Help with Red Japanese Maple...

[RobertB]

I purchased this red Japanese maple this spring (probably a red seedling, atropurpureum, as I didn't see any grafts) right as the buds were extending. It looked like it had gotten a little too much water during winter and was loose in the pot but I saw a future in it. I purchased for 20$. It was about 3 feet tall and I cut it back to create some better movement in the trunk. I kept the lowest branch in hopes of developing a double trunk one day. I brought it home, chopped it back to an existing branch that I wired up to be the leader, repotted it while removing the dead roots and overall trimming the roots then placed it in full sun. I budded out as normal in early march.

In around later april, I noticed that the foliage was starting to look pretty bad. When I noticed the shift in foliage color and browning, I figured it was sun burn so I moved it into part shade. I must also say that it had starting to back bud prior to placing in part shade.

Now the new shoots are starting to extend and Im seeing the same thing happening to the hardened off foliage as the shoots are extending. I haven't done any cutting on as I realized the tree needed to grow and get healthy. Any suggestions to what might be going on?

There was no fertilizer added until late April and its organic. The leafs starting doing this way before the application of the ferts. So I don't think its from the ferts. I originally had thought to add some fert since the new growth starting extending pretty fast.

Here is the plant now in may shade area. The red circles are the foliage that flushed out first this spring. I did hit it with a fairly high concentration of daconil at some point in early spring thinking it might have been fungus. I don't think the daconil caused the burn. The circled portion on the right is where I was trying to get a new leader but it never created any more buds after pushing out leaves.



Close up of some of the mostly hardened off new growth.


Close up of the growing tip. Even the tips of the fresh leaves look a little wilted even though the plant is in a lot of shade.

 

[RobertB]

repot pics

 

[RobertB]

anyone?

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Robert, I think you have a fungus. Anthracose, psudonomas, and verticulum wilt are common problems in or area. New growth is attacked when it is young. Daconil or a fungicide specifically for the pathogen twice a week should help. Smoke wrote a really good post on this.

 

[RobertB]

John, thank you for the response. I plan on spraying everything this evening with Daconil. Hopefully it helps with the problem.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

John, thank you for the response. I plan on spraying everything this evening with Daconil. Hopefully it helps with the problem.

I am hitting mine today too, been spraying twice a month since February. The fungus has been particularly bad the past few years, I lost five trees to it.

 

[RobertB]

I've been trying to spray weekly. My wife started a rose garden next to my bonsais since I started spraying fungicide. Hopefully they don't help my plants develop a fungus problem. Trying to keep them sprayed weekly. Probably going to start rotating with other than daconil. Only other problems is these dam aphids which I murder by the thousands once a week on my quinces.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

I have been rotating,too. Mancozeb, Clearys, and Phyton are good. I have not used the bottom yet. I have also been using the hydrogen peroxide like @osoyoung recommends.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I hit everything with Daconil this spring, and all growth stopped entirely for several weeks. I don’t know if it was the effects of a cool April, or the Daconil, but it was alarming. I’ve heard several pros recommend Manzoceb over Daconil and I’ve started using it with no ill effects. (Anyone else hear this?)

Robert, maybe try changing fungicides and giving it some time. My J maples are finished growing here, and they won’t do much more this year. In light of a major root pruning, it may be all it does this year.

 

[coh]

I hit everything with Daconil this spring, and all growth stopped entirely for several weeks. I don’t know if it was the effects of a cool April, or the Daconil, but it was alarming. I’ve heard several pros recommend Manzoceb over Daconil and I’ve started using it with no ill effects. (Anyone else hear this?)

Robert, maybe try changing fungicides and giving it some time. My J maples are finished growing here, and they won’t do much more this year. In light of a major root pruning, it may be all it does this year.

Yeah, Ryan Neil has mentioned an issue with daconil a few times during his streams. I don't recall all the details, but I think there was some reformulation within the past couple of years involving a spreader/sticking agent (not the daconil itself) that is in the mix, and this caused problems on some trees. The discussion was about conifers, spruce perhaps being most affected. I don't know if any impacts have been noted on maples. I believe he recommends mancozeb for general fungal issues.

I've been using daconil for years without any problems, but my container was purchased probably 5 or 6 years ago, before the supposed change to the mix. I'm not yet sure what I'm going to do when I run out of my current supply.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

I hit everything with Daconil this spring, and all growth stopped entirely for several weeks. I don’t know if it was the effects of a cool April, or the Daconil, but it was alarming. I’ve heard several pros recommend Manzoceb over Daconil and I’ve started using it with no ill effects. (Anyone else hear this?)

