Please help me if you can ..

8 years ago

Hello everyone,

I have a question about Japanese maples.

I succesfully started about 15 JM from seed indoors. They are about 3 months old and look great, the problem is I didn't do my research and just learned about the dormant period that they require.

I live in zone 6, and it is December so we have about 3in of snow out.

My question is my trees are 3 months old, should I move the pots outside now and start the dormancy period now or are the to young? Should I just wait it out and plant outside in spring and wait for the first dormancy period to be when they are over a year old ?

My plan is to try both scenarios since I have a decent amount but if I could find someone who knows better, I figured Thad be the way to go.

Featured Answer

meszaros_jon
Original Author

8 years ago

Thank you for the tip, I'm in lower Michigan. . Happy holidays to everyone as well

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

User
8 years ago
Hi,

I'm surprised you haven't received a response so far but it is the Holiday season and everybody has things to do.

Can't help you with your questions but I'm sure someone will be along to help you as time goes on.

Giving the general part of the country you are located in will help anyone to give you more specific information. The USDA zone helps but doesn't specifically cover the many different types of climates that occur in the west to the east of the country.
Related Professionals
Frisco Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Bennington Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Wausau Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Riverside Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Redding Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Rapid City Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Dubuque Landscape Contractors · Lubbock Landscape Contractors · Frederick Architects & Building Designers · Branson Architects & Building Designers · Oxford Architects & Building Designers · Anderson Architects & Building Designers · Rochester Architects & Building Designers · Scranton Architects & Building Designers · El Paso Architects & Building Designers
mblan13
8 years ago
Interesting scenario there. I don't recall reading anything on that. I would say they need a dormant period, but at only 3 months (instead of 9 or so for one that started in the spring) they might be resilient enough.

I'd recommend splitting 50/50 each way, to hedge your bet. At least you would only (theoretically) lose about half.
meszaros_jon
Original Author
8 years ago
I think that's what I'm going to do, I'll try to keep a journal and update this post .. all though it will be a while from now...

My plan is to take 5 and put them out now. There is still about 4 months of winter left. I'll probably repost into larger pots, do one last good watering, wait a day or two and move outside. I will try and shelter them some, maybe bubble wrap the pots and keep them in the screened in porch.

I'll take another 5 and put them outside at the end of Jan. Or middle of Feb. following same procedure above.

The other 5 I'll keep indoors and keep them growing untill next winter, I am thinking about shutting the heat vent In the basement and keeping the lights on for maybe 10 hours a day. The issue with that is the other trees i have (lemon from seed, an olive tree, and Apple tree) may suffer.
toronado_3800
8 years ago
Can you slowly introduce them to freezing temps? Maybe the garage at first, then shed then outside over the course of a month?
lou_spicewood_tx
8 years ago
That's JM? That looks more like Shantung Maple? (I've grown a lot of SM). I probably would start in the garage... not too cold to begin with. (if you have one with space to spare)...
meszaros_jon
Original Author
8 years ago
O man I have no idea.. I did an Amazon order of what was called a purple JM, a blue JM and a red JM .. also some cherry blossoms .. they came in unmarked packages and i think the photos were just photoshoped colored ..after looking into it I realized how many different kinds there are and I don't think any are that insanely blue or purple .

Anyway that is a good idea, I dont have a garage unfortunately.

Do they still need some light durring the dormant period?

I could put them in the shed but it would be completely dark. The screened in room I can put up some cardboard to block the wind and ir would still get sun.
meszaros_jon
Original Author
8 years ago
Or if they don't need light I could put them in a dark cold corner of the basement, it's roughly 60 degrees and then I'll move them outside
User
8 years ago
They don't need light. But 60d F is too warm and they may not stay dormant. ~40d F would be ideal. And fairly high humidity. Watch out for the rodents. Makes perfect winter food for them.