Amagi shigure, ground or container growing?

Discussion in 'Maples' started by ROEBUK, Jun 24, 2016.

  1. ROEBUK

    ROEBUK Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Having only recently started with this cultivar , you couldn't buy these in the UK until some four years ago when they just started to trickle in slowly , was fortunate to aquire two young grafts which were basically planted straight out and have been there ever since growing nicely each season.

    Now since then i have aquired another two grafts but have left them purposely in their pots to see how they compare in growth rates and colour variations to the ground grown plants , and i can see that there is definately a marked difference if not in the growth rate but especially the colours and markings.

    What i have found is that the potted ones show very muted colours and poor defintions in the veining on the leaves, you have to look really closely to see the markings (pics 1,2) but compare them to the ground growing plants (pics 3,4) you can see the colour is far more intense with excellent black veining on the leaves , they really do stand out more, so i was just wondering if anyone else has noted this over the years?

    One thing i will be doing this year is planting out the two potted ones having seen what will be acheived ? in a few more years to come.This is such a beautiful plant if you can get it planted in the right spot re the light and shade and it starts to show the stunning electric pink colours and deep veining, quickly becoming one of my favourites.
     

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  2. Houzi

    Houzi Active Member 10 Years

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    Hi Roebuk
    Well as no-one seems to have this situation thought I'd give my views.I don't have this plant in ground but agree a containerised maple will probably act differently to an in ground plant.After all everything is different in a pot,different nutrients(often artificially induced)different drainage,different acidity levels...on the whole probably a less consistent environment.However I'm not sure I'd agree the mere act of containerisng will cause what you are seeing for everyone.Let's not forget virtually all our plants were containerised when purchased.
    You are the master at getting the best from your maples,achieving colours I never knew existed from certain cultivars.Your Amigi Shigure is in a good place for you but the potted one is acting differently.I might find if I plant mine it would not look great but the potted one does.You may find moving the potted one to a completely different situation produces different results.
    I'm quite happy with the two potted ones I have,they both have veining though the old leaves are very dark and black and new growth is bright pink.I just think there are too many variables to blankly say the container will cause such&such...,but growing them next to eachother may show the differences produced for you in that particular situation.I'm sure if anyone can produce better results,you can :)
     

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  3. JT1

    JT1 Contributor 10 Years

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    It seems a lot of people on this side of the world are having problems with this variety. Its getting a reputation for being finiky and hard to please. Its my experience that the variety that came over was dirty or unclean, meaning it has a baterial infection. So many of the trees bought up for stock plants have unclean scion wood or maybe the scion was good but they all were grafted onto bad or unclean understock. Many don't realize that a tree can have higher levels of bacterium and show no signs of black in the bark. As a result the trees leave the micro climate of the growers and then decline or show signs of bacterial infection once arriving in a different climate and no longer getting the perfect amount of sun, water, and humidity (like they were at the growers micro climate).

    So this variety gets the reputation of not standing up to sun or not surviving a normal season or winter.

    With that being said, I would recommend a pot that provides good drainage as this variety can't tolerate a wet winter or early spring. You can provide good drainahe in a pot but its more difficult to provide perfect drainage in the ground. You may find yourself trying different sun exposure as the infected trees can't tolerate much afernoon sun.

    Lastly, if or when it dies, you can easily throw it away and the soil it was growing in without having to te-arrange your landscape bed if it were planted in the ground.

    Good luck. I hope you have a clean tree so we in the US can understand how this variety is supposed to perform when its free of bacterium. The dirty version of this variety has been disappointing for most of us. Sorry to be so jaded, this tree was built up so much and then was a huge let down. Mine is still growing with a lot of intervention to keep it alive, I would guess its about 7 years old and was 5' tall when I got it.
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2016
  4. ROEBUK

    ROEBUK Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    The ones in the ground this will be their 3rd season planted out now, and what i did notice and record was the poor leaf quality of the plants, very ragged burnt with curly edges for the first two seasons and finally this year they seem to be settling down with good growth and colour plus the leaves are more stable with a noticeable decrease of leaf damage and more definition re the veining of the leaves.

    Have found two nice shady spots for the others to go in to later this year, hopefully once i get past the five year period of ground growth i might breath a sigh of relief !! Tend to put this cultivar in the same class as Shaina ,Taylor, Marlo etc when they are good they are good but when they are bad they are awful , when this tree is right and fireing on all cylinders it takes some beating for colouration in my opion.

    Only time will tell with this cultivar added a pic of a leaf from today, can look at this all day long never get bored with this cultivar !!
     

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  5. Afterglow

    Afterglow New Member

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    Hi Roebuk,

    I can see why you are really liking these trees, the leaf shape, and colour patterns are stunning, pics 1+2 look like a different tree compared pics 3+4. I would like one of these now after seeing your pics, all the best to you.
     
  6. ROEBUK

    ROEBUK Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Afterglow firstly welcome to the forum feel sure you will pick up lots of useful tips from the members , re the Amagi shigure cultivars you can easily source these in the UK now they are really becoming very popular this year and you can see why.

    Keeping JM can become very addictive :)
     
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  7. Afterglow

    Afterglow New Member

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    Thankyou 'master', its a small world, I thought you would have guessed who it was from my location!

    Yes, lots of in depth info here, I've already learnt from what I've read so far, look forward to learning more, I will keep my eyes open in future for some ghosts. Kindest regards.
     
  8. ROEBUK

    ROEBUK Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Keith ??
     
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  9. Afterglow

    Afterglow New Member

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    Yes, Mark, I hope your well, I spotted your garden and quality of your trees a while back when I visited here, and knew it was the nice guy I met from ebay who has been helping me for the last couple of years via emails of kindness and advice to help get started with my Japanese Maples.

    From reading posts here I was inspired to join even though I know I'm no where near you guys on the knowledgeable level, but as you know Mark I'm willing to learn.
     

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