How to Germinate Japanese Maple Seeds | A New Experiment 

Here's the original series: ru-vid.com/group/PLpmpssr45yfOOS-TYl0phuw6MABRVBKPY

Heart breaking but I love that you finished the video BECAUSE it's exactly what some of us go through & shows that even the best go through it too!

Awe wow what a finish. I love how I didn’t see it coming from the title. No click-bait titles just real life. There’s always next year and I look forward to doing it then along with you so don’t forget to do it again. Thank you for this today.

Mike, I think I'll try this method this coming fall. After seeing the critter's destruction, I'm going to add a sheet of 1/4" hardware cloth over mine to protect the seeds and seedlings. We all learn from successes as well as failures, so thanks for another educational video! ~Margie

That was a nice experience, thanks for sharing!!!

Thanks for your total honesty, Mike! Such has been my experience trying to germinate seeds and strike cuttings too, but Number One, that's how you learn... Nature produces seeds in profusion simply because the weather is variable and critters have to feed. I kinda prefer to intervene less. What has struck me is that if a plant is doing well in a particular situation, you need to observe it's microclimate and emulate that as best you can. If you can find what you want in your particular region, you're much more likely to be able to propagate it than trying to acclimatizing something new in from elsewhere. That seems to involve luck more than anything else! 😉

Excellent timing! I was just looking at my maple seed pods and wondering if I could pull it off.

Timely. I just collected a baggie of red maple seeds that were blowing around on the sidewalk at work yesterday. I'm on the other side of the state in the Tri-Cities. Going in soil this weekend. Thanks Mike.

OMG this was amazing! I was so invested in those little seed sprouts! In only about 13 mins I was already rooting (lol) for them so hard. You did Great video story building on this because I was so heartbroken when you told us about the mouse. I also thank you for still publishing this video, because as heartbreaking as watching this was’ you have definitely helped us know what to protect our own plants from. My humorous thought was that maybe catnip being grown around the maple seedlings may be helpful. Lol

Well done , I never did under stand why stratification was a thing when nature does it for you as you found out , I find following what nature does when it comes to seeds makes absolutely sense , even the way a seed falls to the ground and gets planted , take notice , it works , they have tails on those seeds for a reason , for a challenged try planting them vertically with the tails pointing up and the seed buried but the tail visible and see how that goes , this method for me works fantastic with marigolds so I can’t see why this would not work on maple seeds.

Ouch. But don't feel bad. Many years ago a bunch of us moved out to the country and planted a garden. This was in Northern Ontario, Canada. Everything was growing really well but, even though it was June, we got a frost warning. My friend decided to stay up all night burning smudge pots to try and ward off the frost. Worked well. When morning came, feeling quite proud, he went home to bed. Sadly, he didn't quite put out the smudge pot fires and the mulch we had between all of the rows caught fire and burnt the garden completely. I still smile when I think of it. Thanks for all the videos.

That’s the best lesson I had about maple seedlings!

Very interesting video about Japanese maple seeds, when you throw it out, it spins down, I love them, Good job, Mike !😁😁👋🌿🌿

awesome. keep'em coming. thank you

Love that you followed thru despite the outcome. So much respect.

I am so enjoying this! I have a Japanese maple and have never thought of doing this!

I have just had them come up in this spring in flower pots that was close by my Japanese Maple! I’m really excited to see if they will make it ....I would love to plant each one in a individual pot and let them grow big enough to put out in other parts of our yard! 😃🤞🤞🤞

Hey Mike great video as always! I just started to get serious about starting a nursery and the first thing I've got is some Japanese maples! So this video is perfectly timed for what I'm doing! Also really sad that a mouse got into those seeds, but we learn from mistakes, and next time you start seeds I got a good feeling they are going to do great!

Hello Mike .. that is very interesting to see those red maple seeds .. at first glance I thought it's a red leaves bur when after planting they showed pretty tiny plants .. can't wait to see how those beauties to show their full blown Japanese Maple Plant ... I have not seen this kind of plant. Looking forward to your next video of your Japanese Maple Plant .. God Bless .. cheers

Thank you mike, so enjoy your teaching and exploration

I did the fridge method over the winter and got about a dozen sprouts. We got a late freeze early in April and now I only have 2 surviving but happy to have what I do.

