Propagation

of Acer palmatum Cultivars

at J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co.

Guy E. Meacham
J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co.
http://www.jfschmidt.com
guym@jfschmidt.com
 Methods of propagation:

There are countless ways of propagating Japanese

Maples.

While grafting is probably the most common method.

Field budding & even softwood cutting propagation is
possible.

This talk focuses on the method we use at J. Frank

Schmidt & Son – Summer Veneer Bench Grafting
 Rootstocks

We produce our own

rootstocks from seed that
we pick locally.

We pick the seed during the

months of September &
October just as it is
beginning to turn from green
to brown.
 Seed Picking
Why we pick our own seed

Seed picking doesn’t save us much money over buying seed

but it gives us much better control over how the seed is
stored & treated from picking to sowing.
We can often pick
over half a million
seeds off a good Acer
palmatum tree.
(No, we don’t count them all!)

We prefer to pick
seed from the “Small
Leaved Green”
seedling strain.
 Storage & Stratification
After picking, the seed is allowed to dry in a cool barn. It is
then stored dry at about 34F until December or January. It is
then stratified with an equal volume of moist peat at about 34F
for a further 10 – 12 weeks.
The stratified seed is placed in gallon zip lock containers and
then re-stored in our seed cooler until sowing time.

In mid March the seed is ready for sowing. To check

readiness we remove a bag from the cooler and leave it in
a warm place. If it’s ready for sowing the seed will “chit”
within 2 to 3 days.

The most important thing during the stratification process is

the moisture level. Too wet & the seed will rot, too dry & it
will not stratify correctly.
 Seed Sowing..
Seed is sown individually by hand. One seed is placed each
plug of a 73 cell plug tray. The plug trays are then covered
with 100% perlite and set out in an unheated greenhouse.

We use a 75% fine fir bark compost with 50% 3-4 month
Osmocote Plus fertilizer incorporated into the mix

The seedlings begin to emerge in 7 - 10 days, the seedlings

remain in these plug trays for the entire growing season.

This is about the most expensive method of seedling growing

that we can come up with! However this method produces
what is for our use, a perfect rootstock, straight, vigorous and
free of disease.
Acer palmatum seedlings growing in 73 cell plug trays.
Root system at 4 months.
 What Next?
During the winter months these plug flats of seedlings are
graded and any required root pruning is done prior to
potting up into liner pots. By July, we have a 15 month old
rootstock that is ready for summer grafting.
 Grafting
Japanese Maples have some of the largest propagation
windows of any plant. By altering the greenhouse
environment they can be grafted in just about any month of
the year.

All of the following methods and countless variations of them

are used by Oregon nurseries to graft Japanese Maples.

Jan – Feb Veneer grafting in heated greenhouses

Dec – Feb Callus tube grafting of bare root seedlings.
March – May Veneer grafting in unheated greenhouses.
June – July Veneer grafting under poly tents.
July – Sept Veneer grafting in open greenhouses.
Sept – Oct Veneer grafting in heated greenhouses.
Sept – Oct Veneer grafting under poly tents.
 So which method should you use?
That will depend on many things:
What else are you propagating? Your other crops may have
smaller “propagation windows”. Perhaps you will have to graft
your maples at a less desirable time that better fits with the rest of
your crops.
What about your labor curve? Are your grafters also your B&B
diggers or your shipping crew. If so, this would make spring
grafting very difficult.

How much scion wood do you have? Most nurseries prefer to

summer graft their Japanese Maples but this requires more stock
plant or scion wood material, as a lot of the wood is too soft to use.
You may have to spring graft just to make better use of your
available scion wood.
 What do we do at JFS?
We Summer Graft in August and September

It fits into our labor curve. In the spring we have too many
other plants that have to be grafted, and in June and July we
are busy making cuttings.

If we notice a problem with a particular cultivar we have time to

re-graft the same root stocks in March of the following year and
catch up!

We find that for our setup and greenhouses August and

September give us the best and most reliable results.

Aftercare of summer grafted plants is much easier.

 Rootstock Preparation

Prior to grafting, the

rootstocks are again
graded and prepared for
grafting.

Plants are graded into 2

sizes. We graft the slower
growing dissectum
cultivars on the largest of
our rootstocks & upright
faster growing varieties on
the smaller ones.
Preparing rootstocks for grafting
 Scionwood - Collection
Scion wood is collected from both stock block trees & production
B&B trees.
 Scionwood - Collection
Scion wood must be hardened
off before it can be used. Red
leaved cultivars seem to ripen
before green & variegated
leaved cultivars. In Oregon
some cultivars will not have
useable scion wood until
September.

We feel that trees in our B&B

fields provide better quality
scion wood than stock plants do.

The selection & collection of scion wood is more critical to the

success of the graft than the grafting itself.
Scion wood preparation

All leaves are removed from

the scion wood before it is
grafted.
 Veneer Grafting

A shallow cut is made on the rootstock and both sides of scion.

 Veneer Grafting

We tie our grafts with “Buddy Grafting Tape” and the top of the
graft is sealed with grafting paint to prevent irrigation water
running down into the graft.
 Tying – Buddy Tape

Buddy Tape does not have

to be tied as it sticks to
itself and also bio-degrades
in sunlight.

N.B. It does not biodegrade

inside a greenhouse but if
tied correctly will not girdle
the graft.
 Graft Tying.

Adapted sewing machine motors

are used to help with the tying
operation.

A sewing machine motor is

mounted through the table and
controlled with a foot pedal. This
spins the custom made pot holder
that is attached to its top.

This saves the grafter from the

repetitive motion of manually tying
the grafts.
 Graft Tying
The cut scion and rootstock are held together between the thumb
& forefinger. The tape is wrapped around once by hand then the
foot pedal is pressed, spinning the plant while holding the Buddy
Tape in place.

[Note to self – to start movie click & cross fingers]

 New grafts.

Newly grafted liners heading back to the greenhouse

at the end of the day.
Our Summer grafted Aftercare
maples require little
aftercare.

They are returned to an

open environment
greenhouse and overhead
irrigated just as they were
before grafting.
‘Tamukeyama’

In late October new

rootstock growth is removed
to allow enough light and
air circulation to reach the
scions.

‘Bloodgood’
Summer grafted liners going dormant in October
 Aftercare - Continued

The following Spring the

grafted plants are graded in
February or early March
just as the buds are
beginning to swell. At this
time 50% of the remaining
rootstock above the graft is
removed. ‘Shindeshojo’
 Aftercare - Continued

The final grading & heading

back is done in April after the
newly grafted scion has
leafed out.

In May the plants are moved

to a shade house and
hardened off. By the end of
May they are ready for
planting out in our field whip
beds.

‘Seiryu’
 Planting

All our grafts are planted out in “Whip Beds” for 2 or 3 years, spacing
varies depending on the cultivar. They are harvested bareroot from these
beds then either sold, potted up into containers, or transplanted into
B&B fields for a further 3 to 4 years.
 Thank You
Guy E. Meacham | J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. | guym@jfschmidt.com