Japanese Red Maple

Hello, hope you all are well.

I am brand new to bonsai, and would like to request help in reaching my goal.

I plan to plant several (about 15) Japanese red maple trees from seed this March 2014. Stratification is already being done.

I live in San Jose, CA.

I understand it will take time and effort, but I want to know what I basically need to do

to achieve this:



Any help?

I dont know about maples
But i love maples and specially when it changes color.beautful project. And the placement of trees is very good
Is it a forest plantation or yrees emerging from single trunk?
BUT I LOVE IT.

amanluthra688 wrote:I dont know about maples
But i love maples and specially when it changes color.beautful project. And the placement of trees is very good
Is it a forest plantation or yrees emerging from single trunk?
BUT I LOVE IT.

I'm guessing they are individual trees. could be from one trunk, but the size of pot suggests otherwise.

There must be alot of bonsai activity in San Jose. Join a club. Buy some cutting grown maples along with planting seeds. EvergreenGardenWorks.com is a great place to buy material. There should be lots of vendors in CA.

Growing from seeds is good but will take several years before you can train or shape them. So basically you're setting yourself up to start bonsai in about 3 to 4 years. Also, I understand that it is hard to get Japanese Maple seed that is viable, so you need a good source.

In a club you will not only be exposed to knowledge but plant material also on the cheap. Normally dues are very inexpensive. ONe of the knowledgable members will help to start you on the path to bonsai.

Start googling and you'll find plenty of info about how to grow from seed.

Augustine

Good advice. Seed starting is fun, but it would be 5 years before you could even THINK bonsai with the seedlings -- assuming something like that picture is your goal.

I really enjoy working with Japanese Maple seedlings and growing maple groves. I have been collecting seedlings from several trees locally so viability has not been a problem, but variablity. Leaf size, leaf color, bark color, spring and fall colors all vary in seedlings all from the same tree. They will change as they mature also, especially reds will often revert to green leaf within three years.

Most cultivars are reproduced by clones to assure the variety. Most (can I say all?) hybrid seeds will not produce the hybrid, but will make a standard Japanese Maple. So to get a planting like the one pictured you have to take all your cuttings from the same tree to assure uniformity in leaf and bark ect.

If you break down the pictured composition you can see that it is composed of singles, doubles and triples. There is a single in center, front and back, a triple on the right and a double on the left. Note also the variation in size.

If you grow all your seeds the same they will all end up the same size. So I grow them in different size pots, some singles, some doubles and some triples. A triple grown in a six inch pot will not get as big as a single grown in the same pot.

Mortality is another problem with seedlings so I first plant all in three inch pots for the first season. The second season I sort these out into bigger pots to grow on. The third year I decide which I want to plant into the garden and the rest are potted up to the next size. They are starting to look like something now and the next two years will be preliminary training, chops and branch selection.

I always have more seedlings than I need so every year I do a mass planting or two. I plant about thirty seedlings in a large flat (in 1's 2's + 3's) and let them grow like that. These can be cut apart and repositioned or used to fill in other compositons.

You would think after ten years of this I would have alot of Japanese Maples and I do, but only two compositions have remained and the rest are gone almost as soon as I make them. Very popular these little maple groves are.

Thank you augustine, JimLewis, and RKatzin for your thoughts.

I now feel more comfortable starting with clones to assure variety like RKatzin mentioned.

I still might plant these seeds, not sure if i should though.

There are hundreds of varieties of Japanese Maples and all these different varieties come from seedling selection. I would go ahead with your seeds and see what you get. You may get fifteen seedlinds all the same or slightly different. Grow them for a few years and see what they look like, then choose one of them to make your cuttings from.

While you're waiting you might make a visit to Mendicino Maples. They may be able to provide starts or cuttings to get you going.