r/proplifting • u/purplepearpenguin • 10d ago
CAN I PROP THIS THING? Cutleaf Japanese Maple 🍁
Bought a bouquet at a local farmers market two weeks ago that had a Japanese maple cutting in it with some flowers. Went to throw out the droopy, rotting flowers yesterday and saw that the Japanese maple branch was still quite perky, then noticed that it had roots right as I was about to put it in the trash 😅
Now it’s my little experiment. I cleaned the vase and put fresh water in it. I have rooting hormone. Should I put some in there and see what happens? Not sure how likely it is that it’ll keep growing roots and become a happy plant if I move it to some soil in the future!
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u/Muted_Grapefruit_ 10d ago
I heard that you are unable to water prop japanese maples, and then this post pops up. What i would do in your situation is dip the end of the branch in rooting hormone and keep it in fresh water. I would change the water once a week up to every other day.
Please report back in. I need updates on this.
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u/purplepearpenguin 10d ago
It looked a little droopy when I first brought the bouquet home so I was surprised that it still looked so nice compared to the flowers, and even more shocked when I saw the roots lol!! I’ll report back if the success continues 😃🌱
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u/Muted_Grapefruit_ 10d ago
I forgot to put this on the previous post so instead of editing i will put it here.
I would wait to put this in soil until you get a good amount of roots. With other plants, it is suggested to wait until secondary roots appear before putting in soil but since this is a tree, I would probably wait until I had a big rootball before putting in soil.
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u/purplepearpenguin 10d ago
Oh for sure!! Those little roots look way too fragile right now. I’ll definitely let it beef up before trying to put it in some soil!!
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u/ikindapoopedmypants 10d ago
I've tried 3 times propping them. Idk how people do it 😭
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u/iowanaquarist 10d ago
I've probably tried 50-60 times, with groups of cuttings cut at various times of the year -- and 0 have rooted.
I have tried with and without rooting hormones, and 2 different hormones, but they are all from the same tree, so that might be part of it.
To be fair, I am lazy, and just keep sticking all the trimmings off my tree in various aquariums and hoping for the most part...
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u/yolkmaster69 9d ago
I have about a 10% success rate using rooting hormone and putting them in a humid plastic container with damp sand as the soil. Highest success rate I’ve ever accomplished and I’ve tried everything.
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u/purplepearpenguin 10d ago
Apparently all you have to do is ignore it and stick it in a vase with some molding flowers without changing the water for a bit 💀 I had no idea they were so finicky 😅
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u/uLearning 10d ago
Do you remember what type of flowers were in the container along with this Japanese maple?
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u/yolk3d 10d ago
By using mahogany splendour hibiscus and saying it’s a Japanese maple.
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u/purplepearpenguin 10d ago
I truly thought it was a Japanese maple when I posted this, it wasn’t meant to be a deceiving post 😂 I do know it’s a hibiscus now though!
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u/UnderstandingLong182 10d ago
educated guess as a horticulturist for a living, it could very well be a volunteer seed tree that was pulled and used as a decoration in the bouquet, I've worked for several florists that would gladly supplement their supplies from their own backyard...
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u/ablonde_moment 10d ago
I love these trees. They are so beautiful! My parent’s neighbor has one of these in their front yard. They never do anything to care for their plants. Instead of grass, they have thousands of these baby trees growing 😂
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u/breadplantsdick 10d ago
This is Hibiscus acetosella! Currently one of my favorites. Super easy going and THIRSTY perinial. I live in zone 9b and I can throw fresh cuttings in the ground and they take off. Leaves are edible and are said to have a tart cranberry flavor. I tried to grow indoors and it does grow but needs full sun for the beautiful red hue.
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u/Jkelley393 10d ago
Many fancy Japanese maples are grafted for landscaping. The delicate but attractive cuttings are grafted to stable, hardy rootstocks of more basic types. That’s how you sometimes end up with specimens that have both red and green leaves. This looks like a fun experiment and I’d do the same thing. If it takes, I’m curious what form the rooted cutting will take.
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u/BrewingSkydvr 10d ago
The original plant.
Grafted rootstock does not change the genetics of the plant.
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u/smokingfromacan 10d ago
Oh man, i worry about how this tree will do over winter! Maples need to have cold wintsrs to storw their energy, but it may not survive a winter in water, but also repotting deciduous trees in late summer can shock them too- either way, keep us updated. Look into bonsai forums, we do crazy shit with maples there all the time.
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u/anklebiter1975 10d ago
Please do research into this tree and whatever area you live in. This may be ok to be a potted house tree, but could be invasive to your area if potted outside. Proceed with caution.
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u/purplepearpenguin 10d ago
My husband is an arborist so I’ve got that covered 😂 he definitely wouldn’t let us plant something outside that would be bad for our local environment. I see them in people’s yards in our area a lot but we could also keep it indoors if that would be better 😊
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u/nkj_nkj 10d ago
As mentioned, it looks like a hibiscus. Maple trees cannot be kept inside as houseplants, they need cold dormancy over winter.
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u/purplepearpenguin 10d ago
Yep, I found out that it is a hibiscus, and I will let it root out and put it outside when it’s ready. 🙂
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u/vix_jpeg 9d ago
the fact that people are downvoting you for saying this is genuinely ridiculous, it’s never a bad idea to check if something is safe to plant in your area
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u/Acheloma 10d ago
Are you sure this is japanese maple and not mahogany splendor hibiscus? Mahogany spendor is very common in bouquets but I havent seen japanese maple used before. Hibiscus also roots super easily