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daniel_cl

Just-planted red maple leaves turn red

daniel_cl
13 years ago

Hi,

Greetings. This is my first post in the forum.

I purchased a red maple (October Glory) tree from a local garden center and planted it 6 days ago.

The tree looked fine for the first three days but the leaves started turning red after a few days.

Here are links to the pictures of the leaves:

http://www.hksan.net/maltzXD/temp/IMG_0062s.jpg

http://www.hksan.net/maltzXD/temp/IMG_0061s.jpg

http://www.hksan.net/maltzXD/temp/IMG_0059s.jpg

I wonder what's wrong with the tree. Here are some additional information of the tree's planting site:

- Tree was grown in a 5 gallon pot. The roots have already grown pretty much to the shape of the pot.

- During planting, we were very careful not to damage roots during the planting. We spread out a few roots (it was difficult). The roots were exposed to the air and sun for a few hours during the process.

- Planting hole: 2.5' deep and 2.5' wide.

- Soil: Marine clay for the entire community. At the bottom of the hole we filled with grass that used to be on the surface. We then mixed the tree planting hole with 25L of garden soil and 25L black earth. We also added bone meal at the level of the bottom root.

- Weather: The weather was quite hot (~30C) before the leaves turned color.

- Mulch: We put ~2" of red cedar mulch.

- The tree is about 12' high.

I checked information online and suspect chlorosis, after all we have heavy clay and a red maple. But the leaves actually turned red outside the leaf stems, which is inconsistent with the chlorosis photos online.

Any inputs will be appreciated.

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