anthocyanin of aureum-Full Moon Japanese Maple

I recently purchased a Full Moon Maple which was located at the nursery in full shade under a mature conifer. When I moved the Full Moon Maple(FMM) to my property it immediately started to change color. The FMM receives morning sun from 8AM until 12:30PM. It is in the shade the rest of the day. After the Solstice it will be receiving less and less sun each day. The leaves aren't drying out they have just anthocyaned. Should I be concerned? Should I consider a different location with more shade? Will the plant eventually adjust to the increase in sunlight? We've had a very cold and wet spring. We're seeing only our second week of full sun for the whole spring and this could be compounding the problem. What are your thoughts?

Thanks,
Aureumtadum

I certainly wouldn't want to venture to speculate what the heck is wrong with your tree but it is not normal .. if you have read any post on this tree it is not for newbees and even for experienced Jmsters best to buy a larger one and keep it in almost full shade .. it is getting fall coloration so I would assume you are in for a bit of trouble which is no surprise here as most Aureum growers are. If it were getting too much sun it would fry not turn red. It is definitely an Aureum leaf form not a similar cultivar like Autumn Moon or Moonrise which are much easier to grow. But I guess it could be seed grown, check for a graft, ir it could be a weird branch grafted off an aurum but I doubt it... if it is seed grown you may have a normal colored generic tree that has Aureum lineage but not an actual Aureum and it may then just be normal .. but who knows .. if so you got ripped off but your tree may live and it is pretty...if not flip a coin on what happens and .. enjoy it while you can .
Davidsan

This message was edited Jun 14, 2010 6:18 PM

It's grafted.

All you can do is leave it alone and hope for the best. I'd just watch it and hope the leaves don't fall off or get fried. It is certainly a bit odd! The extra sun may just have made it think the season changed some.

Laura

My 'Autumn Moon' gets orange-y in too much sun, followed by scorch. It's quite a change from full shade to a half day of sun, and if you've recently planted it, there's still some shock affecting the plant. Unless you see definite signs of disease, leave it be this year and next year it should fare better.

Davidsan:
Why do say that 'Autumn Moon' and 'Moonrise' are easier than 'Aureum'?

Both can take much more sun and don't seem so touchy with water .. Moonrise is a phenominal tree and has more of that lime green color but nothing has the same shade as Aureum. when it is good it is very good but extreemly easy to burn but needs some sun to look great .. Older Aureum with more developed roots do seem much easier to grow ... buying a one or two gallon is often a waist of $$ IMHO... I personally lost several within weeks of purchase.... it is not a tree for newbes

the aureum i have was a one gallon - it is in a container right now and it only got morning sun the first year - this year it was in morning and afternoon sun - mid day protected - has done well so far - hoping for more growth this year and next year it may go in the ground.

Good to know. I have never seen a #1 or #2 'Aureum', so I never even thought about it. It usually seems to be better to plant 1-3yr old plants than big dudes, so I would have assumed that of 'Aureum' as well. Thanks.

i usually go for the larger trees myself

The only reason to buy small younger and smaller Jms is $$ which of course is not inconsequential especially in these hard times . For southern growers it can work but for northeners it becomes more problematic. with such small root systems they are subject to cold and water problems.. And critters can be a bigger problem with smaller trees . In most northern areas it takes quite a long time for a tree to really take off and grow. JMs usually don't do a whole lot once planted for a couple of years and then shoot up (although some cultivars adjust faster than others) . So it becomes $$ vs the elements and time .

From my own experience and observations.Most folks start out buying smaller jms mostly because Jms generally cost are more $$ than the trees and bushes they are use to buying . They scourer the closeouts at Lowes and Kmart or where ever . and they buy whatever is on sale or cheap they often buy 2 or 3 of the same type ( big mistake with so many available it is folly to buy more than one of anything...unless you have acres of yard ). After a while most "addicts" see that there are allot of Jms that are similar and common and a ton of others that are very differnt so those lowes trees seem uninteresting. Then they go to the auction sites and online nurseries that sell mostly one gallons start buying tons of twigs and very small containers of more unusual types .... but after a while they see that they don't want to wait 4 years for a twig to look like a tree ( if it survives).They have become smitten with the look of at least a somewhat larger tree and it's fullness and beauty... Basically most folks who stay addicted to JMs find uniqueness quality and size ( at a reasonable price) is more important to them than quantity and just $$ . This becomes painfully the case as they run out of space having planted so many rather common Jms thsat were a "deal" in with no room for really cool ones;>0000 ...This little post should be considered autobiographical ;>) Davidsan

for me as well - which you know:)

