For the past 4-6 weeks, with the exception of two 4-5 stretches where temps got down to or below freezing for a night or two, we have been steadily in the 60s and 70s, even the low 80s (85 today). As a result, my trees are really, really confused and a few are budding out very strongly, to the point that they more resemble trees in spring before bud break than trees approaching winter. Most of my trees, due to the harsh and long heatwave we experienced in summer, have very few leaves left. I have attached pictures of Hana matoi, Tsukushigata, and Nuresagi illustrating how far along the buds are. My concern is that we are obviously going to have temps drop significantly sometime in the next little while, and I am worried that this will adversely affect the trees in this state. Do I need to be worried, either short or long-term for the health of the trees? Should I expect a little or a lot of die back over winter/come spring? Is there anything I can/should do? I'm still relatively new to the world of maples, so I'm just not quite sure what to expect in situations like this... Thanks!!!
any vertical/lateral bud with leaves sprouting will yes die back and brown out and fall off even with a bit of bud swelling I would not be too concerned this should stop as the temps drop. with the areas in minor leaf "popping" think how you will prune this off at February's end. I usually have 1-2 branches on my Virdis dissectum do this normally on a yearly basis and I just prune back at the appropriate time and retrain the limb/branch structure. others may have some different thoughts due to their approximation of living in the States or the world due to weather conditions, etc....... E ~
Thanks for all the replies (and reassurance). One thing I did neglect to mention, I don't know if it would be a factor or not, but with the exception of one or two trees, my maples have not yet gone through their second flush, in large part due to the long intensely hot and dry summer. Even though the hot temps ended nearly two months ago, it's probably taken them this long to recover; with the weather now about perfect for them, I think they are finally kicking into high gear for the second growth spurt. Does that make sense?
you're second flush of growth should of been in July/August not now if I understand you correctly. time to dampen off and go to sleep for dormancy............ might be wise to give your JM's a nice light dormant spray this upcoming January for any disease that might develop on dead areas. watch for growth inconsistencies come February's end and prune accordingly. E ~ anyone have other thoughts ?
Yeah, I know the second growth spurt should have been earlier, but this year was even more screwed up, weather-wise, than last year: - really warm (ie, mostly 40s and 50s) winter; my first maple leafed out mid-February, with all others done leafing out by end of March - coolish, wet spring up until about May, then temps started consistently staying in the 80s to 90s - mid-June through mid-August no day was cooler than 90, and most a degree or two above or below 100 and night-time temps no lower than 85 - for a couple weeks the last half of August, it was gorgeous, 60's overnight with mid-80s during the day - September was warmer again, mostly upper 80s-90s - late October had a cold spell for a few days (actually got down to freezing one night), but otherwise mostly 70s-80s, and this has continued up until last week when we had another cold snap (4-5 days barely above 40 and a couple nights below freezing) - pretty much 50s and 60s now, with nights in the 30s-40s - I think we've had maybe 4" of rain from the end of April until now Unfortunately, when they should have been producing new growth, they were semi-dormant due to the intense heat, and I think, since only in the last 4-6 weeks have we actually had semi-consistent weather, suitable for new growth, its only now that the maples have responded and started their second growth cycle. At least, that's what I think, but of course I'm not a tree, lol. I am only watering every 3-4 days or so, depending on how warm and windy it is, to try and reinforce that it's not time to push new growth... I was planning to spray all the trees with dormant oil after they'd finished dropping all leaves (at this rate, that may well be January); and then, if I'm rememberingn correctly, I should do so again just before the buds break in spring, right?
just noticed my Virdis actually threw out some small spurts of leaves off of one branch so will allow those to be frost killed and then prune them back to shape..... yes a Dormant spray should suffice unless you have a very wet/active late winter early spring. have you had any leaf spot in the past ? if so a second spray could help but since you are getting close to the growing season you should reduce your chemical application of ingredients by 1/2. JM's can tolerate sprays but still be careful especially on the thinner smaller leaf varieties and of course the variegated examples. E ~
