Should I cut leaves below high graft?

I bought a "high graft" Crimson Queen mail order, and it arrived with brown tips on the red leaves. After two weeks in a pot it has grown a few green leaves below the graft. Being relatively new to maplemania I would appreciate some advice. Should I (1) cut off the brown tips? and/or (2) pinch off the green leaves below the graft or leave them on awhile to build up the root system? Thanks for any help you can give me.
Don

you should always keep any leaves or branches from growing below the graft unless you want two trees ...one ya bought and one generic root stock ...Plus it is just saping enegy from the tree you really bought. As far as leaf burn on upper leaves...I would waiit til they are mostly brown ...(if they ever get that way) and then pinch them off too ...it should shoot out new leaves and may look a little bare for a bit, but it's better than totally brown top leaves and as I said most likely it will push new ones ...mine always do...but if just leaf tip burn ...just live with it...David

Thanks, David. I have removed the spurious leaves and will cross my fingers.
Don

DonShirer:

It's late July - expect some burn! Go with David's suggestion and leave them be. Although asthectically not pleasing, they are providing shade for the rest of the leaves and stems should sunburn be an issue. If the browning is uniform within the individual leaves and consistent from leaf to leaf it is a watering issue which you can easily resolve.

As for the leaves below the graft, do not cut them out, TEAR them out. Rogue cell growth like that can be very aggressive and cutting them will only promote future growth. Tearing them out (assuming you get them early) will eliminate the cell in question and prevent future problems.

Interesting, I did not realize you should be that aggressive with growth below the graft, good info, thanks!

Laura

What about growth from buds on the grafted portion which have different shaped leaves? I will post a pic tonight of my A.S. Microphyllum. It has two leaves that come from the section at the graft but definitely from the top part. The leaves look different and I was gonna pull them, but wanted to show people first. Just figured it was the rootstock pushing through the graft but thought it was interesting enough to post. What do you think the rootstock is, just a A.S. seedling?

Bill

here are 2 pics of the maple.

2nd pic

And please, please, ignore the crappy deck. I am building a new one next week.

Bill

take 'em off they don't look the same as the grafted scion to me...they look like green acer p rootstock leaves ...but even if they are or were the same it so low you'd take eventually take them off anyway unless you want a bush... It is just sapping energy from the tree you bought ...David

you also want that graft to completely heal over which is being impeaded by that growth......the idea is that the graft will be not so noticable by next year and eventually indistguishable (sp) in the future. David

I was always planning on pulling or rubbing them off, just thought it was interesting that it is coming from the grafted part. Do they graft shirasawanum to palmatum stock? just curious. Are japoniucums grafted to palmatum stock also?

Bill

japoniucums are compatable with acer P root stock ...not totally sure on shirasa's but I believe so and yours seems to be..David

I go rub them out tonight then :)

Bill

These are all compatible:
Acer palmatum
Acer japonicum
Acer shirisawanum - a maple most happy in shade (all cultivars)
Acer circinatum
Acer sieboldianum - seedlings - reliably fall color
Acer pseudosieboldianum - seedlings - not reliable for fall color, thus grafting.

Have heard of grafts onto palmatum of other Acer species too. And a little extra info about some of these species I've given for you all as well. Lots of other Japanese origin Maples out there too that are worth looking into.

Acer micranthum
Acer nikonese
The snakebarks (Acer rufinerve, A. capillipes, A crataegifolium, A. tegmentosum and the American Snakebarks - A. pensylvanicum)
A. carpinifolium
A. distylum (linden-leaved maple)
A. tschonoskii
A. nipponicum
A. caudatumsubsp. ukurunduense
A. spicatum
A. pycnanthum
A. diabolicum
A. nipponicum

(many of these are larger-growing than palmtum)

Dax
A. caudatum subsp. ukurunduense

Dax

Ahh crap Dax. I have 2 pseudosieboldianum seedlings and now I can't depend on their fall color. At least they are only seedlings and I didn't buy a big one that wasn't grafted. Do they ever graft palmatums to pseudosieboldianums for increased root-stock cold hardiness?

Bill

You could Bill but it won't improve much the hardiness of what's grafted above (and I don't know the scientific results either) but it definitely would help to some degree. Grafting Chamaecyparis obtusa to Thuja occidentalis improves hardiness in that Chamaecyparis obtusa can now be grown in clay soils whereas on it's own roots it cannot. That's one example...
Also, to a certain degree the grafted plant may have increased hardiness to exposure (but I believe a lot to be speculation amongst growers at this point). So I really don't know Bill -

Dax

It would be my guess and it's only that .... that whatever your scion is grafted too you will ALWAYS be ultimatly hampered by how much cold , heat or whatever extreeme conditions ( it ) the grafted tree can withstand reguardless of root stock.... I would assume if you grafted a " tender" JM to a zone 4 hardy rootstock the rootstock would likely survive but the grafted tree would not . The point being you got two things going on here and both would have to withstand the conditions for both to survive. Dax's example of clay worthiness is not as extreeme as cold worthiness IMHO although it was VERY interesting . Most JM's are grafted to AP green JM rootstock which is pretty hardy...I would say to zone 5a at least ... but many JM's won't make it in 5a .... the same would apply to a 4a root stock IMHO. I don't think there are any JM's more hardy than the ap green or red generic root stock currently used therefore...I don't think you'd really advance much by using zone 4 root stock...you WOULD be more likely to get something but it would be from the RS therefore all that waisted grafting time for naught David

Seedlings are definitely hardier than cultivars if from a cold region they are gathered.

Here's another goofy example: All Cedrus (True Cedars) are grafted onto the rootstock of Cedrus deodara even though Cedrus libani or Cedrus atlantica have much cold hardier root systems. Cedrus deodara however just being used for roots has the better root system of the group and is as hardy mathematically speaking as all three.

That's why I listed all those asian maples above. Many are tougher for 'cold' than palmatum which seems to have taken precidence in nurseries. All those listed above are as garden worthy as palmatum, however yes, some listed are fast growers, but then again - hardier.

The rootstock issue however - use whatcha got or can get. And as David mentions, Acer palmatum is all you can get if you don't grow from seed. It's unfortunate nurseries are missing out on the other Maples that are available.

It feels like I just wrote an essay??? Anybody else think the same?

lol,

Take care,

Dax