I have two 'Bloodgood' Maples, from seed, that I bought on ebay and are planted in pots. This will be their third year with me. Something is eating the leaves. A visual inspection did not uncover any pests on the plant. Any guesses on what might be responsable, and the best way to treat it? I have some Ortho Bug-be-Gone on hand, is that safe to use on Maples? Some examples of the damage can be seen in the two attached pics. What ever is snacking on my plants is only eating the softest parts sof the leaves, either eating the side out of the leaves that are already opened, or the tips of them as they start to open. In the second pic you can also see a branch of my 'Shaina', which I'm assuming will also need to be treated.
Hi Blue Devil 7: This may seem like a ridiculous question but are the Maples indoors or outdoors? The pics suggest they are indoors. Have you seen any earwigs about yet or underneath any of the containers? It seems to me that you are being hit by a night time invader. I do not know what insects are out yet for you but I do get a little insect damage just on the lower leaves of my Maples this time of year. Sometimes it is just wind damage on the tender parts of the leaves also. Let me know what critters are prevalent this time of year for you where you are and perhaps we can come up with something. I have an unrelated suggestion for you. Please be careful buying plants, especially Maples on eBay. If I did not know the general practices of sellers on eBay well enough since our involvement buying glass and porcelain there since June 98, I would not be so concerned but plant sellers in the auction forums are not the most conscientious people around. If you want a name of someone I know well enough selling Maples on eBay, send me an E-Mail through the UBC host and I will give you his selling name as well as his URL for his web site. Always check out the sellers and see if they have been selling for a while. One great clue is whether they have been in the business for any length of time and also whether they have a web page or not. Buy from reputable people only as most of the current day Maple sellers on eBay have not been around long enough to know much of anything but are, from my point of view, only interested in making a quick buck at others expense. "Shohin" Maples at 2 years of age tells me plenty. Jim
Jim, Thanks for the reply. Your question is a fair one, the close up shots don't give much of a view of where these little guys reside. I keep them outside on my front porch in a corner that faces south, so they get some morning sun and shade the rest of the day. I am not that well versed in the potential leaf eating pests that are hungry this time of year. My guess would be caterpillers of some sort. Do you think the Ortho Bug-be-gone would be a good way to provide protection aginst a range of potential diners? I'm not sure if that's a good product to use on Maples at all. I appreciate you advice on plant buying. I bought my small maples on ebay because it was a good way to get some plants at a good price when I was just getting interested in them. I don't mind going that route if I'm still in the exploritory stages of an interest. That way if they don't do well for what ever reason, I don't feel like I've lost much, compred to if I had paid top dollar or spent a bunch of time finding well bred specimens. Now that I've had some for a while and have learned how much I enjoy them, my next purchases will be much more thought out and researched.
Hi Blue Devil 7: It could be that a caterpillar is your culprit. There is one way to stop that and you will not hurt your Maple. If you can, get an Ortho BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) spray and spray the leaves. If the caterpillar eats the leaves again it is a goner. The BT acts as a systemic but is usually non-harmful to most plants. It should be a little early for a Leaf Cutter Bee for you as it is here also. Earwigs can cause your leaves to look like that but if you have not seen any around then they may not be the problem. Use the BT spray and if damage to the leaves persists then go ahead and use your Ortho Bug-Be-Gone on your Maples but spray them soon, before it gets real hot. Maples with leaves do better with Insecticide sprays during their Spring growth. Jim
Hi Blue Devil 7: Go ahead and use your Bug-Be-Gone spray. Be sure to spray the stems and the branches as well as the underside of the leaves. No sense playing around trying to see what is causing the leaf damage, just take care of it right now. The BT spray works best for most any worm but I am still not sure that is your problem pest here. Jim
'Bloodgood'... from seed? You can't produce a recognized cultivar of Acer palmatum, A. japonicum or A. shirasawanum, Japanese Maples from seed. Cultivars are produced asexually. Cloned. Grafted, rooted or produced from tissue culture. You can root many Japanese Maple cultivars. Not the easiest unless your lucky or know what to do. Biggest problem is to get them to go through dormancy and then break, leaf out. Many don't do as well on their own roots as they would do grafted onto a vigorous rootstock. Some, including most every laceleaf will not be succesful on their own roots. Most cultivars are grafted and too many are produced on their own roots. I don't really know if there is any meristem culture production and I don't care. I graft. Seed produced cultivars, ... that "Bloodgood" - "Bloodgood seedling", found at Walmart or wherever is a fraud. It properly should be called Acer palmatum f. atropurpureum. Redleaf Japanese Maple. Also many people peddling seed, strongly promoting the seed as coming from one cultivar or another, are essentially promoting fraud. Recognized Japanese Maple cultivars can only be produced asexually. If these came from seed, they are not 'Bloodgood'.
