Hi to all.
I stumbled across this site whilst surfing for some info on bonsai. I joined because it appears a really friendly site. Now I have no bonsai trees at the moment but the missus sez she will buy me one for my birthday if I am a good boy lol. I am seriously going to grow a few for myself. I have a collection of Japanese Maples (21 in all ) and I would like to start off with a few cuttings from these. I believe that the cuttings should be taken next month and that this is the quicker way to go as opposed to growing from seed. Do I need to start with any special soil or will my usual free draining mixture be OK? Will I need special soil in the future, if so why is it special?
Thanking you all in advance for any answers.
Bob
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Bob,
Hi and welcome to the site. I'm glad to hear that you are not concentrating exclusively on growing from cuttings. Novices often expect to grow bonsai from seed, and cuttings are not a whole lot quicker in that regard, in a few years. This can lead to frustration and possible abandonment of what otherwise might have become a life-long hobby. If you do acquire a more mature tree it takes years off of the process and lets you actually begin doing bonsai in a much shorter time frame. Cuttings, and seedlings, take years of simply 'growing out' before much in the way of bonsai can be accomplished. This is not to say that there are not advantages to starting with young material, most notably the establishment of a good root structure.
Ok, enough philosophy, on to your specific questions. Japanese Maples can be difficult to root from cuttings, this seems to be dependent upon the specific cultivar in question. I have tried in the past and the only time I had any luck was when I kept the cuttings under glass in order to keep the humidity up. I think you could start now if you want to. I would definitely use rooting hormone as well. If your Maples are big enough consider the possibility of doing some air layers. This will truly cut years from the process.
As far as soil goes, you mention free draining soil, but also say that you have no bonsai, so I wonder what 'free draining' means to you. All too often people who grow in containers use that horrible stuff they call potting soil from garden centers. I have ceased using this for anything, even houseplants. If you have moved past this then you are already ahead of the curve. I usually keep the 'fines' (removing the dust) from my regular mix and use this material for cuttings and seedlings. This material retains more moisture than the coarser material but not excessively so.
Ynot has been kind enough to put together a [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3422&sid=af5cdeeaf3a7590c2da7bb0ef5c001c8]sticky thread[/url] that deals with the subject of soil composition and the reasons behind using such soils. Actually 'soil' is a misnomer as there is rarely any actual soil as such in most bonsai mediums.
Norm
Hi and welcome to the site. I'm glad to hear that you are not concentrating exclusively on growing from cuttings. Novices often expect to grow bonsai from seed, and cuttings are not a whole lot quicker in that regard, in a few years. This can lead to frustration and possible abandonment of what otherwise might have become a life-long hobby. If you do acquire a more mature tree it takes years off of the process and lets you actually begin doing bonsai in a much shorter time frame. Cuttings, and seedlings, take years of simply 'growing out' before much in the way of bonsai can be accomplished. This is not to say that there are not advantages to starting with young material, most notably the establishment of a good root structure.
Ok, enough philosophy, on to your specific questions. Japanese Maples can be difficult to root from cuttings, this seems to be dependent upon the specific cultivar in question. I have tried in the past and the only time I had any luck was when I kept the cuttings under glass in order to keep the humidity up. I think you could start now if you want to. I would definitely use rooting hormone as well. If your Maples are big enough consider the possibility of doing some air layers. This will truly cut years from the process.
As far as soil goes, you mention free draining soil, but also say that you have no bonsai, so I wonder what 'free draining' means to you. All too often people who grow in containers use that horrible stuff they call potting soil from garden centers. I have ceased using this for anything, even houseplants. If you have moved past this then you are already ahead of the curve. I usually keep the 'fines' (removing the dust) from my regular mix and use this material for cuttings and seedlings. This material retains more moisture than the coarser material but not excessively so.
Ynot has been kind enough to put together a [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3422&sid=af5cdeeaf3a7590c2da7bb0ef5c001c8]sticky thread[/url] that deals with the subject of soil composition and the reasons behind using such soils. Actually 'soil' is a misnomer as there is rarely any actual soil as such in most bonsai mediums.
Norm