Hi, This week has been really hot in the UK, and my small deshojo (in pot, not in full sun) has now most of its leaves very dry (from bottom to top) I suspect it was not moist enough, so I've now watered it and not put it in full shade to see if it can recover. Is there a chance for it to recover? What do you think I should do to give it the most chances to survive? Thank you
Sure. You can cut though the petiole (the 'stem' between the palmate leaf and the stem it is on) to remove the leaves. Generally, you'll get new leaves in these places, with the same caveat as with pruning = more likely closer to the branch tips that toward the trunk. I am uncertain though what you mean by 'dry leaves'. If it was due to inadequate water a few days ago, older leaves may brown at the tips/margins. Emergent leaves and new shoot tips may remain droopy and turn a bit blackish (disgusting). These you may also remove. Otherwise, I think you will need to be more specific and post photos to get good advice.
I was going to post some advice but I see @0soyoung has got it covered. I agree pics needed for more detailed advice. What I will say is that the JM's we grow in our gardens in the UK are not accustomed to the hot weather (as it is rare) and a small one in a pot will dry out very quickly if a watering is missed during a heatwave at this time of year. A couple of days with a light pot would easily create a crispy leaf-fest.
Good morning C, others have given the perfect advice. The only thing to add is that a black pot in the sun drys the soil out extremely quickly. These last few days of 30 °C , I'm watering twice a day. Something to consider for this week, then Saturday it will return to a more acceptable temperature for our trees. D
It doesn't look very old so may never previously have been exposed to sun as strong or temps as hot as we are seeing this week. May have lived in a shade house or similar protected environment and never developed tissue strong enough to take this much irradiation. I agree with @Acerholic, if it is in a black plastic pot try and shade the pot from sun, but I think you have already moved the plant to full shade which was a good move. I would say there is no need to cut off the leaves at this stage, many/most leaves look like they still have areas of healthy tissue. If they turn completely dry and crispy but don't fall off then it would be advisable to do so. As for watering schedule, that depends on how free draining the potting mix is and how big the pot compared to the tree, as well as what it has been conditioned to receive. With the mix I use I find I need to water my containers every two days in the hottest parts of a UK summer. (Every three days when it is milder and cloudier, every four or five days in early spring and autumn, not at all in winter.) One other thing - in the first picture there is a web visible near the middle. It may just be a regular spider web but it would be worth checking for spider mites just in case... All in all I see no reason the deshojo will not survive. Keep it in the shade for now and then gradually introduce it back to the sun when it has cooled down some. You may lose some of the leaves but I think many of them will persist, albeit looking somewhat skanky.
Thanks D, I will definitely look at the other maples, and check on them more often. I think I was worried of overwatering them, so I didn't check them often enough. Lesson learnt. The trees in the ground are easier to look after from my own experience maf, I've removed some of the leaves already as some were really crispy (a bit more today than yesterday), and left the petioles for those. I saw something similar on a youtube channel whereby a bonsai (deshojo) had all its leaves fried. After removing them, the leaves grew back within a few weeks. At the same time I've learnt that some people leaf prune their trees so that their leaves grow back in time for shows. I didn't know about that. I'll check for spider mites just in case but I don't think I've seen any so far, it was a regular spider. Thankfully, I put the other fragile ones (variageted types) in full shade before the heat wave. Those ones still look ok. Thank you all for your advice!
I've got a quick question I have cut through the petiole (closer to the branch tip/leaf than the trunk/branch) about 10 days ago How long could it take to have new leaves coming out? I know it is too early, but just to have an idea about when I should get worried if nothing comes up Thank you
Check out this topic as well... its best to protect your black pots a bit from the sun... A bit of burlap does the trick very well... Protection of black pots
If anything is going to happen, it should do so in the next few weeks. (If you were to get new shoots after the start of September it would be a bad thing as not much time to harden before winter.) There is always a possibility the roots were damaged by drying out and have only enough roots left to support the current leaves for the time being, and not enough energy to make new shoots.
Thank you @maf . If they happen to grow in September, could I just move the pot into the conservatory where it's warmer, or that would mess up with its needed winter dormancy period?
Thank you for the link Kurt. I have indeed a few black pots and last week was really hot here, I need to think about this (for the 'too hot' and 'too cold' cases).
Depends on the conservatory. If it is unheated and not exposed to too much sun it will be fine. If it's a winter suntrap then no.
