Dwarf Japanese Maple leaves curling

Some of the leaves (about half the tree) are curling on my beautiful dwarf JM. Our temps in Iowa have been moderate for summer, high 70's low 80's and we've not had a lot of rain (since the floods of June). The tree is 4 years old. See attached photo. Thank you

 

watering!this maple is under watering..

 

Thank you so much.

I thought we had been keeping it moist during the short dry spell we had and the ground is currently moist around it. Should I be watering it deeper?

 

It looks, from the picture, as if some branches have all the leaves 'curled' or 'wilted', while others have what seems to be perfectly healthy leaves. When a maple goes through a period of (under) water stress all leaves show comparable behavior, this asymmetry make indicate something else. Please check the twigs of the branches with the wilted leaves, do they look green and alive?

Gomero

 

Gomero...yes, branchs are green and alive

 

Good for you. Keep monitoring this and remove any twigs/branches that may die back.

Not really, Japanese maples like frequent, light watering; as you say, 'moist' but not 'wet'. You seem to have taken adequate care on this point.

Gomero

 

Thank you Gomero,

Will keep a close eye on it.

 

The culprit could be wind in this case. Wind can dry out the leaves even when there is available moisture - the tree just can't keep up. This would also explain why some leaves are wilted and others are not...

Regards,

 

Just curious - how often/much were you watering it before the leaves curled? You mention that the tree is 4 years old. how long has it been in ground?

thanks

 

We planted it 4 years ago. Don't know how old it was before that...it was a good size dwarf so it's probably more like 7 or 8.

We watered it about twice a week during the dry spell because the temps were not very high at the time and I didn't feel it needed more than that. Guess I was wrong.

 

Jeez, that's a little disconcerting. I too would have thought that 2x/week for a plant in ground for four years would have been fine as well at those temps. I ask these questions because it forces myself to be honest with how many trees I will adequately be able to take care of in the future. I watered my new trees every other day when it got really hot (90-100) but at 70's and 80's backed down to 1-2/week as well.

 

No, you were not wrong. For a maple 4 years in the ground in your location (i.e.: you are not in Palm Springs) watering twice a week should be fine. I doubt your problem be lack of water.

Gomero