Growing Japanese Maples From Seeds

Growing your own Japanese Maple from seed is a very rewarding experience. What could be better than to watch a seed sprout and become a little twig, then grow to be a beautiful tree? The secret to starting you own tree from seeds, is something called stratification. This is where you trick the seeds into thinking they have gone through a freeze/thaw cycle; also known as winter. Here are 5 simple steps to get you on your way:

1. Start with fresh seed. Fresh seed increases the likelihood that the seeds will be viable. As a seeds ages, the chances of it germinating goes down. Gathering seeds from a local tree is a great way to ensure you start with fresh seeds, but be sure to ask permission first! When the seeds have turned reddish-green they will be ready to harvest. One thing to remember with ANY Japanese maple seed: there is no guarantee that you will get the same color tree as the one the seed was picked from. A seed from a Red Japanese Maple will usually be red, but there is also the possibility it may be a cross between a red and green tree, which may produce a tree that has traits from both parents. But this is the exciting part; your tree will be one of a kind! You can also purchase small quantities of seeds from Ebay, but be sure to confirm they are the current years crop.
2. Determine what your zone’s “last frost date” is. This is the day in the spring that it is usually safe to begin to plant gardens. Now count backwards 120 days. This is the approximate number of days the seeds will need to germinate. This is the date you will start the stratification process. You may find that some seeds don’t sprout until much later than the 120 days, but be patient, some seeds are just late bloomers, or is it sprouters?
3. On or around the date you determined in step 2, Fill a cup with hot water from your faucet, but do not use extremely hot water. If your hot water steams when it comes out of the faucet, it may be too hot. Just adjust the temperature with cold water. If the water is too hot, it will kill the seeds. Do not overfill the cup, you need room to add the seeds. Dump your seeds into the cup, and let everything sit for 24 hours.
4. Most of the seeds will now be at the bottom of the cup. The seeds have absorbed water and have now started the germination process. Remove these seeds, and place them in a small baggie that contains moistened sand, peat, vermiculite, or a combination of them. The exact mix is not extremely important, just be sure it is moist and not wet. Personally, I have had better luck with vermiculite, and it is easier to find the seeds when it comes time to plant them, but go ahead and use what is easiest for you. Poke a few holes in the baggie with a fork to allow air to circulate. Place the baggie in the refrigerator. I place mine in the door, or crisper. Be sure to place them somewhere that you can see them. You will need to check on them every so often, and if they get shoved behind something, you may forget. Check the baggie occasionally to be sure the sand, peat, or vermiculite is still moist, and add water if needed. Opening the bag to check the moisture also exchanges the air in the bag, which help eliminate mold and fungus. If mold or fungus is present, don’t panic. Simply rinse the seeds with a 50/50 mix of water and Hydrogen Peroxide, and place back in a baggie with fresh, moist sand, peat, or vermiculite.
5. As the seeds begin to sprout, you will see small white “tails” coming from the seeds. You are getting closer to growing your tree! You can choose to plant the seeds outside after the last frost, or use the method that I have found works best for me. Either way works, but I have found that I don’t have a lot of control over the weather, and it occasionally doesn’t cooperate. There have been times that my seeds were ready to plant outside, but the ground was still frozen. Not much I could do about that! I decided to plant the seeds in individual Peat pots. You know the ones; the ones that swell up when you add water. Poke a hole in the top of the pot with a pencil, and place the seed in the hole. Keep the pots moist, but not wet. This method gives you a little extra time for the weather to cooperate. Be sure to give the plants plenty of light when they start to develop leaves. I use a fluorescent light suspended above the plants, but a bright window works just as well, and be sure to rotate the plants if they begin to bend towards the light. One other thing to watch for is something called damping off. This is when the plant dies and rots near the soil line. It is caused by a fungus that lives in the soil, and is usually from lack of air circulation and over watering. If I find seedlings that exhibit damping off, I remove them from the area to reduce the spread, and adjust air flow with a fan, and reduce the watering frequency. When you can work your soil outside, simply plant the pots in the ground. I plant mine in a bed that I made to grow the plants for a while until I can re-pot them to sell. For the seeds that have not germinated, plant them in a shaded bed approximately 3/8 deep, watering them occasionally. Leave them until the next year, and see if any have sprouted.

New Japanese Maples should be shaded for the first year or two to minimize the likelihood that they will be scorched by the sun. For small quantities of plants, you can build a small cage of lattice that will provide shade. For larger quantities, lattice suspended above the plants on a frame of wood or cement blocks is an option, but a piece of shade cloth may be a better option. After the plants have grown for a few years, they can be transplanted to their permanent home. Be sure to dig and transplant the trees after they are dormant to ensure their survivability.

Congratulations! You now have a beautiful Japanese Maple that you can enjoy for years to come, and you even get to tell everyone who comments on it that you grew it yourself!

This post was written by Dwayne Haskell

Dwayne Haskell owns and operates Mistkits.com where complete misting kits, individual components, and advice can be found. After building his own misting system for his nursery, he realized he could design and build systems for small nurseries or home gardeners who are interested in starting their own plants from cuttings. He has written an E-book titled Build an Arbor in Just One Weekend, and another on gardening, landscaping and plant propagation tips. He also enjoys teaching others how to grow their own landscape plants and owns and moderates the Mistkits blog, where you can find more articles, polls, and quizzes on landscape and gardening related topics.

A quick article on growing a Bonsai from Seed

Tree Seeds

First thing you need to do is select your tree seed. Beginners should try and collect seed from local grown trees before trying challenging native and non-native species. These trees would be used to the locate climate. The easiest to grow is Horse Chestnut.

