Living log

Young maple seedlings from the yard

Acer campestreWikipedia ↗NaturaDB ↗

Type
tree
Acquired
2024-04-22
Origin
collected-from-wild
Status
dissolved
Last pot
Ø 5 cm · 6 cm deep (2024-04-22)
Last soil
pumice 10% · akadama 90% (2024-04-22)
Divisions
Young maple from the yard #1Young maple from the yard #2
Interventiondivide→Young maple from the yard #1,Young maple from the yard #2
A hand holding a maple seedling lifted from its grey pot, a dense tangle of fine roots exposed, over a yellow work sheet with tools and pots — bare-root repotting in autumn.A hand holding a maple up against a white wall, a long trailing mass of fine bare roots hanging below the small pot, autumn-yellow leaves on top.
Two maple seedlings with yellow autumn leaves in a terracotta bowl on a yellow sheet, their stems threaded through small anchoring collars in the soil.

Today I decided to put each of the two young maple I found in the yard this spring into seperate pots. Since repotting should be done in early-spring I try to be very soft to the plant and repot it with as much soil as possible. No root work, my intention is solely to a getting the two out of their tiny pots. Overwintering is done in the cellar, so hopefully they do well.

Observation
Two small maple seedlings sharing a terracotta pot, thin stems with lobed green leaves, against a white wall on a wooden bench.

The tiny two seedlings have grown rapidly. I’m surprised, although I got used to them growing well. But seeing the difference in 4 months is pretty impressive. A week after the last observation in May I had to go on a business trip, and to make it easier for the person watering the plant I’ve put the two small pots into a large one so it can pull more moisture and less watering is required. I’m still not sure if this is a real thing but in my mind it makes sense that they can root through the small pots and get moisture and nutrients from deeper down.

Btw I didn’t fertilise the two, because I somewhere read that one shouldn’t do that to young plants < 2 years old. There was a reason also, but I forgot it. Anyway now I hope I can get them through the winter.

Observation
Two young maple seedlings in small grey plastic pots on a cream ceramic tray, each with a few lobed green leaves, on a dark wooden table.

First results look promising, the two are doing very well. The first set of leaves have grown larger and they added a second crop of leaves. Go maples go!

Interventionrepot
Pot
Ø 5 cm · 6 cm deep
Soil
pumice 10% · akadama 90%
A tiny maple seedling with a pair of small green leaves emerging from a bed of pale crushed gravel outdoors.A maple seedling laid in a light-blue ceramic bowl of water on a wooden table, its bare root soaking with a little loose soil in the water.The maple seedling newly planted in a small grey pot of granular soil, standing inside a light-blue bowl on a bamboo tray, a few young leaves on a red stem.
A hand holding an uprooted maple seedling with a reddish stem, a few young lobed leaves and a thin bare root, over a gravelly path.Repotting setup on a bamboo tray: the seedling soaking in a blue bowl, a grey bowl of granular akadama soil, and a small grey pot part-filled with it.Two maple seedlings potted in small grey pots on a pale tray, with a grey bowl of granular soil and a blue bowl behind them on a bamboo tray.

I was pretty surprised to find a pair of tiny field maple seedlings in the yard in front of where I live. They were sprouting near the place where our house puts the trash bags, so it was partly a rescue intervention. Since it’s still April (end of April but let’s be brave) I thought well maybe I’m lucky and can have some free plants. Maybe they develop into small trees. So I dug them up, but them into an akadame/pumice soil. I had the plastic pots around but didn’t like the lip they have on the upper end, so I’ve cut it away.

First care plan is to put them on the kitchen window sill for the first 2 months. Warm days ahead so the window will be open most of the time. I just hope they will do fine with regular watering and if they do well I’ll put them outside.

What this plant taught