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Japanese maple bonsai seeds: dormancy and bad titles

Updated: 21 October 2026

You want a Japanese maple, and a £5.99 packet is showing a purple tree under the words purple blue ghost. The Latin line on the two listings in this set says Acer Palatum. The species you can look up is Acer palmatum. This page is that plant: what the seed will grow, how UK sellers time a dry packet, and why those titles are a poor way to buy it. Compost and pricking out stay on [how to grow bonsai from seed](/hub/seeds-and-plants/bonsai-seeds/sub/bonsai-seeds-how-to-grow). The wider table is the [bonsai seeds comparison](/hub/seeds-and-plants/bonsai-seeds). Treat dry Acer palmatum as months of warmth, then cold. No germination rate was measured.

You want a Japanese maple, and a £5.99 packet is showing a purple tree under the words purple blue ghost. The Latin line on the two listings in this set says Acer Palatum. The species you can look up is Acer palmatum.

Our top picks

Gift Republic Gift Republic bonsai seed kit

Best overall

Gift Republic Gift Republic bonsai seed kit
7.6/10about £12.40
View offer
SwansGreen 20 purple blue ghost maple seeds

Alternative

SwansGreen 20 purple blue ghost maple seeds
2.2/10about £5.99
View offer
SVI 50 purple blue ghost maple seeds

Alternative

SVI 50 purple blue ghost maple seeds
2.0/10about £5.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Seed will not copy the leaf in the photo
  2. 2.Warm, then cold, or a winter outside
  3. 3.The two purple blue ghost packets
  4. 4.After it is a plant

Seed will not copy the leaf in the photo

The RHS says you can raise Japanese maple from seed, and that named cultivars do not come true. A seedling can be a maple and still not be the tree in the photo. Purple, blue and ghost are marketing words on the kept listings. That limit applies even to genuine Acer palmatum, and twice when the spelling is wrong and UK reviews say the seed does not look like acer. Plain packets are already inexpensive: RP Seeds from £2.50, Chiltern's mixed packet at £3.15, Heartwood 20 seeds at £3.49. On amazon.co.uk, outside this comparison, Tree Seeds Online sells 10 Acer palmatum seeds at £1.99, 3.4 from 435 reviews, ASIN B01DT02YNS. If the colour is the whole reason to buy, stop. Goods should match the description, and a title that invents a leaf does not.

Warm, then cold, or a winter outside

UK sellers do not publish one national recipe. Follow one method and label it as that seller's. RP Seeds says soak 24 hours, then about eight weeks at 18 to 21°C, then about eight weeks in the fridge, or sow outdoors from September to January. Heartwood is the same shape: about two months warm and two months cold, or an autumn sowing. Bonsai Southwest, for dry Acer palmatum and Acer buergerianum, describes a 48-hour soak at around 35°C and then a long chill, and notes that 60 to 120 days is often a fresh-seed figure. An outdoor sow from September to January lets a British winter do the cold, if mice and birds are kept off. A warm plate checked after a weekend rots dormant seed.
Gift Republic Gift Republic bonsai seed kit

Testsieger

Gift Republic Gift Republic bonsai seed kit
7.6/10about £12.40
View offer

The two purple blue ghost packets

B07G9CQPRP states 20 seeds. The brand field says SwansGreen and the title says SVI. The use field says outdoor, full sun, loam. One UK review says there is no pot. The score is 4.0 from three reviews. Outdoor is the right direction for maple. It does not correct Acer Palatum. B01LBHSPGQ states 50 seeds, brand SVI, part SVI1191, about 20 grams. The use field says indoor and a bullet says very easy. The score is 2.2 from eight reviews. One UK review says the seeds are tiny, do not look like acer, and that growth after three days looked like cress. Another says palmatum is misspelled. That growth fails a maple timetable, and so does the indoor line. Skip both if you want Japanese maple.

After it is a plant

Japanese maple belongs outside. The RHS groups it with pines, larch and yew, and keeps indoor bonsai for tropical plants. Full sun on the 20-seed field is harsher than many growers use for a first-year pot in a British summer. The RHS says to hard-prune an established maple bonsai in autumn or early winter, because spring cuts can bleed. That is for a trained plant, not a seedling. If the purple packet is still unsown, the honest substitute is a packet that says Acer palmatum. The buying guide puts that name check first. The Gift Republic kit in this set is unnamed seed, not a maple.

Common questions

How do I germinate Japanese maple seeds in the UK?
Use one published method and do not mix them. RP Seeds says soak 24 hours, about eight weeks at 18 to 21°C, then about eight weeks in the fridge, or sow outdoors from September to January. Heartwood is about two months warm, two months cold, or an autumn sow. Bonsai Southwest, for dry seed, describes a 48-hour soak around 35°C and a long chill, and warns that 60 to 120 days is often a fresh-seed figure.
Can I skip the fridge if I sow in autumn?
Yes, if you sow outdoors from September to January, the alternative both RP Seeds and Heartwood offer, and you protect the tray from mice and birds. The winter is the cold spell. You cannot skip the fridge and the winter and keep the seed on a warm windowsill. A shop packet is usually the dry case, not fresh autumn samaras.
Will I get the purple tree in the photo?
You should not count on it. The RHS states that named Japanese maple cultivars do not come true from seed. A purple or blue title is a photograph. Even verified Acer palmatum gives you maple seedlings, not a clone of a nursery cultivar. The two £5.99 listings also misspell the Latin name, and reviews on the 50-seed packet say the seed does not look like acer.
What is wrong with the words Acer Palatum on these listings?
The species is Acer palmatum. Palatum drops a letter, and UK reviewers on the 50-seed listing have already pointed at that spelling. On the 20-seed listing the brand field says SwansGreen and the title says SVI. A botanical name you cannot find in a flora is a reason to leave the basket. Marketed seed is supposed to be identifiable.
Why might something green appear in three days?
Because the contents may not be dormant maple. A UK review of B01LBHSPGQ said the seeds were tiny, did not look like acer, and that growth after three days looked like cress. That is the reviewer's description, not a lab result. Seller methods for dry Acer palmatum take months of warmth and cold. Shoots in three days are a reason to doubt the packet.

Related pages

Best bonsai seeds

Bonsai seeds

Bonsai seeds UK: six checks to make before you buy

How to grow bonsai from seed without rotting the seed

Bonsai from seed or buy a tree: which one to choose

Sources

Sources taken from the research digest. Listings were checked in October 2026.

  1. RHS — Bonsai (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  2. RHS — Trees and shrubs from seed (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  3. RHS — Japanese maples growing guide (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  4. GOV.UK — Bringing plants and wood into Great Britain (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  5. Plant health information checker (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  6. The Marketing of Ornamental Plant Propagating Material Regulations 1999 (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  7. Bonsai Empire — Growing bonsai from seed (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  8. RP Seeds — Acer palmatum (retrieved 21.10.2026)