Sick Seiryu

I need help with Seiryu that I received last spring and potted up to be planted a few years from now.

It looked wonderful in the spring and healthy but now the ends look burnt and terrible. All the ends have some variation of it.

I'll post some pictures to help out. I used a leaf grow type soil in the pot with crushed blue stone in the bottom to help drain it.

I need to know how to fix it, prevent it in the future and if it will recover.

Thanks so much!!!

-Paul

looks like a normal sun burn to me - just trim off the dead wood.

What is a leaf grow type soil? This could be stress from the summer, too much sun, too much water, not enough water, wrong kind of soil and so on.

I like to use a well-drained soil which I mix myself of 1/3rd peat moss, 1/3rd gypsum and pine bark mix, and 1/3rd quality top soil. I find this soil holds moisture well but allows to drain very quickly. Make sure the pot the plant is in is not too big for the plant. If the pot is too big then the roots cannot dry out quick enough and that can cause stress. I am not a big proponent of stones in a pot. If your mixture is of good quality then the stones are not necessary. I have found that decorative pots do not have enough holes in them for drainage and you might have to drill some in the pot if you are using the decorative pot. One thing to remember Japanese Maples do not like to stay wet. So a drying period would be good. Only water when the soil about 1” below the soil is dry. Another thing is a JM does not like to be over fertilized. Once a year with a slow release fertilizer will do.

Place the plant in the afternoon shade (from 1 pm on). I would refrain from cutting back any branches at this time. It is possible that the buds below petiole are still thriving.

Dave

Well I might be different but I always wait to cut branches because I have seen in the past that branches that may appear to be dead bounce back. So for me I trim off all bad branches just before bud brakes in the spring or unless I am completely satisfied that the branch is in fact dead. Then I will cut branch back to the next viable node.

I took a look at the leaf grow and although it may be a medium that people use, I for one would not use it. I would be afraid about all the different organisms, and different molds that might be in it. Unless they put the stuff through a heat treatment I would avoid it. JM's are very resilient but can be finicky.

The plant can even have a pseudomonas virus which if possible can grow out of it depending on the care it is given.

Dave

Thanks for following up!

when i mentioned cutting back it would only be the dead black at the tips - if it is still green or gray then dave is correct they could sprout again. typically i also only cut of dead wood in the early spring as well and that all jm's get to some extent.

good luck!

dave where do you get the pine bark? i might give this a try in the future.

i also use a pre-mixed soil for my trees from coast of maine. seems to work well and the trees i have replanted into the ground from pots have had nice full root systems.

I get it from the home depot. Garden Pro Clay Breaker 2 cu. ft. Soil Conditioner

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100142173/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=pine+bark+with+gypsum&storeId=10051

I know pine bark is popular at my local azalea nursery. They use a pine bark and sand mix for potting up. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

Pine bark seems to be a hard thing to come by. If you read the sticky threads in the Container Gardening forum you'll see it it comes highly recommended as part of a growing mix recipe but also something that people have a hard time acquiring. In my part of the country, it seems impossible to find anything related to pine byproducts. Out here it seems like it's mostly redwood being sold - even in the larger stores like Home Depot.

i will look for that next time i am at HD - thanks dave