I currently live in the Northwest corner of Florida, and within the next 2 weeks will be moving to Pittsburgh. I have a Japanese Maple in my front yard and would really love to take a piece with me to my new house to plant. I planted this tree the week my son was born, 6 years ago. I was told to take a part of the branch with the "helicopter" on it, but my tree does not produce them? Please advise me, with exact detail! LOL Thanks in advance!
is japense maple the only tree that prodces helocopters, i assume when u say helocopter u r referring 2 t the spinnng of the leaves has they fall.
The 'helicopter' refers to maple seeds, which have a single wing and rotate as they fall. If there are no seeds on the tree, then you won't be able to propagate it (maple shoots won't root from cuttings). Actually, even if there were some seeds on it, they wouldn't be ripe within the next two weeks, more like September or October.
Air layering would likely be a more successful and preferable method to propagate the maple. Could search the forums on this site for "rooting cuttings", "maple cuttings", or "air layering " for more info, using "Search" box at top of this page or in the "Maple" forum. Some bonsai enthusiasts are experienced at starting Japanese maple cuttings, so their sites should have some helpful info.
Trouble with air layering, it needs quite a bit of expertise, and (more importantly here!) it takes a lot longer than two weeks (the time available!).