Thank you so much for all your help I will do the same this year

Nice video! Thanks

Mike it’s excellent

I have had very great success doing it your way the past 2 years. My problems are the pests that come around, actually the other problem is they started germinating in the fridge waaaaaaay too early. So I may just try letting them do it naturally, I've had good results with other seeds just potting them up in December and letting them wake up with everything else.

one important info that we learned is maple seed will also germinate even without stratification...thanks for this!

Hi Mike I really enjoy you video’s they are really informative, l watched the one about rose cuttings, l have seen many videos about that but yours is the best. So l am trying it out, l tried before with sticking them in potato’s but the cuttings rotted, but the potato’s grew. Thank you for the great videos, cheers from South Africa 🇿🇦

Mike, I guess with your greenhouse/cold frame modifications you are planning some shelves. I'd recommend shelves, grow lights, and heat mats with BN-LINK thermostats and timers. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities... Possibly a green house inside the greenhouse with additional heat besides the lights and heat mats. You will love it.

I appreciate you also sharing your failures! Gives us normal people hope that we are not alone!

Very Important lesson. Thanks Mike. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Hi MIke: I've had the most amazing experience with my JM seeds over the past year...well, 2 years in total. I collected a batch of seeds; popped them into bags in the fridge until they showed roots; had a lot of them germinate; almost lost most of them to mold; managed to get a lot of them back to good health and out in the yard in small pots. When I was potting up the JM babies I didn't use all the soil from the bin they had germinated in but apparently had just put the bin aside after digging around in it for the seedlings. So fast forward a few months and imagine my surprise when I happened to look into the bin to find JM seeds germinating all over the place!!! This is after 2 "winters": one in the fridge and one outdoors in the bin with the lid on all winter! One thing that's very interesting is that the 2 winter seedlings grew much faster and larger than the seedlings from the initial sowing. I'm both delighted and very pleased!! Interesting or what?

I can relate to those kinds of challenges. They happen. I have thought about creating 1/4 inch hardware cloth covers for times I am doing stuff like that. I'm glad you show the failures and figuring out why. It helps us all grow in knowledge.

I have used pretty much the same method for Trident Maples for a couple years now with very good results. The only difference is I put a layer of 1/2” hardware cloth and then a layer of aluminum screen to cover them and the raised planter sits outside all winter. Our North Carolina winters are cold enough for stratification but not cold enough to harm the seedings.

I've done both methods - fridge stratification, and in-soil strat over winter in my little unheated greenhouse. I believe the in-soil strat produced stronger plants, and I DID cover mine because I DO have mice, chipmunks, little red squirrels, and whatever else can dig under the base of my greenhouse - or attack outdoor pots. The one dishpan full of babies is now a year old and wintered-over outside the whole time, under my little redbud tree, mulched with leaves so the critters didn't find them, and they're doing GREAT. I have other seedlings potted in clear plastic 16-oz. Walmart cups, wintered out in my propagation bed, and they're leafing out fine, too. . . . When I went in search of new seeds last fall, there wasn't ONE to be found! We had late freezes last spring, followed by a hot, dry summer, and there were no seeds on the Japanese maples - I go to town to find them, as they're so common everywhere. I won't have any to germinate this spring, but I'll sure be watching to see what seeds develop this summer, and up-potting the babies I do have!

Thanx Mike. Your awesome.

"There's always next year" that's the spirit!

Thanks for the video

Your initial experiment worked. That was enough to help us. We all know things happen. I put out jelly for the Baltimore Orioles and all of a sudden a chipmunk is eating the jelly. LOL. It is fun to watch on my deck. I put a japanese seedling in a small pot and brought it in The house. It started to grow and I was so thrilled but then it died. 😞. Thank you for all your special videos. 🥰

I do this too: I sow seeds in autumn in pots and leave them under the nature's elements in a forest like environment (high humidity, winter freeze). From my experience, about 10% sprout next spring and most of the remaining seeds sprout in the second spring.

Awe! Dang! I did what you said by putting them in the refrigerator over winter. I put them in a small patch under a big cedar tree. I will let you know how they do. Oh, here in Southwest Tn they certainly have not dried out! Rhonda

I really want to try this one day.

