I have a japanese red maple in my yard and each year throughout my garden I get several seedlings growing, if I leave them to grow as they are they tend to grow to about 4 inches, then die off by the fall, not sure if the slugs are getting them or if my plants are crowding them out... I would love to nurture these seedlings, perhaps transplant them into pots, yet I am not sure how to go about doing this, the correct timing, the right medium to plant them in, etc. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
Since your goal is to help these seedlings survive, you can take any pots – the smaller the better, which you have laying around, and dig up the seedlings with the soil they are in, and transplant them with any additional garden or potting soil you have. This year, for the first time, I decided to save any maple seedlings, which come up, which usually happens in other potted plants. I had to be careful to dig up the seedlings without disturbing the other plants’ roots, so I did so when they had just two sets of leaves. There were just a couple this year, and they are doing well in their four-inch pots. I am giving them just one watering of half-strength water-soluble fertilizer this season, but they would have been fine without it.
