Bloodgood Japanese Maple

[Steve Kudela]

Hey folks, I don't mean to take up a bunch of internet space, but, this one is boggling my heart and mind and I just had to take a minute to share. It's an older JM that I've had for 32 years give or take a few months. In May 2015 my entire yard and bonsai collection were hit by herbicide drift when careless farmers went out and sprayed in 14 mph sustained wind. This tree was absolutely devastated, ( not the worst,12 died). Lost a good number of branches, the leaves and twigs were just eaten up. I was one sick fellow..... I had to have the collection professionally appraised as to value, so I contacted Rodney Clemons. He basically said for all the maples, right 'em off, they probably won't make it. Well, all the trees stopped using water and just sat there in soggy soil for the rest of 2015. ended up with some root rot as a result......In 2016, it leafed out very weakly and the leaves were covered with burned spots and distorted lobes, even the trunk just took on a sickly coloration. It dropped a few more small branches. I was even more sickened over it with no expectation of survival.........Along comes 2017 and miracles abound!! The thing started to slowly leaf out, I didn't even expect that it even would, so far with no burned spots and no distortion in the lobes, It's even throwing shoots all over the place. I'm not believing what I'm seeing!!! I'm going to keep watching with the hope that it will continue to recover. Several things leafed out last year normally and then secondary growth showed herbicide effects. Anyway, I don't want to take up too much space but just wanted to share my joy over what seems to be recovery going on. Thanks

 

[Bonsai Nut]

The only thing that is better than a healthy bonsai is a bonsai that was sick, but recovers!

Great news! Did you find out what herbicide they were spraying? I know it's been a while, but might be worth checking to see how it functions and if there are possible counter-measures. If it was Roundup, for example, you would want to immediately defoliate within 12 hours of exposure. Good to know for the future, at any rate.

 

[aml1014]

Probably one of THE BEST Bloodgood I've seen, great tree.

Aaron

 

[Steve Kudela]

The only thing that is better than a healthy bonsai is a bonsai that was sick, but recovers!

Great news! Did you find out what herbicide they were spraying? I know it's been a while, but might be worth checking to see how it functions and if there are possible counter-measures. If it was Roundup, for example, you would want to immediately defoliate within 12 hours of exposure. Good to know for the future, at any rate.

Thank you Sir! They used a combination of Grammoxone and Warrant. Spent hours upon hours with different folks from Rodney to various UGA experts and even Monsanto and Syngenta Corp. I posted here seeking solutions. The makers of the herbicides were clueless, saying " our product won't do that", horsefeathers!! As per Rodney's orders, I used charcoal to help filter it, that was the common consensus among people that I spoke with. Apparently, I was in fairly uncharted territory. I was very grateful that it was not Roundup, this other stuff was bad enough. Very strange things were going on these last 2 seasons, even had a late season Matsunami blossom with 9 petals, one with 7. Just going to keep watching with the hope that the effects will eventually go away. Right now though, I'm really rejoicing over this maple! Thanks for commenting!!!

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Hey folks, I don't mean to take up a bunch of internet space, but, this one is boggling my heart and mind and I just had to take a minute to share. It's an older JM that I've had for 32 years give or take a few months. In May 2015 my entire yard and bonsai collection were hit by herbicide drift when careless farmers went out and sprayed in 14 mph sustained wind. This tree was absolutely devastated, ( not the worst,12 died). Lost a good number of branches, the leaves and twigs were just eaten up. I was one sick fellow..... I had to have the collection professionally appraised as to value, so I contacted Rodney Clemons. He basically said for all the maples, right 'em off, they probably won't make it. Well, all the trees stopped using water and just sat there in soggy soil for the rest of 2015. ended up with some root rot as a result......In 2016, it leafed out very weakly and the leaves were covered with burned spots and distorted lobes, even the trunk just took on a sickly coloration. It dropped a few more small branches. I was even more sickened over it with no expectation of survival.........Along comes 2017 and miracles abound!! The thing started to slowly leaf out, I didn't even expect that it even would, so far with no burned spots and no distortion in the lobes, It's even throwing shoots all over the place. I'm not believing what I'm seeing!!! I'm going to keep watching with the hope that it will continue to recover. Several things leafed out last year normally and then secondary growth showed herbicide effects. Anyway, I don't want to take up too much space but just wanted to share my joy over what seems to be recovery going on. ThanksView attachment 138758

What a nice post of a recovery! Nice looing maple too!

 

[Steve Kudela]

Probably one of THE BEST Bloodgood I've seen, great tree.

Aaron

Thank you Sir! I'm hoping now that it's showing signs of recovery, that I can get it back in really good shape. Thanks for commenting!

 

[Steve Kudela]

What a nice post of a recovery! Nice looing maple too!

Thank you Sir!!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Thank you Sir! They used a combination of Grammoxone and Warrant. Spent hours upon hours with different folks from Rodney to various UGA experts and even Monsanto and Syngenta Corp. I posted here seeking solutions. The makers of the herbicides were clueless, saying " our product won't do that", horsefeathers!! As per Rodney's orders, I used charcoal to help filter it, that was the common consensus among people that I spoke with. Apparently, I was in fairly uncharted territory. I was very grateful that it was not Roundup, this other stuff was bad enough. Very strange things were going on these last 2 seasons, even had a late season Matsunami blossom with 9 petals, one with 7. Just going to keep watching with the hope that the effects will eventually go away. Right now though, I'm really rejoicing over this maple! Thanks for commenting!!!

Grammoxone is a brand name for paraquat! It is also highly toxic to animals and humans. You weren't around when this was happening were you? You ever hear of "Agent Orange"? That's paraquat. It's use has been banned in the EU since 2007. In the US it is restricted-use, so these farmers better have had a license to use it. Sadly, it is very fast-acting and rain-fast, you are fortunate your tree survived.

