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View Full Version : Acer Palmatum germination!!!


The Hollyberry Lady
03-09-2010, 01:35 AM
Last year, my friend from Turkey was kind enough to send me some Japanese Red Maple seeds collected from his own weeping crimson queen tree!


: )


I placed them in moist soil in a plastic container, and put them in my fridge last September 27th for a cold-stratification period. Just last night I opened up the container, and noticed that all the seeds have a white root coming out of them!


: o


It only took 5-6 months! Looks like I've got a few good seedlings and they've already been potted up....


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2111.jpg


Will show more shots as things progress along...


: )

LilRaverBoi
03-09-2010, 01:18 PM
Very nice! Yeah, maples usually germinate pretty well. We always have a ton of little seedlings pop up every spring under our maple tree back home.

Bob
03-09-2010, 04:55 PM
So old pal ' o mine..... you started these on my birthday? .... Hope they do well.... and you have some to spare someday!:ha:

The Hollyberry Lady
03-09-2010, 07:16 PM
Yup, they were started on your birthday, Bob. Hope this doesn't bring them bad luck! http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/emo1-3.gif


If you're really nice to me I might incude one for you in your Autumn package...


Thanks LRB! Yes, I heard they sprout easily in Spring on the ground around the trees. Can't wait to see what I end up with!


Although not my picture, here's a stunning weeping crimson queen...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/weepingcrimsonqueen.jpg

: )

john_ny
03-09-2010, 08:06 PM
HBL
Don't want to spread gloom - Bob is a friend, and lives just a few miles from me. However having been in the nursery business for many years, I have produced hundreds of thousands of Japanese Maple seedlings. I had permission to gather seeds in a very old cemetary (circa 1700 & something) There were hundreds of ancient, and new, J. Maples there. One year, we gathered 3 "mud buckets" (5 gallon buckets of sheetrock taping compound) of seed. This produced about 150,000 seedlings. Sadly, only about 5 in a thousand produced "weeping", or "lace leaf" plants, even when the seeds were taken from those trees. I'm just saying this so, unless, in Turkey, there are no other varieties to cross-polinate with, you won't be surprised if they're not all weeping.

guerich
03-10-2010, 08:29 AM
Great job. I've tried seeds from t&m catalog with cold stratification with no luck.

The Hollyberry Lady
03-10-2010, 10:33 AM
Yes, thank you John, and I was aware of this actually already.

The person who sent me the seeds from Turkey, educated me quite a bit about how they rarely if ever, produce plants true to the parent tree.

I guess it's just the optimist in me though, that would like to hope I might end up with something cool and special. You never know....

: )

Update:


After potting up the sprouts, they're emerging less than three days later...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2168.jpg


A 2nd seedling can be seen coming up in the upper right of the picture too. Bet many more emerge tomorrow...


: )

LilRaverBoi
03-11-2010, 10:18 PM
LOL...told ya they germinate well!

The Hollyberry Lady
03-11-2010, 11:00 PM
Were you ever right! To think I was in a panic this morning wondering if I'd buried the sprouts too deep and if they'd ever appear above ground!

: o

LilRaverBoi
03-11-2010, 11:08 PM
Pretty sure you'd get good germination rates if ya just tossed em in a pile of soil and watered! They're not picky!

The Hollyberry Lady
03-12-2010, 09:27 AM
I tried to germinate some seeds a few times by just throwing them into some soil, but no luck. That's when I was told they need a cold stratification period to make them pop, like they would get outdoors over winter.

I'm ecstatic that they are emerging now, and beginning to grow. I intend on putting some of them directly in my garden to grow all season, and then I'll bring into our cold sunporch for protection next winter.

It will be very interesting to see what I end up with. Hope I get some cool trees from these seeds...

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/ae59-2.gif


How things are looking this morning...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2169.jpg


: )

LilRaverBoi
03-12-2010, 08:05 PM
Yeah, I definitely would believe that they require a good freeze before germination, but they do very well in the spring. Guess if you don't live in a place that gets good hard freezes, just stick them in the freezer for a while.

