Real Time Progression: JM clump from seed

[Berra]

I'm a fan of clump trees. Have been wanting one, but have too little experience to feel comfortable buying a real nice and expensive one. I do not have a great track record so far, when it comes to keeping trees alive.

So as Im still fairly young, I wanted to try making one myself from seed. The seeds are from an Arakawa JM. Whether any of these seedlings will inherit similar bark as the parent tree, IDK.

Hopefully a long term project unless I manage to screw up and kill these seedlings before I get to the more interesting parts of the project.

Planted in perlite and sand January 2020, outside with no winter protection. Recently started showing Maple like leafs.

To be continued another year

 

[RKatzin]

Did you mean January 2021 on the planting of the seeds? They'd be pretty good size now if started in 2020, should be whips by now.

 

[Berra]

2021 year of ox, i am a bit bad at catching when the year counter increases, usually im synced in december

 

[RKatzin]

Okay, how are those seedlings doing? Are you sure of your seeds? They don't look like Japanese Maples.

 

[RKatzin]

Okay, how are those seedlings doing? Are you sure of your seeds? They don't look like Japanese Maples.

Okay, sorry, my bad! I see a couple in there with the pics blown up. Cool! I was distracted by the heart shaped weeds. You should pull those, unless they're something you put in there.
So, okay, you'll want to get a dozen good starts, at the minimum three trees, and grow them for two years. They should be good sized whips by then. The following spring you bareroot them and trim the roots. Take any tap roots and some off one side so you can pull them all together into a bunch and tie them securely together. Plant as such in a container not much more than four or five inches deep, but wide enough to spread the roots in a nice radius.
This is the beginning of your third year. Now you want to give this a good long run, three to five years, but at least until all the trunks fuse together into a solid base with your multiple stems extending.
I have some pics courtesy of@sorce.

 

[Berra]

Thanks a lot!

Right, i am not sure what these heart shaped seedlings are, they came with the sand.

The a. Palmatum seeds are from a reputable seller in France. (He has a lot of Maple varieties he's propagating) At least one of them is supposed to be arakawa. Who knows what else is in there in the DNA.

Also, it's all in perlite with a layer of sand on the top. Will have to re-plant at some point but not sure when.

 

[RKatzin]

You're going to want trees that are identical for a clump. Maybe not, but I would. If you do, seedlings are so fickle! Even seeds from the same tree will show variation in leaf patterns and spring or fall colors and bark. If you want your clump to have all the same bark and leaf then you have to grow your seedlings until they stabilize. First few years they can change. I've seen red leafed seedlings go green in the third year and never another red leaf.
Once you have a tree you like take a dozen of cuttings from that tree and use those to make your clump as perscribed.
There is another way, and I also have a few of these going. That would be to grow or get a large Japanese maple and chop the trunk off. If there's low limbs chop it there. This will result in a bunch of new shoots that you train into a clump.

 

[Berra]

I have thought about getting cuttings from someone else, but they're not too easy to come by where I live.

I might try striking some cuttings myself, have tried and managed with chinese elms before.

The other approach you describe sounds interesting too. Maybe this thread will take another direction in the future