Black/Dying Cambium on J. Maple

[W3rk]

I repotted this standard J. Maple about a week ago - but only noticed now that it's outside in daylight that what looked like a bit of discoloration is black and looks like diseased/dying cambium.

This is completely new to me, it's oddly in patches all over, don't know what it is or what to do. When I repotted it the roots all seemed to look good and healthy.

 

[MrWunderful]

Did you try scratching it for green? On the black areas, as well as above.

 

[0soyoung]

This sometimes happens and is nothing more than a discoloration that scares you. I've been fooled many times. Black usually equals recent cambium death. If so, the dark areas should be 'punky' --> weepy, squishy, and easily dislodged. Otherwise, wait and see.

Your tree has buds on the branches above the dark areas. As long as they are there, the branch is alive. If the buds push and leaves emerge, the branch is alive --> even if there is cambium death, it may 'heal'.

 

[W3rk]

Yeah the buds above have swollen some which is a good sign, but I gave the bark a nick earlier at a black spot and it did not look good. I will take a closer look tomorrow.

 

[namnhi]

It is dead! You will see the buds wilted in a couple days if they not already is.

 

[John P.]

Not good. Been there. Sorry.

 

[Forsoothe!]

My experience is there is no linear correlation. Sometimes bad, some no big deal. I have never been able to tell the difference one way or the other. Wait until it's proven dead. Stop scratching it.

 

[Arlithrien]

One of my vines got this once. Luckily it was isolated to a small branch so I was able to remove it with minimal damage to the plant.

 

[Alain BERTRAND]

My experience is there is no linear correlation. Sometimes bad, some no big deal. I have never been able to tell the difference one way or the other. Wait until it's proven dead. Stop scratching it.

Same for me. I have had some cases of verticillium wilt on my japanese mapples growing in the ground but the symptoms were usually later in the growing season, when leaves where fully grown.

 

[sorce]

That wrinkly bit ain't good. I'd throw it out or burn it. Definitely burn it.

Sorce

 

[ajm55555]

I agree with Sorce, it doesn't look good. If you want to see if it heals and buds, keep it isolated from other plants. Sometimes they bud but after a while the energy is depleted and the plant dies, so you'll have to wait a bit here.

 

[R3x]

My experience is also that this is bad. You may try cutting well below first occurrence. Helped me once.

 

[AlainK]

This looks like "pseudomonas" or the like, but it's always very difficult to have a definite diagnosis. If you prune the affected parts as suggested and apply "?", there's a good chance your tree will survive.

"?" It's hard to say if it's a fungal disease or a bacterial infection, but on Japanese maples, the best treatment I experimented was "Bordeaux mix", a copper-based treatment. Diluted lime sulfur could help too.

 

[johnbaz]

I have a JM (not Bonsai) that had this at the bottom of the trunk this year, All the new growth died back with days, It was dead from the bottom up!
I have another that suffered the same but higher up so I chopped it below the blackness and it's survived although there's only two branches now!!

I've also a couple of smaller ones that are (Or were!) Bonsai that got it but only as patches on one side, They both carried on and were doing well but now one is dying and I don't hold out much hope of the other living!

The one I chopped back to two branches I applied Copper sulphate to the chop and it seems to be doing really well with the leaves almost open!, I think I was supposed to mix the Copper sulphate with something else butI didn't know what so I mixed it to a bit of a paste with water and sat it on the cut!


John..