HELLO everyone im steve, as your about to find out im no gardening genius, im just starting out and am really enjoying it so far but i bought a couple of acer's about 3 months ago one of which is the 'orange dream', now its a beautiful plant or rather was ..see, when i first got it i went and re-potted it into a mix of peat and garden soil (CRINGE!!!) because I had read somewhere that they were tolerent of most soil types. anyway I soon learned from a local nursury that they like errecacious so I quickly repotted again with a few stones in the bottom of the pot but by this time the leaves had already started to change (see attached pic) Its still producing new leaves ( which soon start to dry out too)and generally seems ok except for the manky leaves. I thought maybe scorch, but im just not sure PLEASE HELP as i really love my lil baby Acer's.
Maybe try misting or watering the leaves daily, kept in the shade. Wouldn't fertilize. ''like errecacious" not sure what he meant.
By erricaceous he meant that they like slightly acid soil Funny coloured leaves for an 'Orange Dream' though The plant is probably highly stressed by being moved about too much and having the roots disturbed Try to let it settle Keep moist (but NOT wet) and cool and keep your fingers crossed
thank you for your help I will do that, remember this did start to happen before the first repot. regards steve
Probably also needs more root-run - growing in a pot is very far from ideal for a maple. Plant it out in the ground, in moist soil with part- to full shade.
It probably didn't like your garden soil and peat Steve Have you had your garden soil tested? Maybe there was not even good drainage in that mix Japanese maples also require well drained soil
Hi. mixing peat with garden soil in a pot isn't a good recipe: the roots need air. Like whis4ey says, you need a well draining mix (achieved, for instance, through the use of pine bark pieces in the mix, or various types of grit, or soil 'conditioners, clay, lava pieces, etc...). Placing stones at the bottom doesn't help, since they only raise the water table, making the roots more not less exposed to stagnant water. If by ericaceous mix, you mean more peat in order to lower the ph of the soil, you aren't necessarily helping much, since peat can remain too wet or too dry depending. Look around the forum for soil recommendations, and look around the net for discussions of soil characteristics in containers with bottoms (as opposed to raised beds). Schusch
I have an Orange Dream, and the leaves don't look that green even in midsummer. The deep color of your leaves and the fried ends lead me to conclude that it is overfertilized (and/or suffering from salt damage: same cure). My solution would be to flush the excess fetilizer by running a constant stream of water on it for at least an hour. Better still, if it is freshly planted, dig it up and dunk it many times in a container of fresh water, renewing the water each time. The little green nursery fertilizer thingies will float up to the surface. Scoop off as many of these as you can: think of them as poison. In between the dunkings, hose off as much of the original soil in the root ball as you can. Re-pot with a good, fastdraining soil mix, and do not add any fertilizer for at least a month, maybe the rest of the summer. Take your cue from the growth rate. Earlier this spring I saved an Acer Griseum this way. It was a close call. Good luck, and if this doesn't work, offer to sacrifice your firstborn to the Maple Gods, a very demanding lot. SM
hehehe thank you I'll do that tommorrow, if I put loads of pea shingle in the soil will that be good enough for drainage??, its in a 12"x12"x12" pot with on 2p size hole in the bottom. I would plant in my garden but ive just moved home and my new garden is a tip and needs re-doing. i leave near the sea too, get alot of wind which I heard they dont like to much...something called 'scorch'... im trying me best, i guess this is how we learn. thanks again steve
Although I went to boarding school in England, I don't remember what "pea shingle" refers to. If It's what we over here across the pond call "pea gravel', that would probably work. I just use a mixture of small size bark, peat moss and very little soil. Using peat moss means you can never let it dry out. I've had problems with soil that is too sandy, so I would avoid that. When a tree is really sick I prefer to put it in a pot, if it's not too big to move, rather than in the ground because you can control all the variables so much better (type of soil, drainage, fertilizing, and especially location). And, you're right, maples dislike wind like an old man in an open field in midwinter. The wind probably contributed to your scorched leaves, too. Good luck. It's a beautiful tree, and deserves every effort. SM
yes pea shingle is then same as pea gravel....little stones basically. im about to go and dig it up and wash out the roots of all the soil, then i'll repot with the shingle. you've all been very helpful. thank you very much. steve
