AusBonsai

greg27 wrote: ↑April 29th, 2020, 7:44 pm Is now a good time to plant maple seeds? I've collected some Japanese and trident maple seeds to experiment with but wasn't going to plant them until June-ish.

They usually start falling from the tree after first frost depending on type. Some refrigerate others will just plant out for natural cold stratification over winter without letting them dry out.

Shibui would certainly have more experience on this.. I'm only new to cold climate trees coming from Qld.

TimS wrote: ↑April 29th, 2020, 7:40 pm I never bothered grafting any of them, mainly because i generally dislike the way an obvious graft detracts from the bonsai. No reason why you shouldn't give it a crack though. I used to have a grafted wisteria with the only indication it was a graft being a very subtle line low down on the trunk. It will make a fantastic bonsai in time for whomsoever it was that purchased it when i sold them off to make space for other projects.

I do have a non-grafted weeper in my garden that's the thickness of a whiteboard maker at the moment. It's got red leaves and seems happy for the moment so as Shibui noted, some do work longer term.

Interesting re the reversion that you don't see it and i got so much of it. Doesn't really matter since they're pretty much all dead now!

I'm Def feelin ya re time/energy and expectations on lost trees over the years... I think i'm on my 6th Bonsai "Start all over" Event.
Eeeek!! The trees just wont let me go!

greg27 wrote: ↑April 29th, 2020, 7:44 pm Is now a good time to plant maple seeds? I've collected some Japanese and trident maple seeds to experiment with but wasn't going to plant them until June-ish.

I normally get mine into the fridge around mid June and plant them out around 12 weeks later.

Is now a good time to plant maple seeds? I've collected some Japanese and trident maple seeds to experiment with but wasn't going to plant them until June-ish.

Storing for a couple of months will not affect the viability so June or July would be fine to sow. They can also be sown now and left to nature. That seems to work for the trees and they have been doing it for millions of years. Make sure your seed trays are protected from rodents. Any rats or mice in your area will be sure to find any accessible seeds and they will all disappear before spring.

I normally get mine into the fridge around mid June and plant them out around 12 weeks later.

I have not grown maple seed in warmer climes but fridge is certainly not needed in this area. Stratification may help with older, stored seed but my experience has been mouldy seed when I tried fridge stratification. I hear that disinfecting with bleach or peroxide helps reduce mould on seed.

My experiments with grafting have not really been aimed at bonsai because grafts are usually so obvious. Grafting is just to give the seedlings a chance to survive long enough to assess the characteristics and see if it might be a viable landscape type. I have also been trying different grafts to see if I can find a satisfactory method and location where grafts will not be obvious for bonsai. That would allow us to grow some of the varieties that are so hard to propagate on their own roots.

shibui wrote:

Is now a good time to plant maple seeds? I've collected some Japanese and trident maple seeds to experiment with but wasn't going to plant them until June-ish.

Storing for a couple of months will not affect the viability so June or July would be fine to sow. They can also be sown now and left to nature. That seems to work for the trees and they have been doing it for millions of years.

I just planted a heap I got from you last year. Heaps of Tridents already well germinated.


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Remembered to take a photo of my weeper on its own roots for you, pretty average photo but you get the idea. It would be about 1m high at the moment.

I don't know why this one does so well not being grafted

They are certainly an oddity.

Yours must be in the goldilocks zone.

There are a few others around. I think Alpine art has one over there. A friend in Canberra has had a group of seedlings as bonsai for around 10 years. I think I mentioned that one survived in a larger pot here for around 18 years before finally dying last summer.
Best of luck for those who do manage to grow some and to those who try. Just need to be aware that surviving dissectums are the exception rather than the rule.