Watching these 50 Japanese Maple Seedlings

penumbra

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There is a lot of talk about now regarding JM cultivars vs seedlings. These picts are a bit early to post and I had intended to take pictures next year but just to give you some idea about the genetic variability, here are a few quick picts.
IMG_6572.JPGIMG_6573.JPG
IMG_6574.JPGIMG_6575.JPG
 

Bonsai Nut

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The interesting thing is that, given how easy these are to seed, more places don't sell seedlings.

I know this is mostly driven by price... i.e. a 1 gallon seedling might sell for $8, whereas a 1 gallon cultivar might sell for $25 - $50. But still, given the labor involved in cultivating cultivars versus just pulling seedlings out of the landscape...
 

penumbra

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No they are not but I have the parent trees names. There is about 6, maybe 8 different parents
Are these all from the same parent tree?
Two I am watching closely are two of the least attractive. In these picts they are #6 and #7. Number 6 has a notable indent on the leaves like a clover leaf. I hope it keeps this but it may not. In fact I am to guess it will not. Number 7 is such a tiny little plant with tiny leaves.
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duke313

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What did you do to start the seed? I have ordered some JM seeds online and heard they can be quite difficult to start from seed compared to fresh seeds from the parent tree.
 
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I think this picture alone is a good learning example for those who post here for help identifying cultivars.

This looks very similar to my rooted cuttings of Acer Palmatum ‘Seiryu’ and my best guess would be that this is a seedling of seiryu, but you could never call this seiryu because it came from seed, not from asexual propagation.

on another note, these are some really nice little seedlings you have!
 

Maiden69

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1 gallon seedling might sell for $8, whereas a 1 gallon cultivar might sell for $25 - $50.
It depends on where you are buying them... the few places I know that sell seedlings in 1 gal cans charge between 35-45 per tree. MrMaple (only one, a small momiji) and Brent included in that list. I rather buy from Brent anytime, I have nothing but great service every time I order from him.

@penumbra very interesting, I always heard that seedlings from cultivars seldomly display the traits of their parents. I'm interested in a few cultivars MrMaple sells that are supposed to tolerate the TX heat, at least in an 8a-8b zone... Heatseekers they call them, they have a few more but only 3 are available right now.
 

penumbra

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What did you do to start the seed?
I planted 400 eBay seeds and 50 germinated. They were planted in the fall in an outdoors seedbed. I gave 400 to a friend who planted them in flats and he had none germinate.
his looks very similar to my rooted cuttings of Acer Palmatum ‘Seiryu’ and my best guess would be that this is a seedling of seiryu,
None of the seeds were from Seiryu but I have had a couple from Seiryu that do look like the parent. My Seiryu is loaded with seeds this year and it has never done this before despite the fact in is 30 years old and 20 feet tall. I am planning to do an entire grow bed from this tree this fall.
 
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I planted 400 eBay seeds and 50 germinated. They were planted in the fall in an outdoors seedbed. I gave 400 to a friend who planted them in flats and he had none germinate.
None of the seeds were from Seiryu but I have had a couple from Seiryu that do look like the parent. My Seiryu is loaded with seeds this year and it has never done this before despite the fact in is 30 years old and 20 feet tall. I am planning to do an entire grow bed from this tree this fall.
very interesting, do you know what parent cultivar the seed came from? It’ll be interesting to see other characteristics in the future such as weeping vs upright habbit
 

penumbra

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Very

very interesting, do you know what parent cultivar the seed came from? It’ll be interesting to see other characteristics in the future such as weeping vs upright habbit
I have that group tagged and its raining right now but I will check in the next couple of days. I believe its a weeper.
 
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