Log in

[southpaw]

Can anyone tell me what’s going on with my Red Dragon Japanese Maple? I purchased it about 2 weeks ago. It’s still in the nursery pot as I haven’t had the chance to either put it in the ground to transfer to another container. The spots are on the top and bottom of the leaves, as if burned through. It’s in full sun most of the afternoon. I’m in Oregon Zone 9, inland from the coast. There was a day when it was watered by the sprinkler, so I’m wondering if it burned by the water droplets, or getting too much sun.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.                                                                                                                                                                                 Thank you

[Fatzo]

Hi there the picture’s really small, but from what I see it’s really the whole tree that’s impacted. It sure looks like that “magnifying glass” effect of sunlight on drops of water – not much time is needed for that to happen if the sun shines strong and watering was abundant, like the sprinkler you mentioned.

Those leaves with marks won’t regenerate, it’s typical of deciduous trees that they have a “no repair” strategy: better make do with what survives and start afresh next year. Plus the damage isn’t so extensive, so it won’t weaken the plant at all.

I think some people who make bonsai from these things would try to defoliate the whole tree (removing all the leaves), this forces the tree to produce a second flush of leaves. It would also certainly work on this one, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea because that really weakens the tree. It might not survive.

You should try to find the time to plant it, that way it can start spreading its roots around. Love the color of this one, it’s really nice!

---

Loving the season!

[Fast Driver]

Sunburn due to watering is what I suspect as well. It’s ideal to plant trees in spring so that by the time summer comes, the roots have already well settled in and the plant is ready to fight the heat.

The only thing you can do now is to plant it soon in the ground so as to get more nutrients from the soil and eventually improve the overall health of the plant.

 

[bertybert]

I’m not so sure about that, for a magnifying glass effect to appear the lower surface of the drop has to be convex, not simply touching the leaf but at a distance. You don’t get that on a smooth surface like maple leaves. I’d tend to think it’s some kind of fungus but we’d need a better picture to say which one. @southpaw, do you think you could try to get a picture with a focus on one of the leaves?

[Author]

Posts