Dried out leaves on Japanese Maple...HELP!!!
maplebonsai
18 years ago
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zube100
18 years agostevm65
18 years agoRelated Discussions
Japanese Maple - Help
Comments (0)Last year, I bought a young Japanese maple from a greenhouse. I hoped to turn it into a Bonsai. I was told that it wouldn't survive the winter outdoors, but that many people keep them indoors as houseplants. I brought the maple inside in the fall. Within a couple of weeks, it lost all of its leaves. They didn't change color - just dried up and dropped. I kept them in my sunroom with an East-facing window. Its cooler than the rest of the house, with night temps about 12 degrees Celcius and daytime temps 15-18 degrees Celcius in the winter. In March, the JM started to get buds. Unfortunately, these buds did not progress. The tree does have lots of new growth arising from the lower 1/3 of the trunk. The buds have dried up. I thought the top of the tree had died back, but I scratched the bark and found that it was still green. Any idea what happened? Should I prune it back to where the new growth is, or will I eventually get new leaves on the branches? The new leaves that have erupted at the bottom seem to be flourishing, and the tree is now outside for the summer again....See MoreSudden Shriveling Japanese Maple? Help
Comments (3)It's not fertilizer and certainly not the results of any slow release fertilizer that rapidly. The white stuff in the soil was most likely perlite or pumice, not a fertilizer, and added for drainage and without any negative effect. It could very well be wind damage. The foliage of Japanese maples tends to be rather delicate and can be damaged by excessive wind, especially if the soil is allowed to dry out between waterings. Some cultivars much more so than others. But wilting or shriveling can also be an indication of overwatering. If you have a high quality, very textural potting soil and good drainage in the container, I've found it almost impossible to overwater but relatively easy to accomplish with a less forgiving potting soil :-) Try to keep it out of the brunt of the wind. And keep the soil evenly moist but not excessively wet nor allowed to dry completely in between waterings....See Morejapanese Maple dried brown leaves??
Comments (3)It sounds like not enough water to me. Most people underwater their newly planted trees and have little idea how much water trees need to being with. When you water it every 2-3 days, how long are you watering it for? I have sandy loam gravely soil that drains really well and water my 6 foot maple trees 1200 gallons of water ( I know the gpi of my water pump) 2-3 times a week. I saturate the area around my tree. Within one minute of stopping the water all the water is already drained underneath. 2 years ago I planted some trees and watered 10 gallons 3 times a week like many people say, and every tree went into transplant shock, they all turned brown, lost all their leaves, leaves came back but went right into early fall foliage. So I said to heck with this and started watering based on what was right for our soil. I learned right away that what may be right for some soils is not at all right for others. These 3 maples I planted just this year have grown over a foot and a half, and are luscious and green, not a hint of shock to be found. The next day the soil doesn't even look like it's been watered at all. I guess it all depends on how well your soil drains but to me it sounds like you are not giving them enough water....See MoreYellow Leaves on Japanese Maple any ideas?
Comments (2)It also depends on what potting mix it is in, what size pot, and how long it has been in the pot. Have you potted up or preferrably root pruned it lately? Best way (without meters and what not) is to lift the pot and feel it's weight. Water it well and lift it again to compare. Get used to how much it weighs before and after watering and use that to gauge your watering schedule. Sounds like it may have gotten a bit dry. If your potting mix contains a lot of peat, make sure your potting mix hasn't become water resistant (Hygrophobic) If you water and the pot still feels kind of light, the water might be running through a channel and right through without saturating all of the substrate. If so put it in a bucket of water for a few minutes until it feels weighted properly....See Morevancewood
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