My potted 11 years old Mikawa Yatsubusa, comes alive very well every April, but then, a few leaves here and there, often on the same outer branch, begin to yellow as soon as they have unfolded and eventually drop off; see below. This happens every year. Is this normal or should I do something about it? Thanks in advance!
Good morning Rosy. No this is not normal. Your maple is saying to you it's not happy in the conditions you have provided. Is your soil free draining ? Yellowing of leaves can often be a sign of too much water. Also if your soil is alkaline, then this will make for an unhappy maple. What is surrounding the base ? Is the soil loose and weed free ? Do you have have stones covering the roots below the drip zone? If your maple is being starved of oxygen, then it will react by yellowing and dropping leaves. So as you can see there are various reasons for an unhappy maple. It can be one or many reasons. So a bit more detail from you with photos, will help members assist with your problem.
Thanks Derek! It's potted in the original vendors' nondescript soil, in a terracotta pot with draining holes. The plant is 2.5 feet high, the pot's diameter a bit less than 1 foot. I always pick off the weeds, but there are hardly any throughout the year. Regarding the soil, if I put my finger in it, is fairly "dense". In the current spring climate, I water it every five days with about 1/4 gal. of water. My kids have Chemistry at school, so I "borrowed" a pH test strip and stuck it in. It comes out with a pH of 7. It is placed on a south-west facing terrace and receives direct sunlight from, like, 2 pm until it goes down. Should I better re-pot it right now? Am I watering it too often for this time of the year?
Hi again Rosy, OK now you say the soil is dense. That is not good if this is all the way down and as you have had it for 11 years in the same soil, yes it does need repotting. I do mine every two years, they become very unhappy in a third year if I do not. This is not the right time to mess with the roots and repot. But you can slip pot it. What this means is you remove it from its pot, and find a slightly bigger pot where you place new soil at the bottom and all around your tree. A little slow release fertiliser mixed in will also help. This is a temporary solution only, but it will help it through to the end of Winter early Spring 2023. Then a full repot and a root prune can be carried out. Always use a good free draining soil/ compost and your Mikawa Yatsubusa will be a very happy tree again. I mix my own. (Compost, horticultural grit , pine bark and peat). Hope thats of help. And do let the forum know how you get on.
Water when the soil appears dry. At this time of year if no rain, then twice a week is fine. But if you do a slip pot, water it thoroughly (first time), until you see the water come out of the bottom of the pot.
Wouldn't worry to much mine will show some early yellow, but will darken as the weeks go by. Pics of my three, first two in the ground and last one in a container.
Ok, temporary repotting done. Like in previous years, some leaves on some twigs finally shrivelled since I first posted. I hope after proper repotting next April, this problem won't occur.
It will go from strength to strength now. But remember in future, a good rule of thumb is every two years for repotting.
