AusBonsai

Hi All,

Like Sanders' thread on unhappy Maples, I have a similar problem.

I'm finding all my Tridents and Japanese Maples are looking a bit worse for ware, they all seem to be pushing out new buds that quickly either die back or develop into misshapen unhealthy looking leaves. I'm worried they won't carry on for long without a remedy.

I usually water later in the day but have been trying to water in the mornings lately to see if that helps, I can't see any infestations and my trees are northeast facing and not in direct sun after 3pm.

Attached are images of some of my maples and the typical problem spread across all of them.
Any advice would be awesome!
Chris

Hi Chris,
Not sure if it is to do with watering or not but I find watering at night best. If its extremely hot like it is here lately I sometimes water in the morning but I avoid watering foliage and only water the soil.
Do you fertilize? I vaguely remember reading that over fertilizing can be somehow harmful to some maples but more experienced members will know more on that.

Greg

Maybe thrip? Some of mine looked like that and I've hit them a few times with the natrasoap, which has helped temporarily but comes back a month later. Maybe someone else has a suggestion?

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I've had similar leaf problems occasionally but usually earlier in spring and it has always disappeared without any treatment here. Unsure if this is exactly the same as I have experienced though.
Others have proposed both fungal and microscopic pests as the cause and claim as evidence that after treatment the problem disappears. As mentioned above I've found my problems disappear anyway so response to treatments may not indicate cause and effect.
It will not hurt to use either pesticide or fungicide or both (check compatibility before mixing different products) on these trees if you are worried or f the problem appears to be persisting.

As far as water, I'm currently watering twice every day to keep up with evaporation and plant needs. Your trees don't look water stressed to me but you do need to monitor water needs at this time of year. Everyone has different conditions so what suits one may not always suit conditions somewhere else.

You affected by the fires down there Neil?

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Not directly affected yet. I spent New Years eve at Corryong with a team of tankers trying to keep the fire out of the town. Our trucks and crews have been back and forth working on different shifts but now back home for a while.
Today is extreme fire danger so spent most of the day at the fire station so we would have a rapid response if anything started nearby. Looks like we have been lucky today but we'll do it all again each day that gets hot. Still plenty of summer left to enjoy.

All the best to all those directly and indirectly affected so far.

Thanks Guys!

I have been slack with pest spraying this season, so I've given everything a once over, waited 2 days and sprayed for fungus as well.

I'll keep you all posted.

And good luck up there Neil, I hope all calms down soon!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/511 ... _m.jpg[img] [/img]

Sorry just trying to work out how to use flikr.
Anyway anyone know what these white dot things are in the root zone of a Hana matoi maple ?