Brown birch leaves

f1pt4

f1pt4

Chumono
Messages
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Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
USDA Zone
5
image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg



I collected a birch in the early spring. Second week of May to be presise. It adapted quite well. Nice new growth, everything seemed to be going well.

Last week I noticed some brown spots on the leaves and they kept on spreading. Now I got some on new growth that's approx 1 week old and it's also developing the spots. To add to that I noticed a leaf with white speckles on it. Wtf is going on.

All of my trees are in a south facing yard, with no protection. None of my trees show any signs of leaf burn, infact they are growing well and seem very very happy.

The other birch I collected has exploded with growth and is super healthy and vigorous. No spots. Just lush green leaves. Both were collected from the same area. Both are in a 100% organic mix. Promix for containers. Same stuff my spruce, Apple, hawthorn, and larches are in, that were collected this year. Once they establish themselves I will transplant them into a 75% inorganic mix. Most likely 2 years.

Any help/insight is welcome.

Thanks.
 
Mildwew? I thought birch had shorter leaves (more square/round, not so long).
 
The spots look to me like sun damage. I don't think the white stuff is related to the spotting.
 
image.jpeg

I'm pretty sure it's a birch. It's relatively young with only about an inch diameter at the base so the mature bark hasn't developed. That's my guess. River birch, silver birch. Something like that. I'll look into it and try to pinpoint the exact species. My other birch, has nice mature bark on it so there's no denying that one.

Cypress187 said:
Kind of, I'm not an expert so I posted as a question (not as the absolute truth), I should have posted "perhaps it's (true) mildew" ;)
Click to expand...
 
rockm said:
The spots look to me like sun damage. I don't think the white stuff is related to the spotting.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same. The white being mildew I'm assuming and the brown being sun damage, also assuming. We've had some nasty hot dry weather over the past few weeks. Maybe it's a candidate for partial shade.
 
f1pt4 said:
I'm pretty sure it's a birch.
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I have (had) alot of local birches, but they are 'paper' birch, the leaves are more round / shorter and the bark much more white. I hope I can keep them alive next year, only have 2 left :( Killed about 3 of 4.
 
Cypress187 said:
I have (had) alot of local birches, but they are 'paper' birch, the leaves are more round / shorter and the bark much more white. I hope I can keep them alive next year, only have 2 left :( Killed about 3 of 4.
Click to expand...

The other one I have is a white birch. The mature bark is starting to show.

The leaves are slightly rounder but still fairly pointy. Not as serrated as the yellow birch, but still with teeth.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/white-birch

I'm assuming that it's similar to your paper birch.



image.jpeg image.jpeg
 
f1pt4 said:
The other one I have is a white birch. The mature bark is starting to show.

The leaves are slightly rounder but still fairly pointy. Not as serrated as the yellow birch, but still with teeth.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/white-birch

I'm assuming that it's similar to your paper birch.



View attachment 112031 View attachment 112032
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These are common here too.

On the 2nd picture...if the branches growing from below the picture are suckers, I would advise you to remove them completely as soon as you find some growing. If the are not intended for another trunks... The later you remove them the bigger wound. They do not close well and can decay. The suckers suck the energy.
 
petegreg said:
These are common here too.

On the 2nd picture...if the branches growing from below the picture are suckers, I would advise you to remove them completely as soon as you find some growing. If the are not intended for another trunks... The later you remove them the bigger wound. They do not close well and can decay. The suckers suck the energy.
Click to expand...

They are suckers.

The only reason I left them, is because I removed all the suckers off of my newly collected hawthorn, and it took a turn for the worse. That was the only thing I did to it.

So I left the hawthorn in place. keeping my fingers crossed that it will bounce back. Well the good news is, is that it's still alive. The bad news is, is that the only growth now is new suckers. Which I'm keeping btw, because if all else fails it will turn into a hawthorn sumo. It's got a very nice thick gnarly base.

You're like the fifth person to tell me to remove the suckers off of my birch. I guess I should do it. Very well.

;)
 
My club mates told me that the suckers could take over the main trunks in the worst case. And the wounds on a birch are inviting mushrooms...
 
im thinking the first birch may be a over watering issue or nutrient problem, as the leaves seem to be yellowing before the burn, coupled with the fact its in full organic mix, id guess its a watering issue. Nutrient issues can arise when the ph of your water is not in the ideal range for a species, so even if you are giving the right nutrients, the plant is unable to absorb them due ph imbalance. you could get some water in the ideal PH range and flush the plant by dumping say 3 -4 gallons of it next watering, and check the ph of your water after you add your fertilizer to your water to make sure its in the correct range. when is the last time you fertilized? Yellow birch are definitely more finicky than white birch from my limited experience. Or it could be a sun burn like rockm said, as I do not think yellow are classified as "shade intolerant".
 
Waltron said:
im thinking the first birch may be a over watering issue or nutrient problem, as the leaves seem to be yellowing before the burn, coupled with the fact its in full organic mix, id guess its a watering issue. Nutrient issues can arise when the ph of your water is not in the ideal range for a species, so even if you are giving the right nutrients, the plant is unable to absorb them due ph imbalance. you could get some water in the ideal PH range and flush the plant by dumping say 3 -4 gallons of it next watering, and check the ph of your water after you add your fertilizer to your water to make sure its in the correct range. when is the last time you fertilized? Yellow birch are definitely more finicky than white birch from my limited experience. Or it could be a sun burn like rockm said, as I do not think yellow are classified as "shade intolerant".
Click to expand...

I fert every 10-12 days. Last time was yesterday. Before that a week and a bit ago.

Right now everything is on 20-20-20

I don't have a ph meter, perhaps I should invest in one. The municipal water is heavily chlorinated. I try to fill my watering cans a day before and let them evaporate some of the chlorine before I water. Although sometimes water from the hose is a necessity.. Like when it's 45 degrees celcius and hasn't rained in a month. Which has been happening this year...

No, yellow birch can handle shade. White birch prefer loads of sun.
 
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