Oh! Iam so sorry, about what happened. But wasn't a total loss because I learned a good lesson from that. Do them inside and do the fridge thing. Thank you for you great help and the teaching video.

very nice

I get mine from Yugen Bonsai, I’ve tried Colorado Blue Spruce so far and had luck with it. Japanese maple is my first time working with it

I am actually "experimenting" this way too this year, but I have a bag in the fridge for backup 😂🤣 just in case. I always have success the way you showed us with the bags tho. I'm using dirt from a bag of soil. I think I'll experiment next winter with leaves instead of dirt.

Very cool Mister Mike.

Wow beautiful

Thank you for sharing

I think they are a perfect candidate for winter sowing in milk jugs. They can stay protected until they are about 8" tall.

Interesting!

Oh Man, I'm excited just watching 👀 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

Hi Mike! I'm still sitting here listening to your video. But wanted to let you know that 2 of my Japanese maples that I have in large barrel containers did not make it after the last cold snap we had for a week. Plus 3 of my favorite plants that I've had for 10 yrs plus also died. I sat here for a whole day crying. The other 3 were a hibiscus, about 5' tall, a Japanese firebush that igrew from a small plant in 2003, and a boganvillia that started out as a hanging plant and grew to be in a large barrel planter. Had the last 3 in my greenhouse but just couldn't keep it to the temperature I needed. So many years and they're all gone. I also did an experiment with one of my Japanese maples. I took all the seeds off planted them around the tree in the barrel, covered with soil and then bark mulch. I had one starting to come up it was about a inch tall and then we got a down pour of rain and wind. Broke the baby plant and owits gone. Makes wonder if someone is trying to tell me something.??? I still have some Japanese maple seeds in the refrigerator so may try one more time. Was wondering if you were able to have any luck with the ones I sent you?? Great video by the way and I think I would declare war on said mouse. Strange I've never had that problem, but come late spring I have an abundance of baby lizard eggs in different stages of hatching. Was moving one once and the little bugger opened up in my hand and then took off. Originally I didn't have very many but have them everywhere now. So when it's hot in the summertime I leave the bottoms of flower pot dishes with water for them. Sorry this got so long again but its been a while and enjoy your videos so much. Hope this finds all well with you and family. Best always Rusty

Amazing Mike as always, greetings from Serbia !

“May our failures liberate our successes…” One things for sure, won’t get eaten by Mr. Mouse next time… Thank you very much for doing that experiment. Sorry for that misfortune. I admire your positive attitude through it.

I'm going to try this, I have collected some seeds from a different tree species but it has very similar seeds. And I'm not a fan of those commercial fertilisers, I prefer to just blend some "weeds" and pour that onto the soil.

Hi! Found your channel here while searching how to propagate hydrangea cuttings! I’m so inspired and anxious to get something started! I ordered butterfly bush seeds from Etsy and wondered if this method would work with them? I appreciate any correspondence! :)

Nice work, thank you...would seeds germinate if you planted them in the fall and put in hot house. I suppose they germinate based on ambient temperature, or do they need cold to set?

I have hundreds pop up so far in my first try. Soaked them and drained the water. Left them in fridge for 3 months til they popped. Now we have 3 huge tupperwares full of hundreds of them. Easy!

I put Amur Maple seeds into cactus soil seed edge in only, watered and now outside, covered with a bit of compost and left to the spring weather. Waiting for results. Have even found an oak seed growing in the grass from the winter- so wild keys end up everywhere with out the perfect handling. I’m interested to see what happens. Late freezes happen naturally & you’ ll still get some sprouts.

My yard is filled with these guys and they're trying to sprout everywhere.😅

thanks the tips

How do you make the fine fir bark soil? Can it be bought already mixed? Thanks for your help!

It worked with some big leaf maples out here in Puyallup! Got a couple sprouts when I checked the other day. I'm wondering what medium I should plant them in for the next couple of years before I get them in the ground!

Hello sir, i want ask. The soil must keep How much maximum degrees when seed planting is?

Hi Mike, love ur RU-vid channel. Quick question, my Japanese maple seedlings are getting to big for my tote. What would u advise to protect them from animals & bad weather. I don’t have a green house or a hoop house and we have cats, dogs, birds, squirrels & foxes come into our garden (though not all at the same time 😂). Thanks for any advise.

