Frankly, they're weeds and I doubt you could kill it. I'd just plant it outside if it were me. It will likely not survive an indoor winter, because it's not a house plant and does require winter chilling.

And if it doesn't live you can collect 15 bazillion little flying seeds and sprout a million more of them (I have to fight them every year from my neighbors trees...they're hard to kill).

Some say silver maple is hardy to USDA 3, so you probably don't have to do much to get it to overwinter there.

Thanks. Should I try to overwinter it on a window sill? Because it just started to root and it has roots at the end of the stem about an inche long. I don’t think it would survive outside because it don’t have enough roots and the roots are to soft and fragile and the cold would just kill them. I accidently broke a couple digging it out of the cup to check them.
here is a pic of the cutting.

is there a way to get it to grow some new leaves? Thanks.

As mentioned it will need a winter cold period in order to be able to grow again next spring.

the cup should have drain holes ... and you could have waited until roots popped out... to see such... instead of disturbing it as you did ... i call such loving a plant too much ...

if need be .... use a razor to slice the bottom edge of the red cup... to make drain holes ...

are we sure that is a silver maple leaf from a mature tree?

Yes, its a silver leaf maple. It was about 25 years old and it grew up by my patio with five multiple trunks. It dropped a lot of helicopter seeds every year and I do have several seedlings that popped up from it this year. We had it cut down 3 weeks ago to make room for a adition to the house.

Would it still root if I cut that leaf off and just sat it outside? Thanks.

Timothy, it is the wrong time of year for your cutting to grow any leaves now. That won't happen until spring. And it will not do well and may not even survive to leaf out again in spring unless given the cold period mentioned previously. If too small to be heeled in safely somewhere outside, you need to find a place to store it overwinter where the temperature will remain consistently at 40F or less (but avoiding subfreezing temps).....possibly somewhere like an unheated garage. Light is not an issue during this period but a consistently low temperature is. And check now and again to make sure soil mix has not dried completely..........but it won't need much water.

Would it hurt it if I brought it in and out when ever the temps dip below freezing? Thanks.

If by "brought it in" you mean bringing it indoors into a comfortably heated house, yes. It needs to get cold and stay cold. You just want to prevent the little pot from freezing solid.

Yeah I mean bring it in when it gets below 32 and take it back out when it goes back up to the mid thirties.

No! It will not appreciate the wide shift in temps which can force it out of dormancy. As I stated, get it cold and let it stay cold....just not freezing.

(my "yes" in my previous post was in response to your question "would it hurt").

Let's just put it this way, do you suppose a single silver maple that ever evolved has been freighted in and out of freezing weather? Horrible idea!

Dbarron I know. Thanks.

If I stuck this cutting down in a larger pot while still in the cup similer to how you would do hardwood cuttings to callus them. Would this grow new roots as it buds out next spring if the old ones died off since it already has callus on the bottum or would it kill the cutting to? I’ve read when you heal in hardwood cuttings leaving a couple inches sticking out of the soil they’ll callus over in winter and grow next spring. Would that work with this cutting?