Well generally speaking most JMs do well in pots. However, some of the upright fast growing varieties such as 'bloodgood' or 'sango kaku' or 'seiryu' probably wouldn't do nearly as well as some of the dwarfs and weeping cultivars.

I would personally go after something like 'shishigashira' or 'mikawa yatsubusa' or 'goshiki kotohime' or 'kamagata' or something to that nature since they all grow slow, stay fairly small, and have a great potted appeal IMO.

Thanks for your advise Matt. I will print your reply out and bring it to my local nursery. However, How soon before I would have to re-pot the Tam and also the other varieties you suggested?

Also, what size pots would be good? If I start out with a 7inch at the nursery, would a 12 inche be good to put it in when I get it home, like we did with the Tam.

Stacey Again!

True what mattlwfowler said... I've got seiryu and sango-kaku growing in a pot, and they suffer from leave scorch during the summer months.

However, because seiryu is red in autumn, you can't possibly tell the leaf scorch unless close-up.

It's best to shade cover them during the heat.

Avoid black pots as they absorb heat. And you need to water regularly in the morning.

Pots tend to get tip over during windy condition and break the branches...so it's better to tie it on a pole.

The other thing to be aware is ants... my seiryu looked very graceful when I first bought it but those ants nearly destroy it.

What I do notice is, potted maples tend to grow slim and tall, instead of wide. So if you want a fast growing maple, repot it every year with a bigger pot. Otherwise leave it as it is until the roots become root bounded.

This is my sango-kaku... I got this tree for about 3 years now. This year's autumn color was disappointing because of leave scorch due to extreme heat. Also some nice branches broke because of windy condition.

Planning to transplant it this coming winter. Notice the difference in 3 years time:

{{gwi:1039865}}

{{gwi:1036289}}

BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS!!!!! Can I ask you what size pot they are and what size tree it was when you purchased it! Anymore advise on the ants. We dont have many here but just in case.

Also, is the top photo, (redleaf)the same as the one down below it?

Thanks.

What kind of JM is the photo on the bottom, the really green one. Its stunning. also I live in MASS... where are you living? I just want to make sure that it is suitable for our climate.

The question also is, where can I fine a Mikawa Yatsubusa?

I need help on this too, planting in pots? my daughter brought me a Sieryu for mother's day and I need all the help I can get from any of you on keeping this beauty a live. it is 30" tall and in a 6" pot, so do I need to go to a larger pot and also it is leaning, do I stake it? does it needs to be water everyday or what? this is a really pretty tree and I want to keep it that way. thanks bev44

staceybeth -

The first photo is seiryu.
The 2 photos below are sango-kaku. The Golden-leave colour photo was taken this year. The last photo was taken when I first got sango kaku about three years ago...amazing how tall this tree has grown. This years autumn color was depressing because of leave scortch. However, last autumn it looked magnificent: bright, well-defined golden leaves in autumn, and red bark in winter.
When I got seiryu - it was about the same height as sangokaku featured in the last photo.

I went to a nursery today, and saw this magnificent weeping maple growing in a pot - Inabe shidhere. Too bad I didn't have a camera with me otherwise I would have taken some photos. Not to worry - I'll go there during the weekend, and post some here. Perhaps you should consider growing a weeping maple instead. I've seen a photo in a magazine of a weeping maple in a large pot...it would be aesthetically apealing.
bev44 -

I'm not a JM expert so I can't comment much here. All I can say from my experience in growing seiryu is it can tolerate full sun better than other JP say sango-kaku. But when the temp gets hot.. it's best to shade cover it to prevent leaf scorch. Seiryu needs some sun - dapple sunlight on its leaves in order for autumn color to show up. I went to a nusery, and saw this tree growing in a pot in a very dark area, and still haven't changed color yet.

I repotted seriyu twice...and it's really back-breaking because the tree gets taller and heavy each year. So my advice is to buy a pot which is large enough that can last for about 4-5 years without re potting. Because I'm renting at the moment - I have to pot my maples on a pot. Otherwise I would plant them on to the ground. They grow better that way.

Seiryu is a straight up-ward tree. It doesn't cascade. There are other varieties that resemble seiryu - the weeping varieties, for example like VIRIDIS.. and people tend to get mix up between the two. I don't stalk mine's unless if yours really young and tender.

During windy condition - put some yellow pages books onto a chair and move it to the pot to prevent the pot tipping over. I had several nice branches broke, which ruin the overall shape of my tree.

Use pot legs for well drainage. I tend to water mines daily in the morning only..unless if its raining or winter.

Overall, seiryu is a really tough tree that I know of.

Hi, thanks for the info. I would love to send you photos but dont know how to on this board. Perhaps you can tell me how. I have a Tam which is in a large pot. I also have a Pixie dwarf which is a baby and is in a very small pot. I dont plan on re-potting the Tam for a while, but the Pixie I may re-pot next spring. If the rain holds out, I will fertilize this afternoon.

When you all talk about "proper drainage".. I am assuming when potting a JM in a large pot, to put some kind of stone at the bottom of the pot before the soil? That is what I did with my Tam, but not with my Pixie because the Pixie is in a small 12 inch pot.

staceybeth -

2 ways to post your photos:

First Method:

a) Click on "PHOTO GALLERIES" on top of this website - which is beside "FORUM" and "ASK THE EXPERT"

b) Then, click on "SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS" and follow the instructions.

c) after placing all your photos in the PHOTO GALLERY, copy the website address.. that is where your photo is located, and return to this forum and reply back to this post. WHen you reply back to this post, underneath the MESSAGE BOX there is "OPTIONAL LINK URL"... that's where you paste the website address.
Under "NAME of the LINK"... just type "My JP maple"

And that's IT!!!

------------------------------------------------

Method 2.

Post all your photos in www.photobucket.com..
It's free and you need to register it. Follow the instruction.

2)once you load your photos into photobucket - just highlight/ touch the "IMG Code" ... by touching the img code, you have copied its address.

3) Return back here. In the MESSAGE BOX, type:

[IMG]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t71/tangles07/DSC02658.jpg[/IMG]"

Now remove [IMG] and [/IMG] and put > at the end.

ie:

the SRC=http://.......etc needs to stick together.

(REMEMBER TO PUT SRC... and not SC...or SCR...I deliberately got rid of R because I don't want to place photo...

Also

thanks Jumbojimmy, I have repoted my sieryu in a larger pot and it is looking great so maybe it likes it. hope so. thanks again bev44