Japanese Maple Cuttings. When to Chance Repotting.

[Jetson1950]

Back in July I took a lot of cuttings off several Japanese Maples to see if I could propagate them in summer. All indications are that they seem to be doing well. There are at least 50 or so cutting of different Cultivars and none of them show any signs of dying. I don’t see any new growth on them, but didn’t really expect that in the summer. I do see new growth on red maples and a mulberry I did at the same time. I had three cuttings off a Arakawa l did at the same time and I transplanted last week. They are doing fine. Already seeing new buds on them. Had a problem with them because the new tender roots were growing through the mesh screen on the bottom of the pot. Several roots broke off, but all three survived.

My worry is the same thing may be happening with the others which are pretty crowded in their little pots. The Cultivars are Katsura, Deshojo, Shin Deshojo, Acer Palmatum, Oto Hime, and Beni Kawa. All cuttings were soft wood or semi-hard wood.

Trying to decide whether to wait another month or go ahead and see what’s happening with them now. They were put in these pots July 25.

First pic is the three Arakawa.

With domes and 5 pots with Japanese Maples


Two Acer Rubrum and a mulberry cutting. They are already growing new leaves, so I’ll probably repot them soon.

 

[leatherback]

Trying to decide whether to wait another month or go ahead and see what’s happening with them now. They were put in these pots July 25.

why? Impatience kills, certainly cuttings.
I see 0 reason to repot now, except your own curiosity.

Let the leaves drop. Your climate, you probably have budbreak again in February? Leave them alone till then. When buds swell, repot.
That is my recommendation. Even though I often am early separating, that is not best practice.

 

[Jetson1950]

why? Impatience kills, certainly cuttings.
I see 0 reason to repot now, except your own curiosity.

Let the leaves drop. Your climate, you probably have budbreak again in February? Leave them alone till then. When buds swell, repot.
That is my recommendation. Even though I often am early separating, that is not best practice.

lol! You caught me. Yes, the old cliche, curiosity killed the cat. I guess I’m having visions of tangled root hell if I leave them together too long. Because of my location, there really is no winter here. We may get 100-200 chill hours here, so if I leave them in the pots, I would defoliated them in December and put them in the frig with the rest on the JMs for the winter.

 

[Jetson1950]

.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Do you plan to refrigerate them all every year? I'd just place them on the north side of your house and let them ride for this winter

 

[Jetson1950]

Do you plan to refrigerate them all every year? I'd just place them on the north side of your house and let them ride for this winter

Here is the main problem. I picked the wrong trees to fall in love with. Something that Japanese Maples hate just as bad as extreme heat and no dormancy is constant fungus. They are on the north side of the house and when an area is in constant shade here with our constant high humidity that area is a fungus nightmare. I’ve developed work arounds for everything, but it may be that I need to accept that Japanese Maples may not be the best thing to grow in this area. I’m going to go through one more season and then make a decision on whether or not to keep at it or find something easier to care for. I hate giving up, but I don’t want to continue if I can’t keep them growing well.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Well, you can always move!

 

[Jetson1950]

Well, you can always move!

You jest, but Im really thinking about it. I moved here on a dare because my best friend from Air Force days moved here. We are both golf nuts and the Villages has 17 championship courses and about 40 something executive courses. But, I didn’t realize how brutally hot it gets here in the summers. My daughter’s husband is Career Navy and will retire in a few years. She wants to move to San Diego and he wants to move to Boston and teach at MIT. I’m waiting to see who wins and maybe pick one of those. His parents want me to move to southern Pennsylvania where they live to make it easy when the kids visit. lol! So right now my possible choices are too expensive or too cold for my blood. I’m in wait and see mode right now, but, yes, definitely looking for a cooler place to reside. I already envision me with a 12 foot U-Haul trailer behind my Tacoma pickup loaded with trees heading cross country. Hope gas prices are down when it happens.

 

[Shibui]

I routinely pot up rooted cuttings whenever they have enough roots, Does not matter what time of year it is. In really hot, dry weather I may delay transplant for a few days/week and/or the transplants get some protection for a week or so after potting up.
The usual bonsai transplant timing does not appear to be necessary when potting up recently rooted cuttings.

 

[Jetson1950]

I routinely pot up rooted cuttings whenever they have enough roots, Does not matter what time of year it is. In really hot, dry weather I may delay transplant for a few days/week and/or the transplants get some protection for a week or so after potting up.
The usual bonsai transplant timing does not appear to be necessary when potting up recently rooted cuttings.

