What did I do wrong??

TinyTree

Hello, I've never tried propagating before but thought why not try after seeing all the new growth on my red Japanese maple. So I bought some rooting hormone, snipped some new growth off the tree(about 4 inches), removed lower leaves, and planted in small containers and moistened. I left them in the house and over the last week, keeping moist, and they all shriveled up. Could someone explain the correct procedure? I already have more growth that I could snip and propagate.

Thank You

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ElGringo

the air indoors is very dry and can easily kill a fully grown bonsai, let alone cutings. You could try air layering a branch, this might give you better results. Next time try keeping the cuttings in a humid propagator

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Richard


If I was a lady, would I be 'LaGringa'?

BonsaiTwit

You could also try covering your containers with some plastic wrap. Keeps them warm and moist, almost a mini green house. Just make a tent using some old wire and plastic wrap. Let them sit there for a couple of months, and you should be in good shape. Another tip is to cut the leaves in half (if they are bg leaves) this will cut down on evaporation. Make sure to mist the leaves as well. Good luck.

Mcspeed

I have had J. Maples take for cuttings, but I have heard that they don't usually do well. Also many plants you need to get older wood(lignified), the new green growth will not strike roots as easily if at all.

The cuttings I did were just stuck in a nursery pot full of dirt, and left outside in the shade, kept well watered and misted as often as possible, 3 out of about 20 took.

Brent

Starting Japanese maples, Acer palmatum cultivars, from cuttings is not for the faint of heart, but it can be done. It's probably not a good starter species though. Work with some easier species like willows and elms first to get some experience.

You likely made a number of mistakes. First, it is probably too late in the season to be taking cuttings. Japanese maples are best when taken in the spring just after the new shoot growth hardens a bit. For most of the N. hemisphere, this is during the month of June. Catching the growth at just the right stage of hardness is a bit of art as well as science.

Is this "red" Japanese maple a threadleaf cultivar (dissectum)? If so, forget about it, these are notoriously difficult to root from cuttings, even for experts. Any of the broadleaf cvs stand a decent chance. Fortunately, most of the broadleaf dwarf cvs are pretty easy to root.

Your hormone may not have been strong enough. For good rooting percentages, you need a fairly high IBA content. I use 1.6% (Hormex 16) for most of them. Homex 8 will work for the easier to root cvs.

If they shriveled up that fast, then your environmental conditions are not suitable. You have to provide very high humidity and controlled sunlight to limit the transpiration which will cause wilting. Some species will go ahead and root even if they lose their leaves, but Japanese maples usually just die after being stressed. This is not easy to achieve, even for the professional. I have been doing this for twenty years and I am still learning new tricks (see my blog below for a wrapup of this year's efforts).

Your medium may have been too dense and caused the stems to rot. Getting the medium right is very tricky. It must be highly aerated because, at first, it contains stems, not roots, and stems will eventually succumb without proper aeration (actually roots do too). So you must have this perfect water/air/soil interface. I use screened perlite with just a bit of peat moss.

It can take a long time. My 'Bloodgood' cuttings came out of the mist house after about 6 weeks and are now pretty much fully rooted. The dwarfs though, 'Kiyohime' and 'Yuri Hime' are just now beginning to root after 8 weeks under the mist.

Then you have to over winter them properly. New cuttings don't want to stop growing at the onset of winter because their natural growth cycle has been delayed. But they are also inordinately susceptible to freezing, especially the roots. So you have to figure out how to protect them, prolong the season, and yet still give them a sufficient dormant period. Keeping them inside is not an option, even for rooting them out, they must remain outdoors, or in an unheated greenhouse in winter.

For much more detailed information on general cutting propagation basics see this article at my website:

http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/cuttings.htm


Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com
see our blog at http://BonsaiNurseryman.typepad.com