Hello, Several weeks ago I purchased one of these for my roof garden, here in NYC. It has been unusually hot and dry for several weeks. The tree was transplanted to a new larger container after a week or so, as it looked potbound. Now the leaves are becoming discolored, some yellowing, small brown spots, curling in on themselves, leaf texture seems to be thinning, losing leaves, and the whole tree seems much paler. It hs been watered deeply through this heat, which has been upwards of 90, but it had been getting full sun, as I have little shade up here. I have seen this tree doing very well on the High Line, which also has very little shade, so I assumed it would tolerate this- but seems not. In addition, some pest is taking circular, thumb-nail-size bites out of the perimeters of the leaves. All in all, it's having a rough time. I have moved it under an umbrella, so it is receiving some shade, but so far, still the same symptoms. Any advice on how to save this tree? Thanks so much
Hi I am sure some of our expert posters will have more information than me, but the large holes in the leaves sound a lot like our root weevil here that takes big chunks out of rhodo leaves. I was told to shake the leaves onto newspaper at night to see if it was the problem. They are really quick to run to hiding. Hope your tree recovers.
Circular holes on the edges of the leaves sounds very like the work of a leaf cutter bee. http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1...ch&aq=f&aqi=g1&oq=&gs_rfai=&q=LEAF CUTTER BEE http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xzYuuzDfK...8/5vrSgPg9Izg/s320/leaf+cutter+bee+damage.jpg
I am sorry that I do not have any suggestions for saving your tree but I wanted to join this thread as I am also having trouble suddenly with my Cercis. I live in Vancouver (very close to UBC). We were away for 10 days at the beginning of July (when it was very hot) and returned home to find all of the leaves on 3 of the branches on our Cercis had completely wilted. We have had the tree for 3(+) years and it is about 11 feet tall. It is situated on the SW corner of our home and gets some direct afternoon sun (about 3 hours per day). I am unsure whether I should remove the branches with the wilted leaves (one is a major branch) or leave them on and see what happens. The rest of the tree looks lovely and doesn't seem to have any pest problem. I REALLY want to save this tree, any advice is most appreciatively received!
Hello, You hit the nail on the head! The damage to my tree looks just like the leafcutter bee link. Huh! No one out here had any idea- I guess I'll have to find a way to discourage them.... thanks!
