Seedlings, coral bark Japanese maple, 'Sango-kaku',

[Ravaginggoatman]

Last fall I collected about 100 seeds from my Coral bark and another 100 from Bloodgood. Went through the usual stratification routine (baggie in refrigerator) but when I pulled the seeds from the fridge I found that they were covered in mold. At that point I doubted that they would germinate at all. I planted them in mass in a colander type tray (dollar store) and surprising to me they all sprouted. I separated them in groups of about nine or ten and planted as clump style (Kabudachi). Still have a tray of the Bloodgood, not sure what I want to do with them, to me the Bloodgood looks great for about two weeks then looks like its in the late stages of a very hot summer. I know that you cant count on seedling being the same as the mother tree but it will be interesting to see how they develop.

 

[clem]

I know that you cant count on seedling being the same as the mother tree but it will be interesting to see how they develop.

Yes, it's better to name your seedlings "yamamomijii" (japanese maple) and not "bloodgood" or "sankaki" etc. even if they look like the "real cultivar".

Claudia Schiffer's daughters are not the clones of their mother, to give a telling example

 

[Shibui]

Agree. I generally get more than half Sago Kaku seedlings with red stems but they are still not Sango Kaku because that's one selected individual Japanese maple. Even the ones with red stems will have different genes for leaf shape, growth rate, heat tolerance, etc, etc.
Every seedling has a new and unique set of genes and is, therefore, a new and unique cultivar.

Bloodgood, and most of it's seedlings, has long internodes and larger leaves so can be really hard to tame into a good bonsai. Probably easier to try for larger sized bonsai with those, unless you find some among them that have shorter growth habit.

 

[Ravaginggoatman]

Agree. I generally get more than half Sago Kaku seedlings with red stems but they are still not Sango Kaku because that's one selected individual Japanese maple. Even the ones with red stems will have different genes for leaf shape, growth rate, heat tolerance, etc, etc.
Every seedling has a new and unique set of genes and is, therefore, a new and unique cultivar.

Bloodgood, and most of it's seedlings, has long internodes and larger leaves so can be really hard to tame into a good bonsai. Probably easier to try for larger sized bonsai with those, unless you find some among them that have shorter growth habit.

Yes I agree, its amazing to me how much bigger and robust the Bloodgood seeds and sprouts were compared to the coral bark.