What kind of white plastic do you use for your hoop houses and is this plastic good for growing all kinds of saplings/shrubs and plants?

Same exact thing happened to me but after the mouse ate a couple I put the container up on a table in the middle of my deck where it was safe. I now have 16 Japanese maple seedlings.

I live in California where it’s almost always warm. Do you think the seeds still need to go through some type of cold weather before planting?

Super!

I have a dwarf weeping Japanese maple and the seedlings just stated falling off now in May. In watching all of your how to germinate Japanese maple series . It seems that you collect them in November and then store them in fridge till April then propagate them. My question is can I propagate the ones that just fell and I collected, or do I store them in fridge till next April to propagate..

i actually love this video. maybe some wire mesh next time i thought you did a great job showing and explaining thanks for that

Hi Mike! Those critters can get through very small spaces, bummer! I have a question for you. I saw a beautiful and unusual Maple tree this spring, collected a couple seeds. Due to our health issues I forgot them. They are dried out now. Will they still germinate?

Donde se consiguen semillas de maple? Cual es el clima ideal para tener un arbolito de maple.

Hi Mike, I had 8 maple seedlings germinate but something has been eating the base of the stems. I haven’t seen any signs of insects. Any ideas what it could be and how to prevent them getting eaten?

Great video MK. Is that a shoe box you used? Can you link to that you used as the container?

what happened to the only red stem that sprouted? I'm interested because this spring in Belgium, I picked up such a shoot and placed it in a pot with a little hormodine. I covered it with a plastic bottle top. even a single small sprout is worth saving, in my opinion.

Great video, sorry about the loss🥴

You are successful because you are not afraid of sharing failures.... 🌸🌺🌼

My dear i was looking seed growing season for burning bush??? can i grow now in pakistan. now days day temperature is warm, night is little cold.

Got a question for you my maple seeds got to wet by the rain my led on my led let water come through and I didn’t know it and it’s molded a little what do I need to do

Do the seeds on japanese maples need to be cold stratified? Maybe I missed it. I have silver maples around me, they flower, make seeds, and drop seeds prior to leaves forming in spring but their seeds will basically germinate the second they hit the ground. For reference, I'm in Virginia, so there's no freeze/thaw after winter for the most part.

Do you think if you lived in a warmer climate, you would recommend the refrigerator method?

Getting some from a friend, so I can give it a go

So I just got some seeds of a tree can I put them in soil now or do I have to wait ?

This may be a dumb question, but I just recently bought a Japanese maple tree this year and next year I thought about taking some cuttings to graft. So can I use any hardwood tree or regular maple tree to graft the cuttings to? Or does it need to only be another Japanese maple?

You said Keep it outside in the winter time, what is the temperature in winter ? In Canada weather is minus 20 to 30 do you think it is too cold for them?

Just a question once they start germinating can you not take them inside?

Hey, when harvasting the seeds from the tree, do you use the seeds that have fallen to the ground or can you use the seeds that are still attached to the tree?

How would that type of tree Grow in Newfoundland Canada ?? were can I get some seeds , been lucky so far with the RED maple and the Green leaf maple trees

I don't feel you led us on at all but educated us as usual!

It’s April of 2022 I noticed my green Japanese maple tree sprouted seeds that look just like this it’s the first year it gives me seeds I’m in central California. When should I take them off the tree to try to germinate them ?

That was so unfortunate! Good lesson for us all to really watch out for those hungry mice who had a feast on your hard work!

Do you have any idea what percent of the seeds germinated? I tried something similar, but just planted one seed in different peat pots. So far one out of 9 has germinated. I still have more seeds in the fridge. I guess if no more germinate over the next week I will start putting more of them in.

Hi Mike, could you tell me what you did with your japanese maple after they germinated to get such a great thick trunk and lots of branches just after a few years. Did you prune the top regularly?

I have to come get 1. I like Japanese Maple trees.

In between the time From November to March do you need to water them ? Thanks

If I keep them in the house what is the right temperature do they need to be at

Some of my seeds that I picked in November is already sprouting out the roots I planted the seeds does that mean they will live or die

Hi Mike I enjoy watching your videos, I live in the uk ,we don’t have Japanese maple trees where you can walk down the road a collect seeds, can I ask do you ever sell your maple seeds?

can you collect and germinate them when they are still green and not yet dried?