AusBonsai

Hi everyone,

lately, now that we're going into the summer months my japanese maple seedling's leaves are burning.

i have moved them out of the sun so they only get around three hours of direct sun each day. i have also tried shade cloth, but my attemp was feeble and got blown down within the first day, maybe i should have another try with that.

Even with my efforts they are still burning, could anyone give me some adivice about how to assisst with avoiding sunburnt leaves.

By the sounds of it the wind is quite strong in your area. This is what is burning the leaves. I have the same trouble in summer. Mine are under shade cloth that is permanent, I have taken all other precautions such as protecting the roots to keep them cool but the wind still burns the leaves.
I once gave up growing them, then a friend gave me some nice Shohin sized cuttings so I have been working with them. with some success. Until this November, which was the hottest on record for Perth. So I have to see what happens after defoliation next Boxing day.

Cheers not much help Pup

thanks for the help.

i'll give the shade cloth another go, this time with a more perminate and sustainable frame. I'll try and find a less windy area as well.

PS a little help is better than no help so thanks again.

Just be careful now to not over do it and introduce new problems due to lack of sun and air movement.

These would include mildews, moulds, overwatering etc.

grant

its normally pretty sunny in adelaide during summer anyway(except when the ashes are on ) so i dont think mould or fungi etc will be much of a problem. Once we hit march or april ill remove the shade cloth so the plants get full sun so as to minimise the chance of mould etc.

thanks for picking up that issue

Ben

Hi Ben,

Maples are extremely prone to wind burn, after moving them to a shaded spot the next best thing you can do is give them lots and lots of water. As long as they are planted in a free-draining mix you will be fine. The burning happens when the wind essentially "sucks" the water out of the leaves as it passes over them (basically increasing the transpiration) causing them to dry out very quickly and become shrivelled. By supplying them with ample water you increase the water content in the leaves and so reduce the affect of the drying out. This should help to a degree along with the measures you have already implemented. As I already mentioned, if they are in a free-draining soil mix it will be impossible to over-water them, if not, you might have to be careful.

Hope that is of some help

The Japanese put Sphagnum moss over the pots to keep the roots cool, I have a mate who is using lupin mulch, for the first time he says it is very good, but admits it is early in our season as yet. Yes Lewis is right the mix has to be very open. Another friend, who has just started to post here, uses old carpet.

When I was at Peter Chan's last year I noticed some of the Maples were suffering the same thing I asked him about it. His answer was basically the same as we have here.

Then he did point out with over 3000 maples he did have a full time watering scheme going. Two men watering by hand for 6 hours a day. still some wind burn was inevitable, which does not helps us enthusiasts.

Thank you Grant for pointing out what I missed .

Cheers Pup

it might be a bit hard putting sphagnum moss on the young seedlings seeing as they are still pretty young and fragile, but i might try it if the situation doesn't improve.

i fear they might die during summer seeing as we're going away shortly, but its only for 5 days so im hoping the weather wont be too hot

thanks again for all the help

Ben