Blueboy- I'm not sure what may be causing the variations in color, but one thing for sure, most mites love heat. Look for webbing. Consider a light oil spray in the evening and be sure to get under the leaves, stems, and cover the soil a little with the mix. Repeat in a week, and as a dormant oil spray later on. See if the buggers crawl after that. I'm not sure that the bud mites bite stems, however. I see some of this discoloration on older stems of my plants, but not on new growth. That gradually becomes bark later on. Our max heat was 96f. Good luck. Noogy

My friend's lawn service did the same thing. She brought the damage to the lawn guy's attention, She notified him of the cost to replace the damaged ones with the same sized potted trees. She gave him the choice of paying that bill, or agreeing for her to deduct it from the bill she still owed him for his services. He took the latter, she now has her new trees installed; 8 months later, no more reminder of the problem. She did fire that lawn service, and now has a very good service, which is better than most people would usually ever expect. Her damaged trees were nearly all her pines trees on one side of her property, and Plicata Thuja 'Green Giants' on the other side of her property's screen plantings. The damage impact, if she had not replaced them, would have been signifiant. With your maple tree, if it was planted less than 5 years ago, it most likely will dig up pretty easily. Use a garden fork to loosen the rootball; to cut any larger roots or break through any hard soil you encounter, use the wide edge of a pitchfork in your efforts. That is; if you are going to be the one removing the damaged tree and planting the new one. With your new tree it is a good idea to keep the grass away from under the canopy and from over the rootball area. If your grass is bermuda grass, you will need to use a systemic grass killer that does not also harm your trees and shrubs and, which also does not stay effective when it contacts the soil, and which is drawn down to the grass roots through their leaf blades.

tzvi, I see from your first post you're in NJ perhaps? I wanted you to see what CLM actually looks like. Here are two very good photos: And this one you can actually see the CLM larva at the end of the tunnel: The tunnels are the giveaway, and very, very obvious. No guessing with CLM :-) At this time of year, I would suspect aphids. They appear usually in the early spring and will cause leaf curl. So will psyllids too, though. So, that is a little disconcerting. But, your bug photo doesn't look like a psyllid to me. When they're attached to a leaf, they are very easy to identify because they point the ends of their abdomens up in the air. And, you can see how a photo looks embedded in a message. Much easier for an old fogie like me to be able to check out and answer :-) I would check out your state's cooperative extension web site, and look up agricultural pests to see if you can match up the image of your bug to something there. Or better yet, send it off to a coop extension agent to ID for you. In any case, I would say an insecticidal soap should kill the offenders. If you want to resort to an insecticide, imdicloprid will probably also be affective, but it's always best to get a confirmed ID if you can, so you can use the least toxic method to eradicate the pest without harming our beneficial insects or yourself. Patty S.

Leaves crisping at the borders is usually a problem with water or something else interfering with the roots' ability to do their job. And, although you've successfully grown in containers before, this summer has been unusually dry and hot in the NE. I would take that into consideration. Some nutrient deficiencies also produce crispy borders. It's very easy to develop nutrient deficiencies when you piece together specialty niche products as you're doing, either by missing out on a nutrient or creating excesses of some nutrients which interfere with the take-up of others. I find that the best policy is to get one well-balanced formula for fruiting vegetables and stick to that unless you actually see signs of an actual deficiency that needs correcting. Personally, other than a general all-purpose formula I use for seedlings, young transplants, and leaf vegetables, I just use a tomato formula for all my fruiting veg and simply supplement with extra nitrogen for plants such as peppers that like more N. Things like pre-emptively using epsom salts and mineral formulas and micronutrient formulas are more likely to cause problems than prevent them, IMO, unless you have actual soil tests done which show deficiencies in those nutrients. I would try flushing the pots out with a LOT of water and then seeing whether things improve after that. Not chronic flushing, as that could make things boggy and lead to root rot. Just one good, serious, thorough flushing, then waiting about a week before you start feeding again and using a diluted liquid tomato formula alone when you do.