Seedlings

Discussion in 'Maples' started by Kaitain4, Apr 16, 2010.

  1. Kaitain4

    Kaitain4 Well-Known Member Maple Society 10 Years

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    I really love growing JM seedlings, although most of them die on me. At some point I'll get it right! Anyway, the appeal is the prospect of something unusual and wonderful, but it requires a bit of patience, and - of course - a good seed source.

    That said, I have a few nice seedlings that made it through the winter. The first pic is of four seedlings from Moofire I collected and grew last year. This illustrates the variability you see in seedlings from the same parent. Each one has a slightly different degree of lobe division and "toothiness", to say nothing of the obvious color difference of one of them!

    The second pic is a flat of Acer pseudosieboldianum seedlings from seed I collected at Iseli nursery's display garden this past fall. These are beautiful, mature trees on the edge of the parking lot in the back, and are surrounded by JMs of all types and descriptions. Although its too early to tell for sure what the mature leaf will be like, the dissected seedling in the center has exciting possibilities!

    If you have some interesting seedlings, post a few pics.
     

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  2. mattlwfowler

    mattlwfowler Active Member Maple Society

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    Wow, if that is a dissected pseudosieboldianum you do have something unusual. I myself have taken great pleasure in selecting out the most unusual seedlings. I've lost several because they were so tiny and dwarf that I couldn't keep them from rotting at the base even with regular fungicidal treatments (the leaves were as fine as fairy hair but only about an inch long). Out of several thousand seedlings I have about a dozen that I am keeping on to monitor after the first year or two. I prefer to keep my hybridized (between cultivars not species) or specialty seedlings separate from my rootstock seedlings. However, I have about a dozen variegated seedlings that I just germinated this spring out of what should have been my rootstock batch. I hope I can keep them alive.
     
  3. Lou midlothian Tx

    Lou midlothian Tx Member

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    I had problems keeping A. truncatum and A.p from dying at the base where it rotted. I tried something new this year called Actinovate which is organic fungicide but not on A.p this time around. So far, so good. Someone reported better growth on his vegetable plants in the containers as well so I'll have to pay attention and see if there's improved growth or not. Actinovate is cheap and goes a very very very long way so why not try it and see if it works.
     
  4. emery

    emery Renowned Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    I have many seed flats this year, both my own seeds and those a fellow Maple Society member kindly sent me.

    They are only just starting to come up, things are later here: no palmatum is yet in leaf at all. (Only early starters have leafed, I think the whole list is pensylvaticum, mandshuricum, ginalla, oliverianum ssp formosanum, longipes ssp caudatifolium, pseudoplatanus corstorphinense and brilliantissimum).

    What's interesting is that what has come up is lots of (children of): sango kaku, lima gold, green star, tiny leaf a few versicolors and shin chishios. The rest of the 40ish other cultivars are later (or of course not at all...) I have a bunch of japonicums that didn't germinate last year but are going this year.

    I'll try and get a photo up later if things go well. Not that I expect anything as interesting as K4's!

    -E
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2010
  5. 01876

    01876 Active Member

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    They are so cute, K4!
    Here are some of my baby seedlings that I've been monitoring for 2 years.
    These seedlings are from seeds that I picked from different red A. amoenum trees. However, I've got a variaty of red, orange and green and several different leaves shapes including the first matsumuae looking one. Growing seedling is just fun!
    Good luck with your babies.
     

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  6. maf

    maf Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Last autumn was the first time for several years that I deliberately planted Japanese maple seed. Seed was collected from three different mother plants in the same garden, on the same day and planted and outdoor stratified in exactly the same manner. Of the three, the children of 'Disectum Nigrum' had a zero germination rate this spring, 'Osakazuki' close to 100% rate, and 'Inaba shidare' around 20-25%. What I found most interesting is that the offspring of 'Inaba shidare' look to be almost all of the dissectum type (as far as can tell at this early stage). Is this normal, I was expecting more like 1 dissectum in every 10?
    seedlings2.jpg

    On a less happy note I lost an interesting 2 year old dissectum to a sudden wilt this spring, and another two year old had the bark girdled at ground level by root weevils. It still looks alive but I fear it is really dead, and I have potted it up in new soil just in case.
     
  7. Acer Glade

    Acer Glade Member

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    Attached momiji seedling pix this spring. Seeds collected from arboretum in England. Fun is to let them grow and then identify them. Knowing which arboretum (2 welknown momiji gardens) makes the identification easier. Have fun you guys. Careful which way you bury the seeds!
     

