Originally Posted by David E. Ross

On 8/26/2009 11:18 AM, Clunk wrote:
Hi folks,

(Apologies in advance, this is a long one...)

I would like to get a second opinion on this please as I have a feeling
that my trees are very poorly.

I bought an Acer Suminagashi and an Acer Orangeola around three months
ago from Jackson's nurseries and to be perfectly honest, they've never
looked too healthy and they have never recovered properly from their
journey to me.

Starting with the Suminagashi, this had lots of white patches on the
leaves and Jacksons said this was overspray from some other chemical
that they treated other trees with and that when the tree sheds its
leaves, they'll grow back ok next year - Sounds OK to me.

The Suminagashi is around 7 feet tall and is quite thin and is held up
by a cane and even though it never looked healthy, it did look as
though it might recover. After a couple of weeks, I noticed that these
yellowy white patches had started to get bigger and more widespread, and
if what Jacksons said about it being overspray were true, then the
patches couldn't be spreading to previously OK leaves?

Anyway, a few more weeks passed and the Suminagashi has really started
to look poorly (at least to me anyway), the trunk has developed white
stripes which Jackson's say is completely normal, yet they weren't
there before (see pic below).

About three weeks ago, all the leaves started to turn crispy and dead
at the tips, so i gave it a good checking over for Aphids and other
insects and didn't find anything. Jackson's said that it was OK to
re-pot it at this stage as I had been waiting for it to perk up a bit,
so I did.

I have a 40cm terracotta pot that I filled the bottom with stones for
drainage and then some ericaceous compost (on recommendation), I then
mixed the compost with a bit of bonemeal, stood the Suminagashi's old
pot in a bucket of water for a few minutes before removing the plastic
pot and transferring the whole lot to the terracotta pot. I then gave
it a good soaking and have regularly watered it every couple of days
since.

About 3 days ago, the Suminagashi started to shed its leaves, a bit of
a rain shower would see a patio full of leaves and now its at the point
where there's not many leaves left on it!

I decided to have a closer look at the leaves and there are some really
tiny, whitish yellow fibres on most of the leaves:

[image:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c.../IMG_8877.jpg]

[image:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c.../IMG_8879.jpg]

[image:
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c.../IMG_8653.jpg]

^^If those images work, I'll post some more.

Does anyone have any idea what's happening please, I'll be eternally
grateful

Thanks.


I would NEVER rely on stones or gravel at the bottom of a pot for
drainage. Pots should always have drain holes in the bottom.

I don't know your climate. In southern California, where I live, any
maple -- especially a Japanese maple -- is marginal except right at the
coast. The air is generally far too dry. The result is that leaves
burn at the tips. Then they fall in August or September. Even with
constantly moist soil and lots of shade, the trees suffer because the
humidity is much too low.

Only in Ventura, Oxnard, Malibu, Santa Monica, and similar ocean-side
areas -- where there is generally extra moisture in the air -- will
maples do well. Inland, maples require constant misting, which is now
prohibited in many areas of southern California because of the drought.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary