Acer palmatum arakawa (from a small air layered branch)

[clem]

hello, a new JM cultivar : arakawa. I like this cultivar because of the very decorative bark. i dunno yet if it is easy or not to grow for Bonsai.

I bought a young arakawa grafted on a JM i January 2024 ->



In spring, I transpotted it in akadama ->



I also put a tourniquet on a small branch (with a curve) in spring, in order to air layer it (to get a 100% arakawa maple, from the roots to the branches) ->




At the end of May, the branch is still alive but the tourniquet struggles it so much that it is dehydrated ->



Fortunatly, it decided to grow in August ->


The branche under the airlayer is dead ->


so i cut it to separate the air layer and repotted it in a terracotta pot (for better growth until next spring) ->







Next spring, i will repot it in a flat and larger wood box, to get a good growth. This cultivar seems to grow generously.


To be continued ....

 

[Maros]

Another interesting project is in the pipeline. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find such a nursery Arakawa around my area. One nursery offered me to import one on custom order but the price seemed ridiculous to me.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Awkward is a great cultivar, especially on its own roots. Be prepared to work with long internodes and petioles.

 

[clem]

Another interesting project is in the pipeline. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find such a nursery Arakawa around my area. One nursery offered me to import one on custom order but the price seemed ridiculous to me.

I bought my grafted arakawa on "Maillot Erables" (38€ + shipping) : https://www.maillot-erable.com/en/boutique/37_acer-palmatum/145_arakawa

If you still want to buy one, maybe you could send a private message to Guy Maillot on his FB page ? (to see if he can ship to Slovakia and the shipping cost)

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I also bought a young seigen grafted on JM in June (which is difficult to find in my experience) on his nursery but it is already out of stock now. i'll open a thread for it when i air layer it next year ->

 

[clem]

Awkward is a great cultivar, especially on its own roots. Be prepared to work with long internodes and petioles.
View attachment 563974

Very nice tree and awesome bark.. How old is your tree ? and how long does it take to get a rough bark on this cultivar ?

I have some cultivation infos from a Japanese pro : Hideki Fuse. He advises to avoid complete defoliation so as not to lose branches.
And he also advises to keep the soil always wet (not only humid but really wet) to avoid losing branches too...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Very nice tree and awesome bark.. How old is your tree ? and how long does it take to get a rough bark on this cultivar ?

I have some cultivation infos from a Japanese pro : Hideki Fuse. He advises to avoid complete defoliation so as not to lose branches.
And he also advises to keep the soil always wet (not only humid but really wet) to avoid losing branches too...

Thanks, I started this one as an air-layer around 2012, and have thread grafted most every branch. Bark fully covers the branches at around 5 years. I partially defoliate it, but never fully defoliate. The roots grow slowly, and take up water slower than other JM, so it seems to stay on the wet side. This means I’m always pulling moss off the bark, but the bark is more persistent than pines or Chinese elms.

Thread 'Japanese Maple, 'arakawa''

Feb 26, 2011

Here is a stock plant I bought in fall '08, worked down the roots pretty hard in spring '09, and stuck it into a big wooden box and forgot about it for a couple years, except to layer a couple branches out of it.

Yesterday I noticed it was pushing growth pretty hard, so I decided to repot it and work down the roots again. Thought I'd share the progression from a 24" square box to about a 14" mica oval. It still needs a lot of nebari work, but it's headed in the right direction.

• Brian Van Fleet
• arakawa bvf japanese maple progression
• Replies: 107
• Forum: Maples

• 

 

[leatherback]

Another interesting project is in the pipeline. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find such a nursery Arakawa around my area. One nursery offered me to import one on custom order but the price seemed ridiculous to me.

what size are you after?

 

[Dabbler]

Pretty cool - I love this species of J maple

 

[Maros]

what size are you after?

I was looking for something like 1m high specimen with a few long branches so I can take 2-3 airlayers or/and few cuttings. I think the offered me much smaller tree for like 150€ so I politely declined.

 

[leatherback]

I was looking for something like 1m high specimen with a few long branches so I can take 2-3 airlayers or/and few cuttings. I think the offered me much smaller tree for like 150€ so I politely declined.

OK; was asking because I rooted Arakawa cuttings over winter. But cuttings rooted over last winter would not be something for you size-wise.