"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
m...
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
om...
Caroline Smith wrote in
message
ws.com...
The edges of the leaves have turned a lighter colour and are very
dry to
the touch. What can I do to restore the maple to looking good
again.
It's only 2 feet tall and is in a container.

It isn't over-potted, is it? They absolutely *hate* that. Moving up
one size at a time is the safe policy. The container needs to have
good drainage holes, too. I also prefer John Innes to peat-based
mixtures: it's easier to wet properly.

How does the plant know that is is over-potted?

When the newly-formed tips of its roots reach stagnant water with an
inadequate oxygen content: they can react to this by rotting.

That does not sound like overpotting at all. Surely that is overwatering
combined with lack of drainage.

What is the difference between an overpotted plant and one put in the
open
ground ab initio?

The water in the open ground moves about, dragging oxygen in, and
also, I think, helping to stop malignant organisms building up to a
dangerous concentration.

That sounds like waffle. Let's call a plant in the open ground grossly
overpotted. What then?

I put a very young Acer palmatus atropurpureum in a 45cm pot about ten
years
ago. It has thrived all the time, in spite of starting by being
overpotted
and now being underpotted.

Su it often works out ok, with maybe just a slowing of the ordinary
rate of growth, especially if your watering technique is right for the
plant. But one can't be certain of getting away with it.

I have handled potted plants of one kind or another for close on sixty years
now, and have yet to find out what this "overpotted" lark is about.
Frankly, it sounds to me like an old wives' tale. [Franz Heymann]

Mike.