Starting a Japanese Maple question

It can be done, but the sucess rate is pretty low. I would take a lot more cuttings than you actually need in the hopes that a few will root. Use a rooting hormone and keep them in the shade and mist them frequently if you plan on using softwood cuttings. You might also try taking hardwood cuttings in late winter and storing them til spring, and then sticking them in pots, you might have better luck. Japanese maples are typically grafted on rootstock of the species for the above reason. Be patient, they can take several weeks to root, trust me, I tried this last summer :)

Toad

the trade grafts em ....onto non red .....seeing as how the glory o japanese maple is autumn colour i've never seen the point of re

-- Eyebright

Red maples can handle full sun.

Yes. You can do semi-hardwood cuttings late spring-early summer or hardwood cuttings in late winter-early spring.

Use a non-soil based mix that drains well that holds moisture well, but doesn't get too wet, like a sand-peat mix (more sand that peat). Like Toad said you need to mist the cuttings to keep them moist. Unless you can keep an eye on the cuttings you may want to set up an automatic misting system. Mist every half hour to one hour for a few seconds. Don't allow the cuttings to dry out completely.

You can also try this guy's method:

Good luck,

Layne