Japanese Maple

I was wondering if anyone has any tips on propagating Japanese Maples. They have been in the fridge for 3 months, and they have been soaking for about 12 hours now. Thanks!

If nobody here knows, you might try the Japanese Maple forum.

Last fall I collected a few japanese maple seeds from a "Crimson Queen" Japanese Maple and let them dry. Then I took off the winged ends and soaked them in hot water for 24 hours.

The next day, I put the seeds in moistened vermiculite (any fine seedling soil will do too) which I had in ziploc baggies. I barely covered the seeds.
I poked tiny holes in the bags for ventilation and left them in the refrigerator for 100 days. The seed hadn't shown any sign of germination after the 100 day mark so I carefully planted the seeds with seed soil in little plastic pots and covered them with plastic to keep the humidity up.

After a couple of weeks, two seeds germinated. One ended up dying after a couple of months but the other grew and survived.
It is now in a larger pot and we are wintering it over in our garage until the spring when it can be planted.
I have collected a few seeds from the Fern Leaf Maple, Korean Maple, and the Karuba Yama Japanese Maple so we'll see how that goes with the same method.

Thanks for your input alexxx. Mine have been sitting in a moist container (paper towel in a container with a cover to keep humidity up) for a few months and I haven't noticed any germination, so perhaps I will plant them in soil.

Do you know if removing the winged part will affect the seeds at all (ie: rot easier, etc)?

removing it does make it earier for germination. The outer covering has to break down and by removing the excess part of the wing you let water get in easier.

I have soaked the seeds and gotten the outer coating off sometimes by then gently rubbign the seeds while they still wet and moist. A real pain but it works.

Out side rain natural breaks down the out side covering, that don't happen with inside germination.

Thanks starlight1153. I need to get on planting them in soil before they rot :S

If you mix your seed in peat moss and give 45-60 days cold strat in your fridge, that is all it should take. We plant 25lbs a year at my nursery and that's our big secret. When you plant, they should be up in 8-12 days. You can always do strat tests periodically by pulling out some seed, warming it up in moist paper towels in a bag and see how many strat to get an idea of what amount of time works best.

If you are using seed from a cultivar, it's a crap shoot as to wether the seed is viable.

I sure hope you are right :) They have had their cold stratification and I just planted them tonight. I guess I will just see what happens :) Thanks for the tips!

Wow, zone 3a .... can you even grow JMs outside, redheadedwonder11?

I was going to try my hand at bonsai :)

Oh, good for you! Best of luck with that.

Thanks! I haven't had any germination yet, but I am patient. I just got some Chinese wisteria seeds I am hoping to do the same with :)

I would guess that patience is a real asset if you're getting into bonsai.

For sure. I hope I live to be hundreds of years old so I can see it mature haha :)

I hope you do, too!