AusBonsai

I'm looking to buy some maple seeds and figured now would be a good time to buy so I can stratify them over the winter. What I'm looking for is a maple with nice leaf shape (preferably small), and with brilliant, vibrant colours in Autumn.

Does anyone have the name of a good online seller where I can buy seeds from?

Cheers,
Nathan

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Hi mate...have you looked around gardens or parks in your area? the seeds will be ready on them very soon, as soon as the leaves drop there will be thousands on the trees just remember seeds will be different from the parent, if you want the same you'll have to get cuttings or layer, a layer would be the best, then you cut out the hassle of scarification and stratification and you'll have a plant that will be able to give you colour this time next year hopefully

Shibui is just about to collect seed from the trees in our garden - Trident maple, Japanese maples, Snake bark maple, Chinese elm.
It will all be fresh seed, unlike most seed suppliers, and should germinate really well.

Let me know if any of these are the ones you want.

What I'm looking for is a maple with nice leaf shape (preferably small), and with brilliant, vibrant colours in Autumn.

I hope you realise that plants grown from seed will all have a unique set of genes inherited from both mother and father so traits will vary from the parent (mother) tree. Growing from seed is a lottery. Sometimes you're lucky, other times you get a dud. Unlike the lottery you usually get a tree for your investment though.

Hazelbrook! You are literally in japanese maple heaven.

Just go to leura or katoomba and stroll around , there are hundreds and hundreds of japanese maples around the streets and parks. If you want more unique leaf shapes go to mt wilson. There are some awesome korean maples and japonicums, shirawsawanums. At mt wilson there are japanese maple seedlings growing like weeds. They are everywhere!

Neal, I'm interested in some snake-bark maple seeds, if that's possible.

Gavin

itsfullofstars wrote:Hazelbrook! You are literally in japanese maple heaven.

I picked these of my mother-in-law's maple tree this afternoon. Being straight off the tree, I imagine these are as fresh as they come, right?

Could anyone suggest the best (read: most successful) stratification process they've used.

Nathan



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Best stratification for fresh maple seed is to sow them and put the pot outside in the elements for the winter. That's what I do here and it works very well. You should get really good germination as the weather starts to warm up in spring.

Stratification may be needed in warmer areas but I have found that stratifying seed in the fridge is just as likely to produce mouldy seed than seedlings.

Getting older, stored maple seed to germinate can be much more difficult but fresh off the tree they grow without any trouble.

Good luck.

shibui wrote:Best stratification for fresh maple seed is to sow them and put the pot outside in the elements for the winter. That's what I do here and it works very well. You should get really good germination as the weather starts to warm up in spring.

Thanks for the advice, shibui.

If I've picked them straight off the tree, is there any chance I've picked last year's seed? These should be as fresh as I would want, right?

Nathan.



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Yep you will have a very similar winter climate to shibui. Hazelbrook is 600+ m elevation so gets properly cold winters.

I generally have to stratify seeds in the fridge (and yes mould is always a problem) being in the Penrith area as it doesn't quite get cold enough for long enough. With that said, i have had some germinate after being planted straight in the ground. Japanese maple seed that is.

Fresh seed germinates readily in my climate on the mid north coast, only about 6 ks off the coast. I haven't seen a big frost here for 10 years. And there was frost in the sand dunes that morning south of here. Otherwise only light frosts on open paddocks. Nothing on my place.

I sowed Japanese maple a few years ago. I stratified half and sowed the other direct. Germination rates were identical.
Tridents actually germinated and grew better when direct sown.

Maple seed sometimes hangs on the trees through winter into spring but by the end of summer they have all fallen off or blown away so anything you pick in autumn will be fresh seed.
It is good to see others finding that stratification is not needed for fresh maple seed, even in frost free areas.

Just grabbed a few seeds from a friend's Japanese (i think) maple. Will sow them and see how we go.

Any tips for sowing? Peel off the paper wings? Soak first? Or just throw them in?

You can just throw them in and cover with a thin layer of potting mix. That's sort of what happens naturally but I find that the wings make it a bit harder to cover the seed properly so I usually take a handful and rub them between the palms to break off the wings a bit. Doesn't matter if some wings and bits of wing are still attached the seeds will will sit a bit flatter on the potting mix after a quick rub and are easier to cover over.
General advice is to cover seed to about twice the thickness of the seed but they'll still come up from deeper down. They will also germinate with less cover but with no weight on the seed as the radicle (first root) grows the seed tends to move so the root tip cannot penetrate into the soil and they will usually dry out during the day and may die so best to give them some mix over the top to push against.

Thanks Shibui, I like the "natural" method so will try it out!

Following along on this thread as I am also trying the natural method. My neighbors Japanese Maple is covered in seed so decided to give it a go also collected some Trident Maple seeds from the Japanese Gardens here in Adelaide.
Darren