Hi everyone. I had a strange and depressing thing
happen this week. I have had a large bloodgood
japanese maple for about 7 years now. The tree was
about 10 years old or older when i bought it. And
just yesterday the strangest thing happened. Each
year the green spring growth emerges with small finely
toothed leaves. Then they slowly fade to red and the
leaves get a bit larger as summer comes. This
spring however the leaves came in just as always but
stayed green. They have been green ever since never
getting there red summer color. It is in a large pot
about 4 feet wide by about 2-3 feet deep. The tree
itself is about 2-3 feet tall with a 4 to 5 foot
spread, it had a beautiful natural weeping hapit. One
branch on the trees tip died about a week and a half
ago. Then about 5 days ago more of the branch died.
So just to be safe i cut the branch off well above the
dying back section leaving space for any die back
which sometimes occurs. It did not turn black and did
not look like vertimiculum wilt, which i have run into
before.

Chances are very good, however, that that is what it is. The
symptoms -- a branch, then another, then the entire tree -- are
telling. Take a look under the bark of the branch that died
first. You are likely to find a dark stain -- maybe olive
green -- on the wood underneath.

There is NO cure for Verticillium wilt. Clean tools. If another
tree appears to get it, fertilize HEAVILY with nitrogen. That
sometimes helps. But not often.

Destroy this tree; clean the pot VERY well, and even then don't
use it again for a maple.

I lost several Japanese maples to this a few years ago. As a
result I no longer grow them.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman

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