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stunted growth on red maple (red sunset)?

16 years ago

The tree was planted in early November and leafed out like

a champ this spring. In late May, it started suffering from

a few inchworm and leafroller outbreaks on the growing tips.

This seems to have settled. New tips are now

emerging. Only thing is they are lighter/green compared

to the reddish spring growth. The tips also appear to

be 'stunting' [that is, the stems are not elongating much].

Is this normal for growth in summer (it can get to

the high 90's here)? I water all my plants on very hot days

and use a gator bag once a week. This was a 10 foot tree

in a large (25 gallon?) container. It's put on about

12 inches. At planting, there was some light matting

on one side of the root ball, and against my better

judgment (due to interference from my wife) I did not tease

these out completely. Could I already be seeing root

bound issues? If so, how/when should I best deal with this.

This is likely a tough tree and most people would not

even have noticed anything amiss. I'm just longing

for the vigorous growth that I saw earlier this

spring on that maple. A containerized river

birch planted around the same time is still

growing very well.

Cheers!

Lucas

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Comments (2)

Embothrium
16 years ago
Could be fine. Maples grow in flushes, keep it watered and mulched, wait and see what the current flush develops into. Since plant is growing away nicely now (above the ground, at least), at this stage it seems root deformity would most likely only become a problem many years from now, if it resulted in girdling and constriction. If in doubt expose roots and correct when leaves are off during dormant season.
texasredhead
16 years ago
First, can you see the root flare, that is where the roots begin to flare from the trunk? Second, if you have roots girdling the trunk, they will not grow out. Dig up the tree, correct the problems or loose it in the long term. Send your wife shopping while you correct the problems.
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In the latter case if you are in an area with unsuitable autumn weather or soils this can affect results with fall color of maples. The Tatarian maple cultivar is selected for use in areas with alkaline soils etc. but red maples do not color well in alkaline soils - and fall color of seedling red maples varies from yellow to nearly purple depending on the genetics of the individual seedlings. Plantings or wild stands of genetically distinct individuals (rather than multiple specimens of a clonal cultivar) can be a kaleidoscope of different colors in autumn. Root damage I don't see as being related. In fact, if you stuck them in using care to avoid root damage that could have been a mistake. The most important thing when planting a tree is to make sure the roots are spread out in the hole and not kinked or circling, and that the same soil is present throughout the hole, with no zones of differing soils. Intact original soil balls are not desirable unless the backfill soil and the soil around the hole all happen to be the same as the soil inside the rootball - not a usual circumstance.
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The Red Sunset is one of my very favorite large maples. It is moderately fast growing and will handle a wide variety of conditions. When we left ours behind in a recent move, it had been in the ground 3 years and while purchased at a size of about 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide it was getting close to 20 feet by 15 feet. In your climate it will do well, but our leaves on new growth did burn in summer when we did not give enough water. So don't drown the tree, but do give adequate water in dry seasons. Besides that, the trunk was pretty sensitie to minor burn and nicks and small cracks, so a tree wrap for a few seasons will be a good idea. Other than that, just enjoy. I also like the London Plane tree, as it has the gracefulness of the Big Leaf Maple, but with the disease problems, the maple will be a better choice. We did have some pretty heavy aphids in the spring and early summer, but no damage was done and they aren't prolonged like the infestation we see on the Raywood Ash in this area. Good Luck! Michael
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