Roundup (glyphosate) is a weird product because it only works on actively growing plants and has to be absorbed through the foliage. You can spray it all over your dormant maples and they won't miss a beat - drench the roots, they couldn't care less. But get it on leaves on an active growing tree and it will kill it dead. The uptake can be somewhat slow, so if you defoliate immediately after exposure you can sometimes reduce the impact.

Sorry I didn't see your earlier thread

Maybe your maple will become like one of Frank Yee's jade trees (sprayed with DDT back in the day) and undergo some strange mutation and become a super-maple

 

[Steve Kudela]

Grammoxone is a brand name for paraquat! It is also highly toxic to animals and humans. You weren't around when this was happening were you? You ever hear of "Agent Orange"? That's paraquat. It's use has been banned in the EU since 2007. In the US it is restricted-use, so these farmers better have had a license to use it. Sadly, it is very fast-acting and rain-fast, you are fortunate your tree survived.

Roundup (glyphosate) is a weird product because it only works on actively growing plants and has to be absorbed through the foliage. You can spray it all over your dormant maples and they won't miss a beat - drench the roots, they couldn't care less. But get it on leaves on an active growing tree and it will kill it dead. The uptake can be somewhat slow, so if you defoliate immediately after exposure you can sometimes reduce the impact.

Sorry I didn't see your earlier thread

Maybe your maple will become like one of Frank Yee's jade trees (sprayed with DDT back in the day) and undergo some strange mutation and become a super-maple

That's one of the things we found out. I remembered Agent Orange and paraquat form the Nam era. They are still to this day dealing with that junk. have known a few Nam vets that can tell you stories about it. He wasn't really a friend, but a fellow woodworker recently passed away that suffered the effects of the stuff. We were home home that day, but saw them out there in the wind and we stayed in the house. During the process, I spoke for awhile with the Georgia Poison Control Center, bored them to death with my explanation, they assured us that if we weren't sick by then, we would probably be ok. I hope they were right. We'll see over the long term I guess. Anthony from the West Indies says they use it as a suicide agent. They call it "Indian Tonic". A drawn out, excruciating death. My gosh!

 

[Vin]

I hope they paid dearly for their negligence! Glad to see it is recovering and looking extremely nice.

 

[Steve Kudela]

I hope they paid dearly for their negligence! Glad to see it is recovering and looking extremely nice.

Thanks for commenting Vin! I found out through this ordeal that these guys have pulled this stuff a number of times before as well as some other stupidities. No one had done anything about it. And that herbicide drift was becoming epidemic. I took 'em to task over it and Glory to God won!

 

[Carol 83]

Wow, really nice tree. Glad it survived. Any reputable company would have paid you for the loss and damage. Wind speed is supposed to be documented before any spray job, and no one should be spraying with a 14pmh wind.

 

[Wilson]

Steve you are definitely one of the first guys who made me realize there are some great bonsai growing in the south east! Absolutely beautiful tree!

 

[JudyB]

I remember well when this happened, and it made me so angry then. I am so glad to see a recovered tree, and this one looks glorious. I do wish you'd share more of your trees, I love love love the trunk movement on this. So sweet.
Did they ever have to pay you anything for the damage? We live right in the middle of a ton of crop fields, it's always concerning when they spray. I'm so glad that you went inside that day.

 

[Les]

Awesome blood good maple!!!

 

[CasAH]

Back in HS in the late 70's went on a trip to Lowell, MA for a competition. The event was cancelled because one of the students at the HS died from smoking pot laced with Paraquat. Figured it got sprayed than harvested real quick and sold.

 

[just.wing.it]

I'll second Aaron, that's the best bloodgood I've ever seen, looking good!

 

[Woody Carverton]

What a beautiful specimen, I would have cried like a school-girl if that were my tree and it died. I'm glad it's recovering.

Having spend a good number of years studying Mycology, Might i suggest you inoculate the tree with 'trichoderma reesei' Or for that matter put it on all of your trees if you live in an area where herbicides and commercial farming are close by. I took part in a study back in 2008 where various species of trichoderma was used on several species of "woody plants" which were later dosed with various herbicides, miticides, & pesticides among various other things. The study concluded that woody plants were nearly 70% more likely to survive toxic chemical application if they had active cultures of trichoderma growing on them. I recommend 'trichoderma reesei' over the other trichoderma species like 'trichoderma viride' or 'trichoderma harzianum' as reesei has the ability to secrete large quantities of cellulolytic enzymes which also meant it tested highest for woody plant survival rate against a larger section of chemicals.

Just a crazy 'ole mans 2 cents worth. But I figured I would put it out there.

 

[Steve Kudela]

Wow, really nice tree. Glad it survived. Any reputable company would have paid you for the loss and damage. Wind speed is supposed to be documented before any spray job, and no one should be spraying with a 14pmh wind.

Thanks so much Carol! This particular bunch in the past has done just about any old thing they want to do. They completely ignored it for nearly a year. Then their insurance company jerked around for another 8 months, but my attorney finally got through to them and they settled it about a month ago. A really fine bunch of people to deal with! Thanks again for commenting!

 

[Steve Kudela]

Steve you are definitely one of the first guys who made me realize there are some great bonsai growing in the south east! Absolutely beautiful tree!

Thanks so much Wilson!! We certainly have a good climate for it. I've seen some pretty good trees down here over years, including at least 1 world famous tree ( Joe Samuel's narrow leaf ficus). I've had a lot of seriously inspirational trees to study over the years and am humbled that you would include me as part of it. thank you again!