Japanese maple seeds

ohiogrown

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Where is the best place to get Japanese maple seeds? I know they don’t come true to the parent tree but they should have close traits right?
 

M. Frary

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Try Sheffield seed company. I just checked and they have them.
A bunch of different kinds.
 

ohiogrown

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Try Sheffield seed company. I just checked and they have them.
A bunch of different kinds.
Thank you! Yes that’s kinda where I was looking. I was trying to see if I had any other options. I’d even buy some from members trees if the had any. I’d like to have seeds or even better rooted cuttings. Id really like from these cultivars:
Deshojo
Seigen
Kashima
But really anything would be great. I’ll order from Sheffields if I don’t find any other options.
 

Melospiza

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You really cannot expect to grow specific cultivars from seed. They will just turn out to be the 'wild type' species, which is actually a pretty good bonsai candidate (faster growth, small leaves, nice fall colours). I don't think seeds from a cultivar will look anything like it, and anyone who sells you such seeds is ripping you off.
 

ohiogrown

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You really cannot expect to grow specific cultivars from seed. They will just turn out to be the 'wild type' species, which is actually a pretty good bonsai candidate (faster growth, small leaves, nice fall colours). I don't think seeds from a cultivar will look anything like it, and anyone who sells you such seeds is ripping you off.

As I said in the first post I know they don’t come exactly true to the parent tree. That’s only achieved by cloning/cuttings. Just as I’m sure you have some of the same traits as your parents ,so will seedlings. Some more then others. Just look at Arakawa seedlings for example, a lot of those seedlings will grow rough bark. So when I was asking for seeds from specific cultivars it’s because I want seeds that have some traits of those trees. Basically I want to grow lots of Japanese maples without draining my bank account paying for cuttings.
 

erb.75

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in the Facebook group 99cent bonsai, there are JM seedlings and seeds for reasonable prices from kyle w.

I got some seeds from him this year and they looked good
 

Melospiza

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As I said in the first post I know they don’t come exactly true to the parent tree. That’s only achieved by cloning/cuttings. Just as I’m sure you have some of the same traits as your parents ,so will seedlings. Some more then others. Just look at Arakawa seedlings for example, a lot of those seedlings will grow rough bark. So when I was asking for seeds from specific cultivars it’s because I want seeds that have some traits of those trees. Basically I want to grow lots of Japanese maples without draining my bank account paying for cuttings.
I agree; I just meant that it's a gamble, and I am annoyed at online sellers mainly target people who don't know this.
 

ohiogrown

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I agree; I just meant that it's a gamble, and I am annoyed at online sellers mainly target people who don't know this.
Lol yes I know what you mean. About like the blue Japanese maples they have sold a ton of on eBay. Another annoying thing some of them do is tell people they can keep a non tropical tree inside.
 
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My 2 cents-

If your goal is many trees, I would spend some extra money at the local nursery and buy a larger tree. Then take air layers to get numerous trees.

Your overall time frame is 6mos to 2years for the air layers based on size.

You will get the exact tree you want, with larger 'trees' in a short time frame.

While you are wandering the nursery, grab some seeds on the trees (now is the perfect time) and you will have a small seed stock to start.

Then once you have a good root stalk, start grafting from the mother tree.

Good luck!
 

ohiogrown

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My 2 cents-

If your goal is many trees, I would spend some extra money at the local nursery and buy a larger tree. Then take air layers to get numerous trees.

Your overall time frame is 6mos to 2years for the air layers based on size.

You will get the exact tree you want, with larger 'trees' in a short time frame.

While you are wandering the nursery, grab some seeds on the trees (now is the perfect time) and you will have a small seed stock to start.

Then once you have a good root stalk, start grafting from the mother tree.

Good luck!
Thanks goat! I like the way you think! I may just give that a go! Great idea!
 

ohiogrown

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My 2 cents-

If your goal is many trees, I would spend some extra money at the local nursery and buy a larger tree. Then take air layers to get numerous trees.

Your overall time frame is 6mos to 2years for the air layers based on size.

You will get the exact tree you want, with larger 'trees' in a short time frame.

While you are wandering the nursery, grab some seeds on the trees (now is the perfect time) and you will have a small seed stock to start.

Then once you have a good root stalk, start grafting from the mother tree.

Good luck!
I went to a huge nursery here and they didn’t have any trees out. They probably won’t have any trees out till may. So that kinda sucks cause I would want to start the seeds by then.
 

rockm

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Where is the best place to get Japanese maple seeds? I know they don’t come true to the parent tree but they should have close traits right?

Nope. Not true at all, especially for the more specialized varieties. That's why special cultivars are cloned, not grown from seed. Special varieties are genetic mutations that arise spontaneously. They're unpredictable.

Seeds are not going to give you much of anything special, as they will probably sprout pretty generic Japanese maples--which is fine--unless you're expecting something special.

