Image – Flickr/liz west
Although Japanese maple is most easily propagated by cuttings, layering or grafting of cultivars, multiplying it by seeds is something that can be very educational and entertaining. Plus, it’s always nice to see a tree grow right from the start.
so if you want to know how to sow japanese maple seedsthen I will explain it to you.
Contents
When to plant Japanese maple?
Image – Wikimedia/Sten Porse
The Japanese maple, whose scientific name is Acer palmatum, is a type of plant found in temperate climate regions of East Asia, specifically China, Korea and of course Japan. To be more precise, grows in mountain forestswhere temperatures remain mild for much of the year, and in winter frosts and even heavy snowfalls are recorded.
Why am I telling you this? Well, because it’s a tree -or a shrub, depending on the variety- that flowers in the spring, and once its flowers are pollinated, its seeds ripen quite quickly. In fact, it’s normal for them to be ready in mid to late summer.
The problem is that for them to germinate they must be exposed to cold – not extreme – for several weeks. This will awaken the fertilized ovum (or seminal rudiment, as it is also called in botany) which is protected in said seed, and cause it to germinate. That is, from the time the seed ripens until it germinates, several months pass.
And it’s also worrying, because its viability, i.e. the time during which it remains viable and can therefore germinate without problems, is relatively short. Moreover, if we sow, for example, ten seeds that are more than one year old, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for all of them to germinate.
I would even go so far as to say that only two or three will do so, since in addition to their own aging, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the germination rate of Japanese maple – even when all the seeds are fresh and viable – is between 20 and 50%. This means that if 100 seeds are sown, for example, the most normal thing is that between 20 and 50 will germinate; and I repeat, as long as they are new and viable. The older they are, the more expensive it will be.
For him, I advise you to sow them at the beginning of winterso that they can germinate in the spring.
How to germinate Japanese maple seeds?
Image – Wikimedia/KENPEI
There are two ways to do this:
- Potted directly
- or stratify them in the refrigerator.
What is the best option? This will depend, to a large extent, on the temperatures in our region during the winter. If you live in a region where they remain low, and where there are even frosts and/or snowfall, you can plant them in pots and let nature itself take care of waking them up.
But if, on the contrary, the winter in our region is mild, or even if the frosts are very weak and occasional, it is preferable to stratify them in the fridge.
How come? Let’s talk about the steps we must follow in each case:
sow in a pot
- The first thing will be to take a pot, or a forest tray, and fill it with acidic plant substrate (sold here) or coconut fiber (sold here), which also has a low pH and is also perfect for seedlings to retain moisture for a long time.
- Then we water.
- Then we take the seeds and, after having treated them with a polyvalent fungicide so that the fungi do not destroy them, we will sow them, putting a maximum of two in each pot or in each cell.
- Then we buried them just a little, no more than a centimeter.
- Finally, we leave the pot or forest container outside, in the shade.
From there, the only thing we will do is water if we find that the land is drying out.
Layering in the fridge
Related article:
How to stratify seeds step by step
- The first step will be to take a tupperware, if possible in transparent plastic, and fill it with vermiculite (on sale here) or coconut fiber.
- Then we will water, trying to avoid excess water. If we see that it is waterlogged, we will empty it a little, because the substrate must be moist, but not waterlogged.
- Then we will treat the seeds with a multipurpose fungicide (on sale here), and put them on the freshly watered substrate.
- Then we will cover them with a thin layer of substrate.
- Finally, we will cover the tupperware, and put it in the fridge. It is very important that we put it in the part where we place yogurts and the like, because it would not be good if they were exposed to too low a temperature.
Once a week we will have to take the tupperware out of the fridge and open it. This will renew the air and avoid – or at least reduce the risk – the appearance of fungi. Likewise, it will also give us the opportunity to see if the land is dry, in which case we will have to water it.
After about three months, we will plant them in pots and forest containers, as mentioned above.
How long do they take to germinate?
Like almost everything in life: it depends. If they are new or relatively new, they will probably germinate after two months once spring is established, but otherwise they will take longer.
There is no choice but to be patient and ensure that the seedbed does not dry out or fungus appear, which is why it must be treated with a fungicide once per week or at most every 15 days.
As soon as they germinate, they should be kept in the seedbed until the roots appear through the holes in the seedbed.. Then they will be planted in larger pots with an acidic plant substrate, coconut fiber, or if you prefer, mixing 70% akadama (you can buy it here) with 30% kiryuzuna.
We hope you get lucky with your seeds.