"Jean B." wrote in message
...
I am pleased to see my Japanese maple cutting, perhaps three weeks old,
still looks good. How long should I wait until I consider it a success?
Six weeks? If I am so lucky (this would be a first), how do I transplant
it from the medium I have it in (ca 50-50 sand and peat) without damaging
its roots?

If this actually does succeed, I will try a few more cuttings from my
beloved plants. I tried some last year but didn't read up on it first.
This year, I have changed the medium, cut some of the leaves in half, and
put the potted cutting in a plastic bag to conserve moisture. My first
attempts ended up covered with mold. This one looks fine--no mold, and
the leaves look fresh and strong.
--
Jean B.

Lots of luck! I tried taking cuttings from a Japanese maple (Bloodgood)
three years in a row with zero success. The cuttings remained looking good
for three months but failed to root. Finally they obviously died. BTW, I use
deep six packs in a peat moss/sand mixture for all cuttings and wait until
roots start appearing through the bottom of the six pack before potting in
ProMix.

Since then I've been advised to start Japanese maples by layering and was
also told that it takes two years for the layered branches to root. I
layered a number of branches a year ago this spring, and a couple that I
check this spring had not rooted. I'm hoping for better luck by next spring.

A couple who raise Japanese maples for the wholesale trade in our area told
our gardening group this past spring that all their maples are started from
collected seeds and that most are true to the parent plant. At the moment I
have a half dozen potted seedlings that sprouted around the base of one of
the trees.

JPS