Trident maple needs an ambulance

BonsaiOrlando

I own a very old Trident maple. I have attached a pic that is about two months old and you can see browning of the leaf edge. At this point it is not bad and quite normal. Now I think I have a serious problem developing. It has dropped 2/3 of its leaves and they turn dark grey/brown and drop. It starts from the edge of the leaf and works its way inward torward the branch. At first I thought maybe too much sun as Im in florida zone 9. Its been in shade wth light on the patio for over a month and getting worse. I superthrive every three and a half weeks or so and rotate that and fish emulsion. I water daily but not a long soak just a a shower and drain. I recently applied 3 applications of insecticide soap, your typical blue spray bottle and any chaon store. Its called garden something rather. I also repotted this past weekend because I had a lot of really thick moss from colorado but it turn dark and smelled like hell. It in fresh pine bark,turface mixture and drains nice. I also put a handful of vigro slow release. any suggestions?

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jbhayman

You may have a root rot problem. Try a fungicide and hope you still have live roots left.

JB

Jay

A question.. you say you own a very old Trident, but do not say how long you have owned it and if it is a short time where it came from. This might help you get a good answer.

Jay

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Dav4

It does sound like a root zone problem. What was the opriginal soil like below the moss? Also, you say you repotted recently. Healthy Tridents have vigorous root systems with many thick, white roots...what did the roots of this tree look like?


Dave

onlyrey

BonsaiOrlando,

It sounds like you are giving it just about every medicine/insecticide/fertilizer to fix whatever weakness the tree might have. You might actually be incrementing the problem by trying to do so many things to it.

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BonsaiOrlando

I have owned the tree just shy of a year. It has always been very healthy until now. Tis came on quite quickly. The soil mixture was the same as it is now and comes from a friend hat owns a bonsai shop. The roots looked pretty decent. A few dark here and there but lots of whte. The tree is not dying, still has nice moisture and green if you use your finger nail for a scrape on any of the branches. It was rinsed as well as could be during repotting without damaging any roots but I am sure it will encounter a little stress from the repotting in itself. It had to be done, the moss just saturated the soil with a stinch and I was affraid it had some kind of bad effect or a least trappng too much water. Now it drains freely but shes not happy. the tree is at least 70 years old. Here is its current picture as of this post.

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gregb

Have you had this tree in Florida the whole time you've had it? You mention that you shower the tree when you water it. The leaves look like they have bacterial leaf spot, which is water-borne (bacteria gets on leaves via water)

Try watering the roots of the tree and keep the water off the foliage. It has to be pretty humid in Orlando anyway and there should be little need to water the foliage. And if you're in doubt, take the tree to your County Extension Service. They have a master gardener there to diagnose plant diseases and the best of all--it's free. Your tax dollars pay for it. Look in the phone book under the county pages for the number. Do it as soon as you can. Another thing, I don't know about trident maples, but I don't think Japanese maples can be grown in Florida. Maybe you are trying to grow a species that doesn't do well in that climate. Let us know how it goes.