Rooting Whole Japanese Maple Branches

[CptnGlyn]

I’ve given this a go too. I’ve taken about 10 maple cuttings - some standard palmatum and some ‘Arakawa’ this year to see how it goes.

They are bagged up and in my garage currently, but when I checked on them earlier some have gone a bit ‘fluffy’ in places (inside the bag).

Any ideas how to deal with mould growing due to the humid environment?

 

[caffeinated]

Any ideas how to deal with mould growing due to the humid environment?

spray or water with diluted hydrogen peroxide / water mix. I forget the ratios, but easily found online probably

 

[Hack Yeah!]

spray or water with diluted hydrogen peroxide / water mix. I forget the ratios, but easily found online probably

Post in thread 'Hydrogen peroxide for plants!' https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/hydrogen-peroxide-for-plants.17600/post-236366

 

[akillas]

Update on one of my attempts

Acer palmatum Kotohime cutting has rooted. It was taken 25 September, pumice on bottom thin perlite on top. I expected roots earlier, or in spring. I check biweekly.

I have found that for cuttings in my climate thin perlite is the best as it holds a bit more water and it makes full contact with the cutting, all while being sterile.

I understand that this method guarantees good humidity regardless, but I have tried a lot of cuttings with different types of soil, for the sake of experimentation.

This one rooted in a bad time, because it was the only one kept inside.Outside is minimum 5c maximum 14c, wont frost for a month.

Does it have any chance of surviving?
I think by keeping it inside I have doomed it.

 

[MalsRFun in TN]

Does it have any chance of surviving?
I think by keeping it inside I have doomed it.

In my experience with kotohime cuttings last winter, I kept them inside my unheated garage with lights through the winter and they were fine, minimum temperature around 40-45 F. I don't know what the max temperature was, but on days when the weather was staying above 50F outside in spring I put them outside. They did shed their leaves normally inside after a month.

Good luck!

 

[Treelord]

You can keep it indoors if it doesnt go above 21c, in the first winter.

Low light, first year as cutting, inorganic soil without fertilizer= Low energy demand.
You can get away with a light dormancy, meaning take it out around mid February at your zone and it will pick up its normal cycle in spring.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

You can try to force dormancy by putting it out during the day if temps are abive freezing and inside protection at night if temps go below freezing.

Do this for 4 or 5 weeks, then light frost yada yada... imitate the natural season temp and light drop.

 

[akillas]

Thanks for the information guys

I’ll keep it outside during the day, inside a garage when we get frost nights for its first winter.

Should I remove the humidity bag of the propagator, or repot it carefully now that it’s outside?

I am not familiar with winter cuttings. All my acer p. Cuttings always root in spring or fall.
Then again this is the first time I tried a Kotohime cutting. I noticed all across the forum that it air-layers and roots easier and faster than most, even with this method.

 

[KWag]

This year I decided to try to achieve the same result but with an approach that doesn’t actually require any bottles.

What I did is buy two plastic, transparent boxes and drilled small holes all over the bottom of one, then took some thick tape and made an elevated band around 15 cm up from the bottom of the drilled box so when it fitting it into the untouched one, I’d have more empty space below and a seal between them.

With that done i filled various pots and a pondbaskets with substrate and then stuck in cuttings of various sizes, including a fairly large trident piece from a trunk chop. I arranged those pots in the top box sprayed it down with water and closed the top.
View attachment 604199View attachment 604198

All the water drains below to the bottom box, keeping a very humid but not wet environment above.
View attachment 604197
This trident chunk below was put into the pond basket in the box on May 29th and you can see decent results in less than a month!
View attachment 604194

View attachment 604196View attachment 604195

Early results seem positive but let’s see how the rest of the material in there does since I can’t see in the pots. Currently it contains AP Beni Chidori, AP Arakawa, AP Koto Hime, Trident Maple.

What are you using to support the weight of the planting box between it and the reservoir box?
Nice set up.

 

[CptnGlyn]

Paragraph 2 eplov90 says they used thick tape to create a band around the bottom of the ‘inner’ box. Essentially this causes the inner box to act like a bung, sealing the bottom.

 

[InstilledChaos]

Update on one of my attempts

Acer palmatum Kotohime cutting has rooted. It was taken 25 September, pumice on bottom thin perlite on top. I expected roots earlier, or in spring. I check biweekly.

I have found that for cuttings in my climate thin perlite is the best as it holds a bit more water and it makes full contact with the cutting, all while being sterile.

