Identification: Is this tree Acer hyrcanum ? campestre ?

Discussion in 'Maples' started by jmx, Aug 20, 2021.

  1. jmx

    jmx New Member

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    Hi,
    Is this tree sapling Acer hyrcanum ? campestre ? or another one ?
    Thanks in advance
     

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  2. emery

    emery Renowned Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Hi,

    I would say def not any of the hyrcanum ssp, so most likely campestre. It is really hard to tell campestre from some others, esp. when young. You'll know more in a few years probably.

    Cheers, -E
     
  3. Silver surfer

    Silver surfer Generous Contributor 10 Years

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    IMG_0325 (FILEminimizer).JPG
    I have trimmed your pic to show detail.
    It looks so ill that I doubt it will be alive in a few years.
     
  4. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Perhaps it just needs fertilizer?
     
  5. jmx

    jmx New Member

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    Thanks for your feed-back.
    I agree this tree is in poor health, but I am reluctant to giving fertilizers to trees. In my opinion, it should be able to survive by its own means, by establishing mycorrhizal associations. It my be deficient in something, or it may also have suffered for the very wet and somewhat cold conditions that happened this summer where it grows.
    The tree I believe I have have taken the seed from has leaves that look like Acer monspessulanum, but its samara do not look like Acer monspessulanum ; that's why I was considering hyrcanum.
     
  6. 0soyoung

    0soyoung Rising Contributor

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    Looks to be chlorosis which is most often due to the soil pH being too high. If so, it can be corrected by applying iron sulfate.

    One can dissolve an iron dietary supplement tab in water and use the solution as a foliar spray as a test. The leaves will quickly green if this is the problem. The response to proper soil application of a granular form is just slower; on the order of a week + versus a day or two with foliar application.
     
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  7. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Your tree is in a pot, is it not? Wouldn't that restrict the ability of mycorrhizal fungi to travel far and wide to obtain the nutrients and water the tree needs? If, for example, there is little or no nitrogen in the pot, where would the mycorrhizae find it? It is my understanding the mycorrhizal networks work best when plants are in the ground.
     
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  8. 0soyoung

    0soyoung Rising Contributor

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    I agree, @Margot, mycorrhiza are mostly a story of ground planting. However, I do have conifers that I am growing for bonsai in plain ole black plastic nursery cans that become 'spontaneously' inoculated with some indigenous mic. Interestingly, different kinds show up in my pines' pots than with my Douglas firs, for example. I've had myc turn up in potted cork oaks, but never in a maple pot.

    And to your point. adequate phosphorous (supplied via fertilizer) tends to discourage mycorrhiza.
    Further, to the best of my knowledge, myc does nothing for iron availability.
     
  9. jmx

    jmx New Member

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    Agreed, but it's in the ground.
    What you see is some sort of mesh net pot, buried in the soil, supposed to ease transplantation.
     
  10. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Field Maple is well adapted to high pH, it typically grows on chalk soils. So that won't be the problem here. More likely, because it is in a pot, and has had nutrients leached out. It'll likely get a lot healthier once planted out in natural soil.
     
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  11. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Yes, I now see some kind of mesh but isn't it inside another pot? And - what is the advantage of burying any pot in the soil? Why not just put the tree, sans mesh or pot, directly into the ground? Transplanting a healthy young tree with a good root system shouldn't need 'easing' in my opinion. I have been a proponent of transplant fertilizer but now questioning the value of that except for products that contain rooting hormones - still skeptical that they're necessary.

    I think you'd have a better chance of introducing mycorrhizal fungi if all the tree roots were completely exposed to the surrounding soil.
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2021

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