If you look around at various gardening forums, many hobby gardeners complain about a lack of success when attempting to propagate Japanese maple from cuttings or seeds. In fact, Acer palmatum can sometimes be a bit complicated when it comes to both vegetative and seed propagation, but with the right tricks the project can be successful here too. By the way, red Japanese maple is considered particularly difficult to propagate - we'll show you how it can still be done.
How can you successfully propagate a Japanese maple?
Fan maple propagation is possible via seeds and vegetatively. When propagated by seed, the seeds must be stratified and may take 1-2 years to germinate. The Japanese maple is propagated vegetatively by cuttings (cut shoots at the end of May/June) or moss (remove strips of bark).
Propagation by seeds
Older Japanese Maple flowers annually between May and June. The winged nuts containing seeds develop from these often red flower clusters in autumn. Of course, these can also be used to propagate the ornamental plant, although they must be stratified - after all, the Japanese maple is a cold germinator. Patience is also required, as propagation via seeds can take one to two years until germination. The easiest way is to sow the seeds directly outdoors in autumn and wait.
Alternatively, you can also proceed as follows:
- Pack the seeds in a bag of moist sand,
- which you can put in the vegetable compartment of your fridge for six weeks.
- Then let the seeds soak in a glass of water for about one to two days.
- Now sand them down a little with fine sandpaper.
- Now plant them in a pot with potting soil.
- And put it in a bright place.
- Keep the substrate evenly moist.
Purchased seeds are usually already stratified.
Vegetative ways of propagation
Since with vegetative propagation you are essentially creating clones of the mother plant, it should be as strong and he althy as possible - its offspring will take on all of its positive and negative characteristics.
Propagation of cuttings
You can propagate Japanese Japanese maple from cuttings in the following way:
- Cut some shoots that are no longer completely soft between the end of May / end of June.
- The cutting surface should be as angled as possible.
- The cuttings should have several pairs of leaves.
- Remove the lowest pair of leaves, but leave the stem stubs.
- Halve or third the other leaves.
- Dip the cuttings in a rooting powder
- and plant them in nursery pots with fine lava granules.
- Now put the pots in a plastic greenhouse
- if possible in a bright and warm place without direct sun.
Moosen
Moss removal is often carried out by experienced lovers of the Japanese art of bonsai for propagation, but requires a lot of sensitivity and experience, especially for the sensitive Japanese maples. The so-called ring technique - in which as wide a strip of bark as possible is removed - has proven to be the best.
Tip
Instead of rooting powder, home-made willow water is also very helpful for Japanese Japanese maple cuttings.