Robert, maybe try changing fungicides and giving it some time. My J maples are finished growing here, and they won’t do much more this year. In light of a major root pruning, it may be all it does this year.

I haven't seen any ill effects from daconil, I use it on maples and azaleas, but growth was a little slow, I think it was the unusually cool weather. The daconil I has is from this year.

I have been using mancozeb also, it was recommended to me by @markyscott, and I like it. It seems to stay on longer.

 

[RobertB]

I hit everything with Daconil this spring, and all growth stopped entirely for several weeks. I don’t know if it was the effects of a cool April, or the Daconil, but it was alarming. I’ve heard several pros recommend Manzoceb over Daconil and I’ve started using it with no ill effects. (Anyone else hear this?)

Robert, maybe try changing fungicides and giving it some time. My J maples are finished growing here, and they won’t do much more this year. In light of a major root pruning, it may be all it does this year.

I have a kiohime that did this. It leafed out and thats it.

I have another 3 yr maple that is growing like crazy.

I heard Ryan Neil say something like Mancozeb was for junipers and larches, etc.. i didnt know you could use on everything.

I haven't seen any ill effects from daconil, I use it on maples and azaleas, but growth was a little slow, I think it was the unusually cool weather. The daconil I has is from this year.

I have been using mancozeb also, it was recommended to me by @markyscott, and I like it. It seems to stay on longer.

I unfortunately didnt get to spray daconil yesterday so tonight it is. All this rain recently....

 

[Mellow Mullet]

I have a kiohime that did this. It leafed out and thats it.

I have another 3 yr maple that is growing like crazy.

I heard Ryan Neil say something like Mancozeb was for junipers and larches, etc.. i didnt know you could use on everything.



I unfortunately didnt get to spray daconil yesterday so tonight it is. All this rain recently....

Both the daconil and the mancozeb seem to stay on well if it has time to dry, or at least there seems to be residue on the leaves, even after a shower or two. I try to hit mine in the evenings, after the afternoon thunderstorms. The wind is usually down at that time to so I don't have to worry about the overspray getting on me that much. Make sure to wear some ppe for your lungs.

 

[coh]

Digging a little deeper on the daconil issue...

The active ingredient in "daconil" is a chemical called chlorothalonil. But there are multiple products available that feature this as an active ingredient. These include (but are not limited to)

(1) Daconil Weather Stik, which is 54% chlorothalonil. I went back and listened to some of Ryan's discussions on daconil and he specifically mentioned "weather stik" as being the ingredient that was reformulated and made stronger, and which has caused some phytotoxicity issuess. I'm guessing this is the version of the chemical that he is referring to.

(2) Then there are other products called "Daconil" that show up on various websites, but without the "Weather Stik" part. They are generally lower concentrates (around 29%) but contain the same active ingredient. These might be OK.

(3) Finally, there is something put out by bonide called "Fung-onil" which also contains the same active ingredient (chlorothalonil) at 29.6%. This is the version of "daconil" that I have been using.

So it's possible that the only one that has been reformulated is the first one but I can't say that with any certainty.

 

[Hyn Patty]

I see you are in Alabama and if you have been getting all this tropical rain up from the Gulf like the rest of the South East, I agree with everyone else that it's likely a fungal issue. My trees are doing all right but man, three weeks straight of downpours every day has got to take it's toll. I want to follow this thread myself as sooner or later I'm likely to be in the same position with similar problems. Lot of rain up here in the mountains as well as still being in the hurricane/tropical storm dump zone.

 

[Lazylightningny]

we've been getting it here in the northeast too

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Hi Robert,
Just to add to this thread, after many years using chemicals.
It seems like Daconil has a strong adjuvant/sticker that causes problems as @coh suggests.
I can advise using a separate sticker/spreader and adding to dilute solution (after adding water and chemical etc). Also using a sticker/adjuvant and spraying with a window of 4-6 hours with no rain the chemical will be rain-fast for up to 14 days (the chemical life).
I am not totally up with what fungus issues you guys have, but finding out which type of fungus you have will then inform you with which chemicals mode of action you need to use.
Lastly Clearys 554? is a curative chemical with no protectant properties so using Mancozeb or Bravo/Benlate ( check for your brands) and use as protectants every 14 days.
Yes I might not live in USA, but most if not all chemicals are designed for global uses.
Charles