I bought and potted it about 6 months ago. Since we had a heat wave here during the summer (San Diego) I was watering it sometimes daily, now about 2ce a week. It looks terrible... leaves falling off, branches brittle, snapping. Am I watering too much... someone told me that they are grown a lot in Oregon and need a lot of water. Is there too much heat here? I have covered it with shade cloth to shield it from the sun... is that ok or not? Might it have a disease? Help, help!
Bacterial blight becomes active during cooler, damper conditions in fall. This is a common cause of dieback of Japanese maple cultivars. If part of the top is shriveling up, it might be something like this. A pathogen could also cause the whole top to go all at once, otherwise if the roots have suffocated it might be expected that the whole top would decline in one go. You do need good drainage for Japanese maples, if the soil inside the pot has become muck-like that would not be suitable. Lots of watering through a hot summer could have produced a decomposed potting medium.
Can you post a picture of the tree and a close-up of the branches, that may help give us a better understanding of the situation with your tree. Also check out the post "Healthy or dying JM?" from last weekend. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=76209
Thank you for your replies. Do you think I need to repot it? The soil down about 8" might be soggy. Its getting dark so I will photo it tomorrow in the sun.
