I have germinated 4 Acer Palmatums sucessfully and they already have 4 real leaves. But since it's winter I'm keeping them inside because of the frost. But must I put them outside? Since I've heard Maples require a dormant period, but since the plants are still so small I don't knnow if they require the cold, dormant period as well. Can anyone help me out?
How old are they? Are they only recently germinated? If so, it should be alright to keep them indoors till the weather warms up in the spring, and then move them outside. Try and keep the photo period over 12 hours, 14 is ideal, supplement with artificial light if necessary. I did this when I received some Acer pentaphyllum seed from Australia and it worked out OK. The extra long first growing season did not seem to bother them and they went into dormancy normally in the first autumn.
Ok, the plants in my example germinated indoors during the early winter and ended up with an 11 month growing season compared to a natural 7 month season. If yours continue growing till next autumn it will be a season of around 15 months in total, some way beyond what I experienced. I would still recommend trying to keep them growing without dormancy till autumn 2013. They will not be hardened off enough to put them outside now, the way I see it there is little choice but to try and keep them growing without dormancy and see how they do. Please let us know how it goes.
I have grown a lot under lights in the winter. They do just fine. Then when they are put out in the spring, they keep right on growing until they go dormant in the fall. don't worry. I have even taken a bunch of seedlings to the school where I teach for the kids to grow. We kept them under lights, then planted them into pots for Mother's Day. I don't know how many are still alive, but even under the conditions at school, they did fine. I am always amazed at how rugged they are. I put these fragile little sticks in the ground in spring and right away the moles come check them out, shove them out of the ground or they fall over sideways. They just keep growing. I love growing maples from seeds. I have some in the fridge right now that I can't wait to see sprout. Kay
hello kay, nice reading about your maple adventures! can I ask, how many hours under grow lights per day did you provide? I’ve read 14-16hrs a day through the winter is fine. thanks, gnikoom