Stressed Trident Maple

[sander043]

Hello all,

I have a Trident maple that has gradually had its leaves deteriorate. It was last re potted in August and has been fine up until around a week ago when it started loosing leaves. They haven't been yellowing, just drying and dying. Watering and feeding regime has not changed and there seems to be no sign of pests or disease. I live in Western Sydney and we have had a few +40 days but the maples are undercover for the most part (morning sun and filtered afternoon light) and watering adjusted to suit.

By contrast, her next door neighbour Trident copped a bit of heat stress earlier in the month. I simply plucked the affected leaves, Seasol every few of days and it bounced back marvelously as you can see.

I have taken off all the dead leaves this morning and left only the healthy ones, hoping that no more die off. I am a bit worried that this may be terminal and that there is something more I could be doing rather than sit and watch the poor bugger pass away.

IMG_7494.jpg

IMG_7505.jpg

IMG_7506.jpg

IMG_7510.jpg

IMG_7511.jpg

IMG_7493.jpg

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Sander.

[tgward]

check and make sure the drainage holes are working--don't water from above and stop seasol for a while-

[sander043]

Yup, drainage is okay. I'll soak instead of spray when needed and can the seasol for now. Thanks TG.

Not totally sure but I would have thought the leaves would yellow first rather than just dry out if over watering was the problem.

[Watto]

Could possibly be red spider mite. Just check for that.

[sander043]

Thanks Watto. Doesn't seem to be any type of infestation, unless of course it is microscopic. I have never experienced red spider mites (that I'm aware of). Are they that small ? I have given the tree a spray with neem oil solution but I'm guessing spider mites may require something stronger.

[TimS]

You can see RSM with the naked eye but you need to be looking for it. To my mind it looks like wind scorch Esther than mites. Typically with notes you would see what looks like a spiders web on the trees as well as speckling of the foliage.

[Daluke]

I concur with TimS.

Any chance it’s from radiant heat? Like from the brick work - it’s been hot.

[TimS]

Sorry about my abysmal autocorrects there! One of the perils of using a phone! Esther should be ‘rather than’ and ‘notes’ is mites!

[sander043]

If you squint they look the same. You could be right with the heat there Tim. Although shaded, it was not far from a colorbond fence. It just seemed to progressively get worse rather than better when moved to a cooler area. Now that it's been stripped of pretty much all the dead leaves I will monitor it and just hope to see some new growth, albeit slowly.

I will return with an update, hopefully a happy one. Thanks so much for your input guys, very much appreciated.

Sander.

[TimS]

Once the leaves are damaged like that they will never improve. I wouldn’t expect you to see an improvement in them; what you want to be seeing are the next buds behind them pushing new healthy shoots out.

Good luck!

[Phil Rabl]

It looks like one of two possibilities: 1) sun scorch (if maples grow their new leaves in a shaded spot and are later exposed to strong sun they will burn. If they first grow in full sun they produce their own form of sun protection and are OK in the strong sun of summer); 2) too much water.

[sander043]

Thanks Phil,

Nice tip, did not know that. Not quite gutsy enough to introduce it back into full sun just yet. Maybe once the 43deg. temps have passed.

Sander.

[rodm]

Your maple has had a bit too much sun and most likely hot wind. The leave will not return to green but will give a bit of protection to the new buds. Spraying oils and any type of sprays that adhere to the leaves will cook them in this heat. The new leaves should start to come through in a couple of weeks. Remember the afternoon sun is the worst for most plants, so dappled shade would be best for your situation. All the best
Cheers RodM