Thanks. We don’t really start seeing cold weather here till late December. It’s never bad and I actually have to force them into dormancy. I’m going to start removing their domes this month and acclimate them to the air without the humidity covers. If they look good by the end of September I’ll look at repotting one of the pots and see what kind of root growth they have. If it’s good I’ll do all of them. If not, I’ll let the rest of them stay until spring. There are 10 to 15 cuttings in each pot, so doing just one I won’t lose to many if I’m too early. As @leatherback said, I’m probably just too anxious to take a look. Never was good at playing no peeky.

 

[MrBonsai19]

I routinely pot up rooted cuttings whenever they have enough roots, Does not matter what time of year it is. In really hot, dry weather I may delay transplant for a few days/week and/or the transplants get some protection for a week or so after potting up.
The usual bonsai transplant timing does not appear to be necessary when potting up recently rooted cuttings.

Same I also transplant as soon as roots are available. May be worth noting my cuttings are in very very small seed starter cell trays in 100% perlite so there's not really enough room in the cell for the cutting to grow through the fall season and it feels like a benefit for me to transplant them into a 1" plastic starter cup with some organic soil in the mix as well. This let's me move them out of the greenhouse into the morning sun area of my garden. So the benefit is having more control over light exposure for the individual cuttings that have rooted without having to put an entire batch of cuttings into conditions that some few may not be ready for, along with providing more space for roots to establish, not having to repot the cutting over-winter and slow down it's growth, etc

As for dormancy requirements, not sure what options you have long-term, btu at least short-term I have read that very young plants don't need dormancy. Cuttings and seedlings can be grown hard without dormancy for 1-2 years. Beyond that it will be interesting to see how your plants fare in Florida.

 

[Jetson1950]

Same I also transplant as soon as roots are available. May be worth noting my cuttings are in very very small seed starter cell trays in 100% perlite so there's not really enough room in the cell for the cutting to grow through the fall season and it feels like a benefit for me to transplant them into a 1" plastic starter cup with some organic soil in the mix as well. This let's me move them out of the greenhouse into the morning sun area of my garden. So the benefit is having more control over light exposure for the individual cuttings that have rooted without having to put an entire batch of cuttings into conditions that some few may not be ready for, along with providing more space for roots to establish, not having to repot the cutting over-winter and slow down it's growth, etc

As for dormancy requirements, not sure what options you have long-term, btu at least short-term I have read that very young plants don't need dormancy. Cuttings and seedlings can be grown hard without dormancy for 1-2 years. Beyond that it will be interesting to see how your plants fare in Florida.

Thanks. First thing I learned here is that Japanese Maples are not allowed to see the sun here. It’s way too strong. Even if one little ray of sunlight hits the leaves, they curl and dry up. Full shade for them is the way I have to go. Not sure what kind of internode issues I will have with that down the road, but they just can’t handle the sun here.

Several folks have thought I might try to get some through the winter dormancy without using my frig to winter them. I may try that. I could do that with some seedlings this year and see how they fare. I’ve already got about 50 seedlings that I collected back in April up north. I’ll leave some out for the winter and see what happens.

 

[Jetson1950]

Started round one of the repot. This one I was pretty confident they have rooted. This is the two Acer Rubrum and mulberry. I was trimming back the fast growing trees in July and just stuck these cuttings in perlite and vermiculite with no rooting hormone. They already have new leaves growing. Success. Good roots on all three. I put them in a bonsai mix with a little kanuma in it for their PH. I plan on waiting till the end of September before I take a peek at the Japanese maple cuttings. Not real confident they have rooted yet, so I’ll make a decision then on whether to disturb them or not at that time.

 

[jagboy69]

You are brave trying these in the Orlando area and I am probably dumb for trying them in west Texas! I went to flight school near Lake Mary and while it can get chilly there, snapping these trees into dormancy has got to be a chore! It sure looks like your maples are enjoying all that humidity!

Can I ask what is your soil mix you made there? Thanks!

 

[Jetson1950]

You are brave trying these in the Orlando area and I am probably dumb for trying them in west Texas! I went to flight school near Lake Mary and while it can get chilly there, snapping these trees into dormancy has got to be a chore! It sure looks like your maples are enjoying all that humidity!

Can I ask what is your soil mix you made there? Thanks!

My older Japanese maples are in put in Thirds of akadama, perlite, and lava rock. I also put in a small amount of kanuma to keep the PH that’s a good idea for young seedlings, but they are gron the slightly acidic side. The ones I got from Texas this last spring are still in their nursery soil. Early next spring they will go in the same mix as the older ones. I’ve also got about 50 seedlings that are in just fine lava rock. I don’t think that’s the best option, but they are growing so that’s where they’ll stay.