For those who work with nature, you can wait until the Autumn\Fall before sowing. If you don’t want to wait until then see propagation section. But for those who enjoy working with nature see below.

When?

As described above the best time to sow seeds is in the autumn so we can keep with natures cycle.

How?

1. Pick out a pot approximately 15 cm or a seed tray
2. Place a fine layer of stones on the base
3. Next put together the following soil mixture. For beginners I would suggest using John Innes No:2 with 20% Horticultural sand.
4. Place the soil mixture in your container
5. Use a dibber (gardening tool) or a stick to create small channels on top of the soil
6. Place the seed or seeds on the channel
7. Cover with a layer of soil
8. Next water using a fine rose spray (You don’t want to disturb the seeds)

Also, remember to pre-soak your seed before planting.

So, what’s next?

After your seed has sprouted, place it in a bright location and keep the soil moist.

Never let seedlings dry out

In the summer months feed your seedlings. After a year you can transplant your Tinytree to a bigger pot.

When your tree looks hardy (thick trunk). You can start the early stages of Bonsai training.

This post was written by Paul Masterson

Paul is a collector of Bonsai, tropical plants and owner of Bonsai.ie.

Every couple of months I buy a selection of trees seeds to train as Indoor and Outdoor Bonsai.
These tree seeds are not specifically Bonsai tree seeds but tree seeds that can be grown and eventually trained as Bonsai.

When I am selecting trees seeds to grow, I tend to select non-evasive species just in case some tree seeds get spread around by mistake. This is not a problem with Tropical Indoor trees as they would not survive in our temperate climate.

The new selection is a mixture of hardy outdoor and sub-tropical indoor trees.

One of my favourite trees and very common in Ireland is the European Larch (Larix decidua). This is a very easy tree to grow and train. Also selected is the Trident Maple, Japanese Privet, Dwarf Pomergranate, Korean Spruce and the impressive Jacaranda with its blue flowers.

Some tree seeds require different types of pre-treatment before you sow them. This can range from simple pre warm water treatment to a wash in petrol.

For instance the ‘European Larch’ would require 4 – 6 week cold stratification. (a brief stay in the fridge)

Take your tree seeds and pre-soak overnight in cool water. Then take a handfull of vermiculite, dip it in some water and then place in a zip-lock bag.
Get your tree seeds and place in the zip-lock bag. Give it a good shake before placing it in the fridge for up to six weeks.

Stratification helps to mimic the winter months and speeds up the germination process (also known as Forced Germination). Some seeds require a mixture of warm and cold treatments.

Other common treatments would be scarification, this involves cutting into the seed coating with a sharp knife or use sand paper to help break down the seed coat of the hard shelled seeds.

This months trees require:

Trident Maple — 12 weeks cold stratification
Japanese Privet — 14 weeks cold stratification
Dwarf Pomergranate — 14 weeks cold stratification
Korean Spruce  — 4-6 weeks cold stratification
Jacaranda mimosifolia — warm water soak prior to sowing followed by bottom heat at 16 – 18 degrees.

Storing Tree Seeds

Tree seeds are best sown fresh if possible. If you need to store them, then place them in a bag with little moisture in the vegetable section of your fridge. I tend to use small padded envelopes (fussy)

Sowing Your Seeds

The Outdoor trees can be sown in pots for the first number of years, this is dependent of course on the tree species and how fast it grows. The soil mixture I use is very light and free draining. A mixture of John Innes No 2 and horticultural sand.

For Indoor trees these require a similar soil type as above except I would use some bottom heat, either bench heating cables or if space is limited a propagation hobby kit.

If you have any questions on growing from seed, send me a comment or question.

This post was written by Paul Masterson

Paul is a collector of Bonsai, tropical plants and owner of Bonsai.ie.

Have you ever considered training a Bonsai from seed and putting your own style to a tree. It’s not that difficult and it is a great way of developing a collection at a lower cost and most importantly if you are starting out, you don’t experiment with expensive trees. The only disadvantage is that you will have to wait about 3 years (dependent on species, growing rate etc) before you can start training your tree. The main reason for this is to give the seedling a chance to harden itself.

So what are the best tree’s to start with?

Well, almost any tree can be trained as a Bonsai. I once trained a Horse Chestnut and miniaturised its large leaves. The tree’s I would start with would be Maples, Fir’s or Chinese Elm, the Chinese Elm have naturally small leaves. So the balance between roots and leaf can be easier to achieve. If you live in an apartment try some indoor trees like the ‘Japanese Wax Privet’ , ‘Blue Jacaranda’  with it’s blue flowers and fern like leaves or the ‘Silk Tree’ with its feathery leaves and delicate flowers.

Over 10 weeks ago (Jan 2010) I placed ‘Blue Jacaranda’ (Indoor Bonsai) seeds in a pot of vermalite (well watered)  and placed them in a warm location. If best use a propagation unit that can supply bottom heat. These seeds took approximately 6 weeks to sprout.

The next stage is to transplant the seedling into their new home, a pot with good free drainage soil. At this stage I would cut back the tap root to encourage more fiberous roots and begin the miniaturization process.

The best tool to use is a Bonsai trimming shears as this will give a nice clean cut. After this use a dibber to create a whole in the soil, then place your seedling in the holding the stem and backfill the soil. Then water well and don’t let the soil dry out. Your seedling will require good attention as it develops its new roots.

The images above show the tap root before and after trimming.

As the trees progress I will keep you up to date.

This post was written by Paul Masterson

Paul is a collector of Bonsai, tropical plants and owner of Bonsai.ie.