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  8. mattlwfowler

    mattlwfowler Active Member Maple Society

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    Most Dissectum seedlings will actually be closer to 75 percent dissectum or better unless they have primarily female flowers (or male sterile flowers) and have been pollinated by a nearby non-dissectum. Some like Inaba are more likely to produce a mix of deeply divided and pinnatified leaf type dissectums, while others that are more dissected will yield deeply dissected leaf types more readily. I have had about 95 percent (or maybe more) seedlings from Garnet yeild deeply dissected offspring. As they are maturing I am seeing more versatility in the level of dissection. The more obvious variability comes in the color. Some of mine are mostly green with pinkish bronze new growth. Some are what I'd call rubrum (starts red then goes more green bronze). Some are atropurpureum, and a some maybe closer to a nigrum color. There are two out of the 100 or so seedlings that have a deep enough color to compete with other red dissectums on the market. This is why we say they don't come true to type. In fact they come very similar to type if they have no outside genetic influence. The parent was near a Crimson queen, a Tamukeyama, and an Everred so I got some added variability but not as much as a green palmatum would have given me. This relative ease of getting similar varieties is partly to blame for having so many similar looking trees mislabeled or lumped into one name. The more I see the more I wonder how many 100s of different old cultivars there were back around the early 1900's that are now mixed up or lost because people assumed they were the same as the standard "common" varieties. After seeing at least 3 forms of Osakazuki from the same old reputable nursery with Osakazuki on the label, it has become clear that more lumping together of different varieties has been done than we would like to admit.
     
  9. Imperfect Ending

    Imperfect Ending Active Member

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    Exciting stuff :D
     
  10. Poetry to Burn

    Poetry to Burn Active Member

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    Re: Seedlings--Saplings

    I just now noticed that this plant, which was recently a seedling, is a real beauty. It's a bit like 'Suminagashi' but the leaves are smaller (esp for a deeply divided) and the dark green bark has very bright markings.

    I don't know anything of it's parentage. It's likely a seedling from Ed Shinn's garden. I think it's 3-4 years old. The leaves may be small because it's been in a small pot for at least 2 years.

    Growing seedlings is indeed very enjoyable.
     

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  11. maf

    maf Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Beautiful bark. I have a six or more year old seedling with similar markings. It surprises me that cultivars are not selected and named for having this type of bark.
     
  12. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

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    Lucky you!
    I planted about 30 seeds from a green J. maple I have in my garden, plus 4 dozen various ones Gomero kindly sent to me, and only two of the green ones have germinated...
    I was alreday seeing myself discovering a new cultivar among them (childish me...), how disappointed I am.
    This won't prevent me from chasing after samarra at the end in autumn, wherever I can find them. Nolite spem amittere ;)
    PS: this time I will put half of them in a mix of peat and sand in the vegetable compartment of the fridge.
     
  13. Acer Glade

    Acer Glade Member

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    Wow. Natural stratification or via the fridge, don't throw away the seed bed that have seeds which have not germinated. I have had seedlings poking through from late February through to June and some more. Also had beds with seedlings coming through after three years! Any others have such experience. Also any one has leaf cut the entire tree around now and experienced second growth of new foliage.
     
  14. kbguess

    kbguess Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    PTB,

    Nice bark on that one. Like the leaves too.

    K4 - any update on the dissected Korean Maple? I'd love to see recent photo and one in the fall showing coloration.
     
  15. Gomero

    Gomero Well-Known Member Maple Society 10 Years

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    Hi K4,

    A few years back I also picked up a bunch of seeds from an A. pseudosieboldianum and A. sieboldianum growing at an East Coast arboretum where many other maples were also growing. The seedlings also displayed a considerable amount of diversity, including one that was variegated!. I have discussed the matter with some European maple experts and now I think that what I have are hybrids of those two species with other species in the Palmata Series, probably A. palmatum. I cannot prove it, it is just my own conclusion.

    Gomero
     
  16. Kaitain4

    Kaitain4 Well-Known Member Maple Society 10 Years

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    Keith,

    It really hasn't changed from the photo. Has not produced the second set of leaves yet. The other seedlings have all produced a second set. Perhaps this is because of the lack of leaf surface area? Anyway, I have potted it up to a 4" pot and put it in more sun to give it some encouragement. Will definitely post more pics.

    Gomero,

    I think most of the JM subspecies will inter-breed quite easily. Post pics of your variegated seedling if you can - sounds interesting!
     
  17. 01876

    01876 Active Member

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    PTB,
    Remarkable bark!

    K4,
    I only found one that odd enough this year.
    Others are seedlings from Acer japonicum "Aconitifolium" parent; it’s quite interesting to see these irregularly dissected lobes that rage so much from each other.

    Joe
     

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