Geisha, Toyama nishiki & wet feet

Discussion in 'Maples' started by gin-ger, Sep 21, 2006.

  1. gin-ger

    gin-ger Active Member

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    Location:
    Tidewater, Virginia, USA
    I recently acquired these 2 beauties in gallon pots, about 30" tall & bumped them to 10" clay pots. I have read that both dislike wet feet & should be grown on the dry side. I'm concerned about overwintering as we have notoriously wet winters & they have not had much time to put out roots. I've not had problems with my 20+ other JMs but most of them were obtained February thru May & had plenty of time to settle in. The large pots stay where they are; the smaller ones are placed pot-tight in a wind-free area. I'm in a temperate zone & winters are not severely cold...but wet. My question is...should I move these 2 somewhere that I can control watering? I could place under the eaves of the house or inside an unheated glassed-in gazebo like structure where we overwinter tropicals. Does anyone have experience with these 2 being picky about watering needs?
    Thanx, Ginger
     
  2. Rima

    Rima Active Member

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    Location:
    Eastern Canada
    Well they'll lose their leaves anyway, at which time they'll need even less water than otherwise, so if you can you the gazebo (how do tropicals keep from freezing in there?) it would be perfect, though if it doesn't go below 40 F., you may have problems with lack of dormancy.
     
  3. mapleman77

    mapleman77 Active Member

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    Location:
    Denham Springs, LA
    What I would do is just get a soil that do NOT try to hold in water...and just don't water them too much. Especially in the fall, only water maybe once every two weeks to a month. I found last winter (here in Louisiana, of course) that I barely had to water mine through the winter, mainly because I had a water-retentive soil, but I would either make a special mix or just monitor the amount of water that you give them. They are both beauutiful cultivars that I myself am trying to get, but am having trouble. Can you give me some pictures? I know that this thread was started almost 2 years ago but an update as well as some good old photos would be wonderful! Also I would probably put them under the gazebo or in a sheltered place where the rain cannot water the plants from the eaves...I know that the eaves have washed out entire pots at my house.
     
  4. mattlwfowler

    mattlwfowler Active Member Maple Society

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    Location:
    South Carolina, USA
    Yes, the best solution is to plant them in very well draining soil or a raised bed so that the rains will at least run off and we don't get root rot from that. Then we can water regularly during drier periods to account for the fast draining soil. We actually have to plant most palmatums on top of the ground in berms because of our soil in my area.
     
  5. mapleman77

    mapleman77 Active Member

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    Location:
    Denham Springs, LA
    I would not think that you would have to resort to such extremes in your area...but I think that that would be a definite consideration in mine! Although it could be easily contained in a pot, I think that a Geisha in Louisiana would have to be planted above the ground becuase a lot of the soil in our area is very heavy, dense clay...a soil that Japanese Maples would NOT like, especially Geisha. But I actually prefer container culture because it's easier to water and you can take better care of the maples during winter when they're young and especially susceptible to the cold and wind.

    David
     

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