I'm a little concerned with my Fjellheim; there is a lot of blackening/mottled blackening on several of the branches. Is this pseudomonas, or typical die-back after winter for a coral-bark maple? We've had temps in the upper 60's to low 80's this past week, with upper 50's at night, though a couple of weeks ago our night time temps did go down to freezing or just below for several nights. The tree had significantly started leafing out at the time, and was outside at night, so I don't know if this is/was a factor or not. The pictures aren't the greatest, I know; if you need better ones, just let me know. If it is pseudomonas (or some other disease), what is the best way to go about treating it, and how concerned do I have to be for my other maples? Thanks!!!
Your 'Fjelheim' looks very much like mine at the end of each winter. This cultivar is well known for this, probably the worst die-back of all the coral barks I grow. I presume it is due to pseudomonas. Gomero
I'm planning to take the tree by one of our local nurseries that specializes in JMs this week and get their opinion, but I am fairly certain its pseudomonas... From reading on the forum, I know a standard treatment is to spray with copper sulfate (?); other than that, should I trim all affected branches back? If so, how far past the visibly affected area(s) should I go? Is there anything else I can/should do? Also, I guess maybe most important, do I need to keep this tree away from my other maples, or does pseudomonas not spread like that? Thanks!!! Andrea
I never do any treatment on my maples. Yes, to the first pair of healthy buds. I do not think so pseudomonas are all over the place, they spread with water (rain, fog, drops, ...), that's why some professionals grow their maples in tunnels where they blow dry air. My Fjellheim intermingles with another palmatum cultivar (Komachi hime) and Komachi does not show any single twig with signs of die-back. The fact is that some cultivars are more affected than others and we do not know why. Gomero
Thanks for the info and your own experience Gomero, I appreciate it. I took the tree to the nursery in town that specializes in JM's, and he thought it definitely could be pseudomonas, though, without doing a culture, he couldn't be 100% sure of course. He did suggest that I use a very weak (ie, 1:15 or 1:20) bleach solution every couple of weeks for a month or so to help slow down the spread of the pseudomonas. That, and severely cut back the tree to past the visibly affected areas and hope it doesn't continue to spread. We've had rain the last 3-4 days, so he also recommended keeping it out of the rain and let it dry out a bit. So, I will do all three and see what happens... Keeping my fingers crossed this will 'fix' the problem (as much as it can be fixed).
Most all the growers in Oregon I have talked with have stopped growing Fjellheim. I have lost hundreds of dollars on that tree and will never waste another penny on it. I have found that Winter Flame has been much more durable but it too will suffer from the same issue.
I got mine from Greer Gardens last fall, so that really sucks because I like the tree a lot. :( When I was giving it yet another haircut yesterday (past all the blackened portions), something else caught my eye that makes me even more uncertain that this tree is going to live much longer. If you look closely at the graft union and just above in the first picture, taken the beginning of March, it looks fine. However, if you look at the second picture, taken post-haircut, at the same area, it looks quite discolored. What are your thoughts? Is there anything I can/should do that may help this tree pull through? Regarding Winter Flame, is it similar to Fjellheim as far as size, leaf shape/color, etc? I really like the size of Fjellheim so, if it does go south like I'm fearing, I would like to replace it... Are any of the either coral bark/red-barked maples more hardy?
Looks like its heading downhill to me. I've lost several plants to problems with the understock dying. Looks just like the darkened bark on your plant. My Fjellheim didn't have a single speck of die-back this year. Next year who knows, but I'll be happy with what I've got for the moment! Bi hou, on the other hand, requires constant cutting back of blackened branch tips. I think this just goes with the territory on coral-bark maples. I have noticed that spraying with Bayer disease control seems to help. Might want to try that. I do one round (2-3 applications) in the spring after the leaves come out, and another couple of applications in the fall before the leaves drop. I've also used it to save trees that have that black bark starting to girdle the trunk, and miraculously it has cured them. I have a Calico that still has scars on the trunk but is alive and healthy today because of that product. Same with an Okina.
Well winter flame is similar but a bit different in color in that it tends to be more red then coral color. It tends to be a bit larger but it is still small. I have found the trees do best in a warm dryer bed. I have also seen very nice looking ones in greenhouses. Like many of the larger dwarfs which have died on me I have found them all to have very small root systems. I believe there is a correlation with the lack of roots and disease. As for bi hou I saw several of the down inoregon and none in the fields looked good. They have very poor coloring onthe trunk. I asked about them and the comment was to the fact that Oregon may be too wet for them to grow them in the field. I know one of mine died but others have done ok. My big one is doing well but I see one ugly branch at the bottom. It to is in a warm bed.
One maybe tempted to conclude that there is a positive correlation between colored bark and heavy susceptibility to die-back. This is clearly the case with palmatums but I find the same thing with A. rufinerve, while the species is quite strong the yellow bark cultivar 'Winter Gold' also has a large amount of die-back at the end of the winter. Gomero
Most natural plant mutations that occur do not make a positive contribution to the health and vigour of the plant. In the wild 99% plus of them would die out at the seedling stage, so it is no surprise that some of the bright stem colour maples are subject to dieback. It must take a cost in terms of energy for the plant to manufacture and maintain the bright stem colour, and if that stem colour produces no competitive advantage for the plant, then the net effect is going to be a reduction in plant health. It has been suggested that the coral barks in general are more susceptible to certain bacterial and fungal pathogens because of thinner bark on the shoots. Maybe some have thinner bark than others. What contributes to their beauty perhaps also contributes to their potential demise.
Maf, I have been trying to find articles, books,...where bark colors are explained scientifically: why, which molecules are at play, etc., just like we know now leaf colors, but to no avail. Do you happen to have any sources? Gomero
I don't have any references to hand, but from what I remember the colouration of bark is caused by chloroplasts, chromoplasts and other plastids; pretty much the same mechanism and types of pigments that affects the leaf colour. Bark can carry out photosynthesis, usually for several years until it gets to the hard and corky stage.
don't have an updated picture, but the darkening on the trunk has now progressed up to the lowest branch, and there is a lot more darkening on the branches, not just at the tips, but there are spots in the middle of some, and where the branch meets up with the trunk on a couple others. i sprayed with the bayer disease control as suggested by k4, but i am not holding out much hope for this tree :( i won't get rid of it until i am 100% certain its gone, but i think it's only a matter of time now...
