Hi all, I purchased this small 'Abigail Rose' last year and all was well with it. However, this year it's buds swelled and broke in spring like all the rest and then stopped growing. Everything else looks good with the plant but the leaves are only an 1/8" to 1/4" long and no bigger. We had a uncommonly hard winter this year but, all other maples seem to have come through untouched and are growing fine. Any thoughts ? Regards Cirque
My first thought was, it is a root problem. Plants whose roots have been injured over the winter sometimes have the capacity to push out new buds, but without "input" from healthy roots they don't get very far. I have several plants of different species this year that I repotted late, when the buds were already beginning to swell. I tried to be less aggressive about root pruning than usual, but in some cases I may have gone too far. They have been slow to break this year--putting out leaves, which expand only slowly. It is worrisome. My hope is that as the roots reconstitute themselves, the top growth will resume its usual vigor. But I'm not sure what will happen. Wait and watch what happens, would be my advice. If the tree dies, look at the roots and see if they look diseased and unhealthy. I'd be interested to know the final result. Good luck! Dan
I have an A. s. Autumn Moon and an A. p. Goshiki Kotohime that have done that this year. The former seems to have suffered from a hot day that left it a little parched just as it was pushing leaf growth. The latter I think was hit with a frost before it was hardened - a new purchase and one coming out of a greenhouse, is my theory. Neither may apply here, but that looks like a stressed tree on hold, getting ready for a second leaf push to me.