The Hollyberry Lady
03-14-2010, 04:13 PM
:woohoonaner:


More little babies are coming up today...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2204.jpg


: )

LilRaverBoi
03-14-2010, 05:50 PM
Tell that angel to stop mooning the camera! :ha:

The Hollyberry Lady
03-14-2010, 05:58 PM
I noticed that later...too funny!!!

: o

The Hollyberry Lady
03-17-2010, 12:43 AM
Here's how things are looking today...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2211.jpg


Looks like this one's pretty red, and has true leaves beginning to develop...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2210.jpg


: )

Youngbb
03-17-2010, 07:00 AM
Good job!:lurk:

Bob
03-17-2010, 08:03 PM
You'll never be able to grow them in Canada.... give up now while you're ahead:ha:

( The one showing red already would do really well in zone 6!)

The Hollyberry Lady
03-18-2010, 09:32 AM
Oh I think they'll grow just fine in Canada. :ha:


In fact, look at how things are doing this morning...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2232.jpg


I really am thrilled to be watching these new little trees be born in my living room. Looks like I'll have a few red beauties. One seedling already has true leaves that are reddish!!! :goteam:


: )

The Hollyberry Lady
04-26-2010, 08:41 PM
Update:


Here's my two nicest JRM seedlings so far...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2521.jpg


Kind of blurry but here are the others...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2497.jpg


: )

cucurbits
04-26-2010, 08:58 PM
They are looking great.

The Hollyberry Lady
04-26-2010, 09:28 PM
Thanks Cucurbits!


They're kind of slow growing. This one is my favorite...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2305.jpg



http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2424.jpg


: )

LilRaverBoi
04-26-2010, 10:16 PM
Slow growing? I think they got pretty big since the last pictures. Maybe the leaves take a while to come out, but overall size has gotten much larger.

The Hollyberry Lady
04-26-2010, 10:21 PM
Hey Bryan!


Yes, they have grown quite a bit, but I just mean compared to other plants they're not as vigorous and fast growing. I really am enjoying watching them develop though. So cool.


: )

The Hollyberry Lady
05-01-2010, 07:17 AM
Just transplanted this one into a much bigger pot yesterday...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2537.jpg


Not sure why the leaves are imperfect but hopefully the new ones will be blemish free. Loving the color however.



:waving:

The Hollyberry Lady
05-08-2010, 12:39 PM
Wow Bob - your seedling is looking pretty red these days...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2605.jpg


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2607.jpg


I must have been a fool to offer it to you! Do you know what an 'Indian giver' is?! LoL. :ha:


: o

The Hollyberry Lady
06-22-2010, 07:31 PM
Biggest tree to date...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/2nd%20album/DSCI3229.jpg


: )

LilRaverBoi
06-23-2010, 12:18 PM
Lookin' good, there! Definitely coming along. Thanks for the update.

The Hollyberry Lady
07-04-2010, 08:45 AM
This one kind of dwindled along for a while but recently started to take off. Sure is red too. Here it is this morning...



http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/DSCI2973.jpg


Wish I could keep them outdoors in their pots, but terrified they'll be stolen like last year. No way are thieves getting my little red maples.


: o


I have them strewn across my apartment in various windows. Slower growing than they would be outdoors and I fear they might be weak from not experiencing wind, so I throttle them daily and give them a good
shake! :ha: A trick I learned to help thicken the stem and make an indoor plant stronger. A fan works too. Anyway, hope these trees continue to do well here.


: )

The Hollyberry Lady
08-03-2010, 10:09 AM
This small one recently began to grow two new little leaves...


http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/2nd%20album/DSCI3226.jpg


Wish I could put the pots outside.


: (

The Hollyberry Lady
10-11-2010, 05:02 PM
This one was a little later germinating than the others and it was green for the longest time...but this Autumn it's begun to turn red! Here's a shot I took of it today...



http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/2nd%20album/DSCI3806.jpg



: )