This is my first post, so stick with me. The general consensus of this forum for propagating acer palmatums appears to be by grafting, but what about the other members of the acer family? Can these be grown from seed or cuttings or is it recommended to graft these too? I have successfully grown 100+ acers from seed this year and am now potting these on, but I harvested this seed fairly randomly so at this stage I don't really know what I may end up with. I await with baited breath! Next year I'll make sure I label my harvested seed properly. Any advise is welcomed. Nicola.
Nicola welcome! Propogate by seeds is easy for many species es.acer Negundo ,Palmatum subp.Palmatum ,Griseum,the germinations is after 90gg; but for cultivar is not good way ,or impossible !Nursery propagate by graft because is fast method ;if love maples you become member of Maple Society and every 3 mounth received one news letter with pic and more of maple world; the web address is http://botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/maplesociety alex66
Nicola, I agree with you; I have germinated many hundreds of palmatums by seed over the last 3 years. That is how we get new maples like new people, ie from sexual reproduction rather than cloning/grafting. I keep meticulous matrilineal records of what plants the seeds came from but I have not done any cross pollination by hand. Cold stratification of the seed definiately increases germination rate. It takes several years to see if new characteristics develop in seedlings and other rigorous practices to see if those new characteristics are stable. I have some exciting prospects which may or may not pan out, but what I love is the sheer excitement of nature's generativity and the novelty of result. It's fun & exciting and I plan to do 1 more year's seed planting in the Fall of 2007 because I have some many seeds this year on trees that have not produced seed the previous 2 years. Have fun!!!
I am thoroughly enjoying growing from seed and can't wait until the British Autumn so I can harvest seed again and have another go this year. I didn't stratify last year; I just potted the seeds in 50% compost and 50% perlite and let nature do her thing. I think I will try both ways this year and keep better records of my results. Alex, your reply threw up another question for me. What is the difference between a palmatum cultivar and a palmatum subsp. palmatum? Thanks, Nicola.
palmatum subsp. palmatum is the only "palmatum"in wild ,the cultivar exist because nursery search new forms or new coulor ;and use the type species (palmatum subsp.palmatum)for graft .For history and another informations ,i have one advice book for the summer "Maples of the World" by Timber Press ,a complete book(the best for me)of acer ....write/reply again alex66
Hi Nicola and welcome, You are lucky you do not have to water your garden this Summer ;o)). You raise an interesting, and important, question. As you know maples readily hybridize and thus, due to the trend to plant different species in proximity, it is becoming increasingly difficult to insure a seed is coming from a 'pure' lineage. Of course not all maples hybridize with each other ;o)), but the problem is real and arboretum managers are keenly aware of it. But do not think this only applies to maples in gardens and parks, it also applies to natural strands as I have recently read in one of the Maple Society Newsletters. I, for one, would like to know if there are species that do not normally hybridize and from which seeds are almost always true to type (Griseum?, ...) So your seeds will give wonderful maples that, with minimum care, specially where you live, will become healthy trees with awesome all year interest. However trying to identify each tree with respect to published classifications may be a lot harder. Gomero
All is not quite going to plan this year. Of my 100+ maples grown from seed last year, I potted these on to 1 litre pots in the Autumn and about 20% didn't make it through to Spring. I then potted on again into 3 litre pots in early Spring and I have again suffered similar losses of around 20%, with yet more plants beginning to show signs of stress. I am using a mix of multi purpose compost and vermiculite for potting on, with a bottom layer of stones to further improve drainage. The plants are not being allowed to dry out. Any pointers as to where I'm going wrong and why my losses are so high on these 1 year old plants? Bizarrely, I also seem to be losing more of the green palmatums, with the red palmatum atropurpureums seeming to fair better. Finally, I thought I had cracked the seed germination thing, but alas it would seem not. I harvested probably a couple of thousand seeds last year, from various sources (hee! hee!) and sewed exactly as last year, but my germination success this year is probably in the low 20s, which is a lousy strike rate. Any ideas as to why this may be? If I scatter the seeds onto an open patch of soil, might they germinate next year? Sorry, I realise I have asked about 5 questions in one thread, but they are all related to the same initial thread. Any thoughts/tips are welcomed. Thanks, Nicola.
I have found that these plants do not like to be potted on until they have developed a good root system, and then only into a pot maybe a couple of sizes larger? Try sifting some good quality dry garden soil and mixing this 50/50 with a good potting soil (it helps drainage immensley) and add some vermiculite if you wish Like yourself, i am learning the hard way. But it IS fun too :)
any seed like seed of acer Negundo grown in every conditions... my mix soil for seed is 50% sand 50% soil for re-pot.
