I've been trying my hand at propagating trident maple cuttings, and let me just say it's been a bit of a roller coaster. Last spring, I decided to take some softwood cuttings from my Acer buergerianum (trident maple) because I wanted to increase my stock without spending a small fortune. I must have snipped about 25 cuttings, and of those, only about 8 rooted successfully. It's not a terrible result, but definitely a learning experience.

I took the cuttings early in the morning when the plant was still full of moisture, and I made sure each cutting was about 4-6 inches long with a couple of nodes. I removed the lower leaves and dipped the cut ends in a rooting hormone powder. Some people argue against using hormones, but in my experience, it gives a decent edge, especially with trident maples. I used a gritty mix of akadama and pumice in equal parts for potting because good drainage seems to be essential. When I tried a peat-heavy mix, everything just rotted away. Not fun.

Keeping the humidity high was another challenge. I misted them daily and covered them with a makeshift humidity dome from a clear plastic container. But I think the real trick was keeping them warm. I set them on a heat mat which seemed to speed up the rooting process. It took about 6 to 8 weeks before I noticed roots through the bottom of the containers. But—I had one incident where I was too eager to pot up and disrupted some fragile new roots. Lesson learned: patience is key. Now it's May again, and I'm thinking of giving it another go with what I've learned. Maybe this time, I'll hit double digits on success.