First Time JM Grower & Propagator

[Cloudy]

Hello everybody,

It is my first time posting on here and also my first time attempting to care for a japanese maple. About a week ago I purchased some "softwood" Nishiki Orido cuttings from Etsy and have been attempting to get them to root indoors. In total I have 6 cuttings and have finally started to note some budding on one of them. Any tips and if anyone could tell me how far I am into getting a successful propagation that would be greatly appreciated. For anyone wondering I am using Bontone rooting hormone, pearlite as a medium, and plants are receiving in between 1-2 hours of direct sunlight or direct LED 5500k 24/7. My cutting that seems to be doing the best is sitting inside a small closed mason jar along a well lit windowsill. I hope to continue documenting the journey to not only help myself, but other beginners succeed along their journey.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Hello and welcome, I'm guessing these may be more of hardwood cuttings? Please add your location to your profile to let everyone know your approximate location on this earth. Did the cuttings have any roots?

 

[Cloudy]

Thanks for the warm welcome! Yes, they seem to be hardwood cuttings and none of them came with roots. I haven't checked on the roots quite yet, it's only been a week thus far and I don't want to disturb them. Out of all of them, my jarred one seems to be doing the best, it looks like it's starting to bud, so clearly something is going on. The jarred one seems to be the "softest" of the cuttings I got. I don't know much much that matters because so far I've only got a single control plant who doesn't seem to be doing much. I will probably transfer that control plant into a large mason jar and if I can get anything to change. I've heard that sometimes it's a good idea to cut the leaves off of new propagations and although I haven't gotten to stage quite yet, I'm curious to hear any thoughts you might have about that. I've just attached some more images showing the difference in bud growth/activity across the different test I have.

Image 1 & 2 - Jarred propagation (High Humidity & 1-2 Hours of Sun)
Image 3 - Bagged Propagation (Medium Humidity & 1-2 Hours of Sun)
Image 4 & 5 - Open Air Propagation (Medium Humidity [Watered Daily] & 24 Hour LED exposure)

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Right now, no roots, no leaves, so humidity isn't as crucial, just keep the soil moist. After they grow leaves misting multiple times each day and bottom heat will help keep them alive and grow roots. Depending on how many leaves you get, you may not want to cut any as they'll be powering your root growth. You'll likely need to provide some fungal protection, hydrogen peroxide mixed in your spray bottle can help. Otherwise, I'd recommend picking up a tree with roots if you have any extra funds. Best of luck.

Evergreen Gardenworks Catalog: Acer

 

[Piedmont Bonsai]

I don’t have any experience with winter cuttings, but those look kind of tiny. Most images i have seen of JM winter cuttings have been about pencil thickness. From my understanding They callous over winter then put out roots by spring. Did you notice callous on these?
Hopefully they root for you, but you should probably not pay for cuttings without roots in the future.

I can also recommend evergreen gardenworks. Additionally i have a few rooted cuttings from a really nice japanese maple with orange leaves for sale.