Worth knowing:
Due to its delicate shape with semicircular crown, the Red Japanese Maple is a popular small tree that best comes to shine as a solitary plant or in combination with low woody plants. The word palmatum in its botanical name comes from the Latin word palma, which means palm of the hand, and points to the finger-like slotted leaves that change their dark red colour into a bright carmine red during autumn. Close to the winter season the tree will cast the leaves.
Natural Location:
The Red Japanese Maple has its natural habitat in Northeast China, Japan and Korea, where it often grows in shady forests. In Japan it is being cultivated as ornamental tree and as bonsai.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. To increase the germinability, you should initially keep the seeds in the refrigerator for about a week - then place them for 12 to 24 hours in a bowl with lukewarm water for priming. After that, plant the seeds about 1 cm deep into moist potting compost and cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 17°C and 23° Celsius and keep the earth moist, but not wet. Usually it takes two to three weeks until germination. The first seedlings will come up after four to ten weeks.
Place:
The small tree prefers a sunny or half-shaded and wind-protected place with soil that is free of water logging.
Care:
The Red Japanese Maple is a shallow rooted tree that grows strong roots in the topsoil and develops many smaller fine roots. Therefore, it needs consistently plenty of water. Tub plants also need sufficient watering during winter. From April to October you may give fluid fertilizer for tub plants every four weeks.
During the winter:
Younger plants can be slightly sensitive to frost and should be protected after leaf abscission by earthing up or by putting a layer of brush-wood on the soil around the stem. The container of tub plants should be properly insulated ahead of the winter season. After a few years, the Red Japanese Maple will become fully frost-resistant.
Picture credits:
- © © Heng Wang - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Tangopaso - Public domain - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
- © Jean-Pol GRANDMONT - CC-BY-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
- © Stefano Bolognini - Attribution -
- © Jolanta Dyr - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Heng Wang - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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