Trident Maple seedling opening

[colley614]

Hi all,
I have a couple of trident maple seedlings in the shed. I checked on them the day before yesterday and one looked like the bud was swelling. I just went in the shed and its pushing out leaves.

I want to try and grow these on as much as possible this season. I have a grow light in the shed and it is constantly at 10c. Is it worth trying to get it to start growing now or should I try and slow it down until it can go outside? My Hawthorne outside are starting to push already too.

 

[Dav4]

Hi all,
I have a couple of trident maple seedlings in the shed. I checked on them the day before yesterday and one looked like the bud was swelling. I just went in the shed and its pushing out leaves.

I want to try and grow these on as much as possible this season. I have a grow light in the shed and it is constantly at 10c. Is it worth trying to get it to start growing now or should I try and slow it down until it can go outside? My Hawthorne outside are starting to push already too.

If there are identifiable leaves on the tree, then the tree IS growing and you need to treat it appropriately. Give it as much natural light as possible, though a good grow light might suffice. If the buds have merely swelled a bit, I'd keep it as cool as possible without allowing the root ball to freeze. That will slow things down for a bit.

 

[colley614]

The apical leaves are out and opening. I'd ideally like to get it out and growing but I'm worried about potential cold spells as the news keeps threatening them.

 

[JeffS73]

The apical leaves are out and opening. I'd ideally like to get it out and growing but I'm worried about potential cold spells as the news keeps threatening them.

I don't know about the Wirral, maybe it's mild. Just over the Pennines, I've learnt the hard way to delay repotting till about the 1st of May. February usually brings snow, frosts etc and is often the coldest month here. Maybe overnight in the shed?

 

[colley614]

I don't know about the Wirral, maybe it's mild. Just over the Pennines, I've learnt the hard way to delay repotting till about the 1st of May. February usually brings snow, frosts etc and is often the coldest month here. Maybe overnight in the shed?

Yeah, February is usually the coldest month here, too. Last year the frosts hit the end of feb/beginning of March. This is what I'm worried about this year.

My problem is I work split shifts 0530-1100 and 1730-2300 so I'd only be able to get them outside from 1100-1700ish.

 

[leatherback]

Next time, keep it outside.

You cannot stop it from growing so keep it as much light as possible

 

[colley614]

Next time, keep it outside.

You cannot stop it from growing so keep it as much light as possible

I thought you couldn't keep young trident outside over winter in the UK?

 

[leatherback]

I thought you couldn't keep young trident outside over winter in the UK?

Mine are , Up to -20c frost hardi or something.

 

[colley614]

Mine are , Up to -20c frost hardi or something.

Well, in that case, I'm going to plant some in the ground this year then and see how they go.

 

[Dav4]

I thought you couldn't keep young trident outside over winter in the UK?

Tridents are actually very cold hardy. The problem is that they break dormancy with ease once their chilling requirements are met- usually in mid winter when they've been over protected- and then become very susceptible to cold damage. Mine are frozen solid right now and will hopefully stay that way for another 6 weeks or more.