Sweetgum question

[Corrado]

What causes branch die off? IS it too much water or too little or insect? I have many branches but while away on vacation my daughter watering it as per my instructions. I came back to 4 branches where all the leaves shriveled up completely still attached to the stems along the branch. The other branches are perfectly fine and fully leafed?? We had a few days of heavy rains.

 

[jradics]

It seems your daughter did not follow your instructions

 

[Mike Westervelt]

Picture would help

 

[PA_Penjing]

sounds like a dry spot in the pot

 

[Corrado]

42 year old american Sweetgum. Perfect until I trusted it for 16 days to someone else to care for it. This is the sad part about this hobby. So if it was a lack of water or too much water wouldnt it affect the whole tree rather than a select few branches???

 

[Mike Westervelt]

Because its isolated to just several areas I'd guess fungus or pest damage, I personally have never seen a tree dry up it only one area.

 

[Joe Dupre']

I'll vote for lack of water. I've talked to a lot of people and they SAY they understand "water every day" , but they really don't.

 

[TomP]

Keep an eye on the other branches. If it is a fungus you will want to jump on it quickly the first sign of spotting

 

[PA_Penjing]

I watered over a thousand trees for my bonsai teacher, for over a year. one day he went to work on one of my freshly watered maples and called me over to show me a dry spot, where the trees trunk had prevented the hose from soaking the soil. He stated specifically that watering like that can cause entire branches to die on a tree. While it's not really first hand experience to yours, it's trusted criticism from someone decades in the hobby. And a mistake made by (me) someone who was no longer a beginner and in fact even enjoys watering trees. So, your die back could totally be one of those things you mentioned, but you have basically spelled out a dry spot in the soil caused by incorrect watering leading to a known result. I would definitely point to an inexperienced person volunteering to help out.
It's the reason my signature here is "almost out of the hobby" haha. it's too hard to go away and live life. I met a guy in the hobby recently that's at my exact same point of frustration with it. when does a hobby take more than it gives? I digress...

 

[Corrado]

interesting. my fingers are crossed for improper watering and not fungus. i lost 2 jewels 2 years ago a chojubai quince and a cotoneaster to some insidious fungus. Same thing-single branches die off but it progressed to more until the tree died. I dont think the basic tree form will be ruined when I cut off the branches since there still is plenty. Also I will bark scrape just to make sure the branch is indeed dead.
My daughter had to take care of 50 potted fig plants, 3 potted apples and a dozen bonsai. Only this one was affected. The canopy drops down to almost soil line so it is hard to get the shower head under neath for effective watering. Im guessing she didnt make a strong effort on that .So I will also shorten up the lower branches to allow freedom for watering. This was a tree started as a 2 year seedling in 1982

 

[Corrado]

I checked the branches and all 4 were dead to about 1.5 inches from the trunk. So I cut back to there. It actually opened up the trunk view better!!! This tree amazes me like that. The whole shape design was caused from a complete trunk damage by a hurricane . Sheared off the top half of the tree when it was a seedling. I kept it just to see how it would heal and grow. And look at it now!! LOL

 

[Apex37]

That’s great to hear that there’s a positive out of all of this! Posts like this are some of my biggest concerns with taking extended vacations. I have one in October I’m incredibly nervous about as it’s the longest I’ll be away from my trees. I’ve pretty much decided May-Sept are no travel months. It just gets too hot come that time for me to feel comfortable leaving an extended period of time. In the same hand though, restricting my life to the point where I’m stuck at home forever tending to plants is not healthy either. It’s all part of the game we play and finding a balance in life. I hope it recovers and the design is bettered from it!

 

[penumbra]

Over watering of a sweet gum is highly unlikely.

 

[Dabbler]

Over watering of a sweet gum is highly unlikely.

I have some in my neighborhood that grow right on the waters edge

 

[Corrado]

YEs they do love their water. Most likely a dry spot from underwatering from my inexperienced daughter. YEs so many places to go and tied down during the growing season with my bonsai, fig plants and pets.