On Sat, 17 May 2014 11:11:26 +0100, Bob Hobden wrote:

've often wondered what would happen if you grafted a Japanese Maple
onto a Sycamore rootstock, would you get a quick and eventually large
growing Japanese Maple? Basically the reverse of the use of most tree
rootstock which are to dwarf the tree.

Sycamore is called "universal rootstock" for maples (in general), but
what this means is that it works everywhere, once in a while, and badly.
Normally maples are only grafted to species within the same section, but
I have a few obscure ones grafted onto sycamo they basically stay
sickly for years before getting their feet under them. So even if you
got it to take, I don't think you'd get a strong growing plant.

The "dirty little secret" that Japanese Maple producers don't tell you is
that the understock is all seed grown, and (aside from red/green, and
then only sometimes) no attempt is made to pick rootstock that matches
the plant. So you might buy what's ostensibly a large growing cultivar
only to find it inching along because the stock was on its way to
becoming a dwarf. Or a "hardy cultivar" where the base freezes and kills
the plant, even though the top is fine. Plus a lot of the rootstock is
already sick, so the plants are doomed anyway. IMHO this issue is the
main reason many people have such trouble with them.

I'm waiting for someone to introduce tissue cultured stock, but it hasn't
happened yet. Seed is too easy and cheap.

-E

--
Gardening in Lower Normandy