Cloning a Sterile Japanese Maple via Cuttings

A 25-year-old Japanese maple that never sets seed is likely a sterile hybrid. Cloning via softwood cuttings is the only way to replicate it.

Cutting Protocol

1. Take 4–6 inch cuttings from leaf axils in early summer.
2. Strip all but top 2 leaves.
3. Dip in rooting hormone; plant 1 inch deep in warm, wet sand or soilless mix.
4. Seal pot in clear plastic bag; mist twice daily.
5. Keep bottom warm; roots in ~8 weeks.
6. Check by gentle probing; pot up rooted cuttings.
7. Grow on until leafed out; then harden off and plant out.

This produces genetically identical trees with the same unique leaf variation (5–9 lobes).