Hello everyone, new member here. This past summer I picked up a few JMs in a local big box store relatively cheap. Got myself an 'Orange Dream', 'Garnet' and a 'Sango Kaku'. The reason I got them in a big box store is that local nurseries only ever stock a grand total of 3 different cultivars: 'Bloodgood' (which would get too large for my yard relatively quickly), 'Fireglow' (which is on my want list) and a dissectum 'Viridis'. That's it. And they're asking $200 for a foot tall pompom. Thanks but no thanks. So the big box store it was. The store also had a cultivar called 'Marjan' in stock but I passed that one up since I found little to no info about it online. Bought the other three I found. The two sango kakus they had both displayed the ugly looking graft and I didn't think much of it back then, but the lack of expected coral red coloration has me wondering if the graft even took or if I was sold a bogus tree. Top branches are closer to crimson red than bright coral red, and the main trunk is pretty much green still. We haven't had a proper cold spell yet this winter however, the temps have been hovering just above 5°C for the past month but the they are supposed to drop further this coming week. I'm unsure of how cold it should be before they start displaying proper winter colors but one would think they'd color up by now seeing as it's the end of January (I'd say it's a zone 7b climate, north Mediterranean). But anyway, this is what the graft area looks like from a few different angles. The protruding deadwood makes me think it's simply a failed graft, but the V shaped scar on the sides leads me to think it's simply a different grafting technique, even though the trunk color looks more or less the same both above and below the graft union, and the V scar area can just be seedling bark splitting. I'd really appreciate any input on this. In any case, can I safely wiggle out that twig from the "bellybutton" and allow it to heal over? I'll try taking a pic of the full tree tomorrow if it'll shed any more light to this, the pots are currently just sunk into the ground; I've been planning on repotting all three in a month or so, just before bud break. Many thanks for looking.
With the V shaped scar it certainly looks as if the graft was successful. I don't think you will be able to pull out the dead stick which seems to be the stub of the top portion of the rootstock, but you might be able to trim it down with sharp tools. The green bark is wrong for 'Sango Kaku' though, it would never be that colour at any time of the year. Maybe the cultivar suffered a label mix-up at the store?
Hey there, thanks for the quick reply. While a case of mixed up labels is certainly a possibility, the actual label was clamped pretty tightly to the side of the pot, you couldn't just pull it out without really trying to (which would be just to piss people off really). Besides, the only other cultivar they carried from that nursery at the time was 'Marjan' and those had reddish tinged leaves. The only other tree looked more or less the same as mine, also labeled 'Sangokaku'. The nursery in question is called acers4all. I took a look at their website, it appears they are from Holland so not sure if you get their products in your local big box stores up in the UK. In any case, I tried taking some shots of the tree today but the weather was super cloudy so the pics are a bit blurry and off color; best I could whip up though. Here's one in higher resolution. The one on the right is the alleged Sangokaku, the one to the left is OD for comparison. Zoomed out a bit more (excuse my foot in the corner xd) here. Only the first 15cm of the trunk are green, all the new branches colored up into red. Attaching a pic of what this years growth looks like right now. It's most certainly red, just not sure I'd call it coral sangokaku red. I figure I'd give it another year or two since it's been in a warehouse for god knows how long before seeing actual daylight when I got in this past August. I'll post an update in a month or two when they all leaf out though and after I do some pruning and maintenance work. On a side note, I can't wait till we officially become a part of the EU so I can freely just drive over to Italy or Germany and pick out some real trees from a real nursery, or make internet purchases for smaller plants from specialized nurseries across state lines. This dutch floramedia crap they're bombarding us from everywhere is getting ridiculous :/ I had no idea they were even mass producing maples as well as houseplants/aquatics till I bought one. Right now though, the cost of import permits for plant material over at customs and a phyto would cost me more than 3 decently sized specimen trees. I'm also big into carnivorous plants and bromeliads, but ordering live plants from abroad is simply not an option due to strict regulations and extreme costs of permits. They actually quarantine plants up to two months before passing them on. Several hundred dollars worth of Nepenthes and Heliconia I ordered from abroad turned to a mushy goo of blobness by the time they arrived at my doorstep. So I've been avoiding that as much as possible lol. But now I'm rambling. Thanks again!
Hmm, I've never seen a Sango kaku with green bark like that and the red of this year's growth looks too dark. The ones I have grown or seen just sort of fade and eventually become grey/brown, I never noticed them greening up with age. If you like, take a picture of the leaves when they first come out in the spring, post it here and we can say if it looks right; Sango kaku is quite distinctive in the early leaf stage.
send one message to your nursery with pics,if is one correct nurseryman change the false sango kaku;because isn't one sango kaku the maple in pics
When Sango Kaku is young, it tends to hold its color very well in the main trunk. I agree with others that the tree is mislabeled or the nursery has an untrue stock plant, or they exercised poor judgment when selecting the scion wood. The graft union looks fine, as for the dead wood there are a few things you can do to clean it up and make it more flush. If you have a high quality sharp knife or small wood working tool, you can make a clean cut flush with the wound wood. Take your time not to cause damage to the live wood. If you’re not good with a knife, floral shears or bonsai shears can get in there very easily to make a nice cut. The third option is to use some sharp hand pruners. When you make the cut, be sure the blade side of the cut is closest to the wound wood and the guide is being supported by the dead wood. Otherwise you will not get a flush cut with hand pruners. Lastly, it's a bit overkill, but you can mix a small solution of 50/50 lime sulfur and water. Use a small paint brush to paint the solution onto the surface of the dead wood to preserve the dead wood. This will keep it from breaking down further. The wound wood should close up over the cut. If the wound wood is stagnant during this growing season, then you can promote growth next season to get it to close. Use 0-10-10 next fall. If it does not close, you can use a sharp sanitized knife next spring and make a surface cut on the inside edge of the wound wood. Be sure this cut is very clean, extra care should be taken not to tear or make the cut ruff. We want undamaged tissue to start forming more wound wood to close over the dead wood. The other option is to do nothing at all. Trees are resilient and it will take care of the stub on its own, by eventually growing over it. That’s what would have happened if the tree stayed at the nursery for a few years before being sold.
