AusBonsai

I know osakazuki arent great for bonsai due to large leaves and long internodes, however I am after one because they are gorgeous.

In the blue mountains next to the 3 sisters is a small park with, I think 3 japanese maples. 2 are normal palmatums but the other one close to the shops is I think..an osakazuki. It has much larger leaves and has that distinctive amoneum shape. Does anyone know the area I am talking about? do you think it is this cultivar?

I am planning a winter stealth mission to take some cuttings.

Does anyone know of other large osakazukis up that way? Need a plan b

I grow hundreds of acer palmatum from seed each year, and I can tell you that Osakazuki is very faithful in having offspring that are almost identical to the parent. I always have amazing color on all of the Osakazuki seedlings. They are also much faster growing than other types for me. So perhaps a viable alternative to cuttings is just collecting seed?

Wouldn't it be easier to source your plant from a nursery. Surely they would be able to get one for you?
Cheers RodM

Yes buying it would be easier, but not as fun as driving to katoomba in blackness and stealthily taking cuttings from a tree

But the main reason is...the mrs wont let me

I find Japanese maples difficult to grow from cuttings. I can usually get a few to grow roots but then most gradually die off in the months after potting up. Seed, layers or grafting has been best propagation for me.
There's plenty of seed on my osakasuki in the garden this year if you'd like to try some seedlings as rodeothr tells us most will have similar attributes.

Shibui I thought the same but there was one tree near me I took about 5 cuttings and two rooted back in september and are now growing ferociously. I used that red gel hormone from bunnings. It took me about three years to get everything right to make it work. Perlite, sand and potting soil was my mixture in a quite randome ratio.

I did not use any greenhouse etc as the winters here are warmer. They were out in the open getting about 4 hours of winter sun a day.

My first attempts years ago I used greenhouses based off info from people living in freezing northern american states, I figured I simply dont need that here. Rarely sub zero, and no snow. No real need to be so picky on protecting. I find the thickness of the cutting to be quite important too, the thinner ones did not root.

Though that was a standard palmatum. I tried sango kaku cuttings, and graftings with zero success.

Also I did actually try osakazuki seeds from ebay 2 years ago. The only one which sprouted did have a very similar leaf shape, but it died when I went on holiday. Neighbour thought it was a good idea to keep it drenched in a bowl of water