And FWIW (and this is a pet peeve of mine), air layering a maple is OK, I guess, IF there's something worth airlayering on the tree. That is mostly NOT true of nursery grown Japanese Maples. Sure you can get a dozen "free" smaller trees from a larger one (if your air layering technique is correct, you have six months and the knowledge of when and how to separate the layer, the squirrels don't mess with the layers, it doesn't dry out or get too soggy in spring and summer thunderstorms and you have a few years to get good at air layering--there are a lot of things that can and will go wrong when you first learn how to do this)

The trees that you ultimately wind up with will probably be mostly uninteresting, bean pole trees with not much appeal.

Not trying to really throw a wet blanket here, but many folks just say "you oughtta air layer it. You will get free trees."

Not really accurate and it can be a waste of time.

Air layering should be done because a particular branch has character, movement, or something else that makes it remarkable. Layering to get "free" trees is a waste of time and by spending $20 or so on a bundle of seedlings from a reputable bonsai grower is a lot more effective and rewarding.
https://kaedebonsai-en.com/shop/product-category/pottedestablished_seedlings/
http://www.internationalbonsai.com/page/1442817
 

ohiogrown

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Nope. Not true at all, especially for the more specialized varieties. That's why special cultivars are cloned, not grown from seed. Special varieties are genetic mutations that arise spontaneously. They're unpredictable.

Seeds are not going to give you much of anything special, as they will probably sprout pretty generic Japanese maples--which is fine--unless you're expecting something special.

And FWIW (and this is a pet peeve of mine), air layering a maple is OK, I guess, IF there's something worth airlayering on the tree. That is mostly NOT true of nursery grown Japanese Maples. Sure you can get a dozen "free" smaller trees from a larger one (if your air layering technique is correct, you have six months and the knowledge of when and how to separate the layer, the squirrels don't mess with the layers, it doesn't dry out or get too soggy in spring and summer thunderstorms and you have a few years to get good at air layering--there are a lot of things that can and will go wrong when you first learn how to do this)

The trees that you ultimately wind up with will probably be mostly uninteresting, bean pole trees with not much appeal.

Not trying to really throw a wet blanket here, but many folks just say "you oughtta air layer it. You will get free trees."

Not really accurate and it can be a waste of time.

Air layering should be done because a particular branch has character, movement, or something else that makes it remarkable. Layering to get "free" trees is a waste of time and by spending $20 or so on a bundle of seedlings from a reputable bonsai grower is a lot more effective and rewarding.
https://kaedebonsai-en.com/shop/product-category/pottedestablished_seedlings/
http://www.internationalbonsai.com/page/1442817
Thanks for your input! Yeah I actually got a couple In the refrigerator from bill. I got the rough bark Japanese maples. He said those seedlings however do show characteristics Of the tree it came from. I also got about 12 from I think his name is Matt? Those are cuttings I think. So I got a nice start for some things in spring. I hear what your saying about air layers. It’s not just something you do for fun. There’s a lot going against ya on them. I have limited experience. Mine did exactly what you said. Dried up and died. But that was from lack of attention. I grabbed some seeds off a tree on a job site and thought they would take longer to stratify then hey did so here are those. Now the trick for me will be to keep them for at least 60 more days till they can go outside. Lol I’m not sure if that will work out or not.
 

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bonsaidave

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Buy some seeds. Everyone should play with seeds at least once. Worst that can happen is you are out a little money and time. Make a little grow bed outside and plant them in early fall. No reason to make it complicated. Let nature do the hard work for you.

Good luck
 

ohiogrown

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Buy some seeds. Everyone should play with seeds at least once. Worst that can happen is you are out a little money and time. Make a little grow bed outside and plant them in early fall. No reason to make it complicated. Let nature do the hard work for you.

Good luck
I actually got a lot of seeds for this year:
Trident maple
Arakawa jap maple
Jap red pine
Jap larch
Jap camellia
Acer monspessilanum
Pinus Armandii Chinese white pine
Wisteria sinensis (Chinese wisteria
Pinus parviflora (Japanese black pine)
Pinus densiflora (jap white pine)
Carpinus tyrczaninowii (Korean hornbeam
Acer ginnala
Prunus subhirtella pendula (winter cherry)
Pinus triloba (flowering plum)
Lagerstroemia indica (Crepe Myrtle)
Acer campestre (field or hedge maple)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweet gum)
And some others I can’t think of. The reason I started this thread was hoping to find a source of Japanese maple seeds that would be good for training for bonsai.
 

bonsaidave

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Ah very well then. I get mine from Sheffield also. ?
 

Jo53ph

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Ah very well then. I get mine from Sheffield also. ?
Hey guys so I ordered a bunch of seeds from Sheffield’s Japanese maple different cultivars. They only had the dry seed in stock on most of the ones I wanted so I’m going to give it a shot . My question is do the dry seeds work ? Also it says on some of them they have to go through a heat process for 120 days then a cold process for 120 days. Can someone please explain the heat process to me also are the dry seeds hood or did I just waste my money some of the crop years were dated back to 2010
 
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