personally would just let them grow, worry about cuttings next season)
Are you familiar with propagation via stem cutting? (There are many resources available here, in the Tiny Forest)



Pleasure to make your acquaintance.

 

[Shibui]

First up a location would help a lot. What to do and when will depend on whether you are in northern hemisphere or southern and at what latitude or growing zone.

These appear to be Japanese maples. There is another North American maple species called Red maple but quite different to these.
JM respond well to chopping the trunk. New shoots will sprout from those dormant buds on the trunk and grow into new branches after you chop these down lower. Even if you chop so there's no leaves left they should sprout from those buds.
Getting them into larger pots will help keep them alive over summer and allow them to grow a bit faster than in little pots.

Propagate means to grow more plants from these ones. Some people can get JM cuttings to strike new roots but many people struggle. Searching this forum should find a few threads with advice on how to do JM cuttings. I get far better results with seed than with cuttings but that obviously requires access to seed.

Atropurpurea and Bloodgood are both specific cultivars of Japanese maple but there are many other cultivars with reddish leaves so these may or may not be either of the cultivars mentioned. They may also be seedlings from a red leaf JM in which case they are completely new cultivars or simply Japanese maples.

 

[HorseloverFat]

First up a location would help a lot. What to do and when will depend on whether you are in northern hemisphere or southern and at what latitude or growing zone.

These appear to be Japanese maples. There is another North American maple species called Red maple but quite different to these.
JM respond well to chopping the trunk. New shoots will sprout from those dormant buds on the trunk and grow into new branches after you chop these down lower. Even if you chop so there's no leaves left they should sprout from those buds.
Getting them into larger pots will help keep them alive over summer and allow them to grow a bit faster than in little pots.

Propagate means to grow more plants from these ones. Some people can get JM cuttings to strike new roots but many people struggle. Searching this forum should find a few threads with advice on how to do JM cuttings. I get far better results with seed than with cuttings but that obviously requires access to seed.

Atropurpurea and Bloodgood are both specific cultivars of Japanese maple but there are many other cultivars with reddish leaves so these may or may not be either of the cultivars mentioned. They may also be seedlings from a red leaf JM in which case they are completely new cultivars or simply Japanese maples.

Ohhhh thank you, I didn’t think Atros were SPECIFIC.... I thought that “Bloodgoods” were the SELECT Atropurpureums that held their color the longest.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[RKatzin]

The first project is to get these trees out of the tubes and into a low wide container. You must get the roots out of this square shape and orientated into a round spread out shape.
Taking cuttings on young starts like this can be detrimental to the tree and I've seen momma die because I took too much growth away and didn't leave enough to support the tree. Get them up and growing first with a strong root base and lots of top growth to support the tree after you take some cuttings.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Agree these are japanese maples. Agree on potting them on for the season. Agree on adding wire now while they are flexible.

Prune in a season or two after growth holds the shape you want.

Good luck! Read up on japanese maples in the maples sub-forum and add your location for region specific advice!