I understand that this method guarantees good humidity regardless, but I have tried a lot of cuttings with different types of soil, for the sake of experimentation.

This one rooted in a bad time, because it was the only one kept inside.Outside is minimum 5c maximum 14c, wont frost for a month.

Does it have any chance of surviving?
I think by keeping it inside I have doomed it.

Have the cuttings put on any top growth? I got some Koto Hime cuttings from Bill Valavanis back when I first started out, and he told me it might not be a bad idea to have them skip their first dormancy to establish themselves a bit better. I did an experiment back then, giving some a “normal” full winter dormancy, some a short 30-45 day dormancy, and some none at all. They all ended up making it through winter without much difference in grown the next year.

If they seem weak you might consider nursing them through the winter if you can provide a good indoor environment.

 

[akillas]

Have the cuttings put on any top growth? I got some Koto Hime cuttings from Bill Valavanis back when I first started out, and he told me it might not be a bad idea to have them skip their first dormancy to establish themselves a bit better. I did an experiment back then, giving some a “normal” full winter dormancy, some a short 30-45 day dormancy, and some none at all. They all ended up making it through winter without much difference in grown the next year.

If they seem weak you might consider nursing them through the winter if you can provide a good indoor environment.

It did grow two new leaves after it rooted inside.
After my post the other day I put it outside in a sheltered spot and so far there is some brown cold damage on some of the new and old leaves.
I can provide 18c(23c on a sunny winter day) at a spot with unobstructed light immersion indoors.
Considering a rooted cutting has just depleted its reserves to root, won’t skipping dormancy and forcing continuous growth flatline it?

I keep some willows and Chinese elms(trees and cuttings) inside for the winters but I think they are more resilient of indoors. Acer p struggles with it, Bill suggested cuttings behave differently?
I’m willing to try it, I started my kotohime projects after reading about his work.

I think this subject is adjacent to this thread considering it is a follow up event, and this method makes cuttings root in a broader seasonal spectrum.

 

[stewarjm192]

When using this method, are you guys also using rooting hormones? Gel/liquid/powder? Or is it just timing(late spring), light(shade) and proper humidity that is bringing you all such success?

 

[MalsRFun in TN]

When using this method, are you guys also using rooting hormones? Gel/liquid/powder? Or is it just timing(late spring), light(shade) and proper humidity that is bringing you all such success?

I had 5 Japanese maple large cuttings in bottles, all started in early June. Of the 4 Shishigashira (powder rooting hormone, 50/50 coconut coir and perlite), only one rooted. The single OG JM was planted in 100% pumice, powder hormones, and produced a lot of roots in 8 weeks. In the clear plastic bin with the bottles, I had about 50 Kashima JM small cuttings (powder hormones and 50/50 coir perlite mix) that rooted with about 80% success. All are outside now to see if they survive winter.

My takeaway after this first experiment was that, on some JM varieties, doing an air layer was more successful on large cuttings than the bottle method. Rooting happened faster and was more profuse. Also, my cuttings in total shade didn't fare well in the summer extreme heat (JMs, cotoneaster, Chinese elms) while the first box with top shade and an hour of morning sun thrived (all in clear bins with solid tops). Mold was a much bigger issue in the shade.

For timing, all were done in late May into June. I opened the bins to wean off humidity in mid August.

 

[KWag]

I’ve given this a go too. I’ve taken about 10 maple cuttings - some standard palmatum and some ‘Arakawa’ this year to see how it goes.

They are bagged up and in my garage currently, but when I checked on them earlier some have gone a bit ‘fluffy’ in places (inside the bag).

Any ideas how to deal with mould growing due to the humid environment?

Use one or the other…do not use both. You spray it on the mold.
One tsp Baking soda in 1 pint water.
Or
One tsp 3% hydrogen peroxide mixed with one cup water as a spray.

 

[yesimnathan]

Mid fall I accidentally snapped a branch on my Johnnie's Pink JM. I turned it into 4 cuttings (it was a looong branch ) which I stuck in a bottle propagator with a mix of fine grain pumice/akadama/vermiculite. They just finished dropping their leaves about a week ago. I haven't seen roots yet, but they felt firmly planted in the soil & seem happy. I plan on leaving them in the bottle propagator for the winter and babying them in my unheated garage.

I also chopped the top off of a ficus ginseng & rooted the retusa/microcarpa top in a bottle propagator & humidity box in my office recently.

Now I'm hoarding every plastic bottle I find...