Davidsan, you can't write my name down under that as autobiographical as well. I still have a lot of twigs that I purchased a few years ago and I still enjoy them but the last several trees I've purchased have been much bigger and I haven't regretted it at all. I may give up on the twigs and turn them into bonsai rather than nurturing them along into full-fledge landscape trees.

I enjoy my kmart walmart lowes trees just they are not much different than what most other jms you see around here .... and I have WAY to many duplicatres and often triplicates taking up valuable space .. these trees are now 15 ft+ tall so they are there to stay. Don't get me wrong I enjoy them... but if I had a do over I would have been more selective , bought larger trees, and never have bought so many of the same kind just because they were cheap and available ..And as far as web purchased twigs I still have some but most didn't make it and those tat did are still small... I think for those in northern or not terribly JM friendly areas it is pretty much a waist unless you have more time than $$ and are willing to keep them potted for a while... which there is nothing wrong with that. I try to recommend folks buying fewer larger trees than allot of smaller ones. When I talk about small trees I am referring to liners or small one gallons ...and when I talk about larger ones I think 2 gallon and up but no need to buy monster specimen trees...unless thats your thing ... just my observations of course everyone needs to make there own decisions on what they want to spend and recieve Just wanted to pass along a bit of my mistakes so others may make less of them ... Davidsan

This message was edited Oct 29, 2010 5:31 PM

I have bought 3' whips of 'Kinran' and 'Tiger Rose' from Forest Farm, and they settled in really quickly. Lots of growth the first year, with very little die back, and none the next winter. Keep in mind, though, that my garden is very protected and about 200 yards from Lake Michigan, so have quite the micro-climate. I buy baby whips if it's a cultivar that I just can't find anywhere else, or species whips for grafting (my next project, and suggestions are welcome!) There is a certain amount of satisfaction in watching your "baby" grow up!

But I am a sucker for larger specimens.... I succumbed to a beautiful 'Atrolineare' a few weeks ago.....

Chicago by the lake is much more mild than 200 miles south... as long as you stay out of the wind .get any wind on those cold days and they will not be happy when planted that young.. And you are always subject to severe weather even there... Whips are basically branchless ( or a few small stub branches), first year fertilizer boosted twigs and yes they can be 3' tall and most look like hot dog stakes when they loose their leaves... they can put on surprising growth but it can be years before they really branch out and look like trees expecially in areas with short growing seasons. They are worthless for grafting because there is limited scion available without distorting the tree... and scion will be very small which is even harder to graft.... And grafting although seems easy... as most folks who try it find out is basically a waist of time unless you have large amounts of scion of descent size .. good quality rootstock .a good scene of timing so both root stock and scion are dormant .. and a climate controlled ( HEATED) space with correct humidity or live on the south east of north west coast and are willing to waist several years experience getting very poor results. Folks tha t brag about getting 90% take rates either have the above sitiuation, have years of experience and if you pin them down admit they don't get that some yeas , some years zilch ... anyone who tells you that they get that all the time also believe in the tooth fairy and santa or are just full of themselves ..David

Maybe Santa is helping them on the sly? tee hee
I am using A. palmatum species whips for rootstock, as Vertrees writes, and I am using similarly sized scions from well established, large cultivars ('Nishiki Gawa', 'Kamagata', 'Kinran' and 'Orangeola'). It certainly would be a waste to buy a rare cv. whip for grafting, especially considering it's already grafted! I'm trying a side graft, chip bud, and t-bud to see which works best. I have a greenhouse, so that's where they're going to live until spring/summer. I have 20 whips for rootstock, and have only used 4 so far (purely out of curiosity, as none of my JMs have gone dormant yet). My rootstock and scions are about 5/8" diameter. And please understand, David, that I am not most folks, rather a dangerously curious gardener who loves learning by trial and error : )

good luck plantaholilc!