I received this Japanese Red Maple tree 2 months ago. I transplanted it to an 8" clay pot at 13" high and it sits indoors in front of a southern exposure window which this time of year the sun is too high to shine on it directly. Could someone please tell me why the tips of even the newly sprouted leaves are curling and drying up and eventually the leaf falls off? Should I prune the effected leaves even though some are still more then half green? I water it thoroughly every 7 to 10 days along with a 1/2 teaspoon per quart of Miracle Grow when it feels relatively dry to my finger and the moisture meter also reads 1. I transplanted it into Hyponex Potting soil. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
It really shouldn't be indoors. It is quite difficult to grow a maple indoors for an extended period. I would put it outside in a good deal of shade and keep it watered semi daily assuming that potting mix has good drainage. I wouldn't prune off the leaves unless more than half of the leaf is damaged. That appearance to the leaves is fairly normal in hot dry sunny conditions, or in poor soils. I'm not familiar with that soil but I have had the most luck with coarser bark mixes than with peat mixes.
Needs higher air humidity. Not easy indoors! (at least not without making an uncomfortable living environment)
Thanks for your speedy input. I may try a differant potting soil. The one I used could be fairly old. Out here it's difficult to find shade outside for any length of time unless I keep moving the pot around.
Dutchman, your tree will revive nicely if you take the above advice. One other piece, switch from Miracle Gro to SuperThrive. The former is too much nitrogen and too much salts for a maple especially in a pot where the salts very much have to be leached out with thorough drenching. SuperThrive is a mixture of growth hormones without any ammoniate/ureac salts and can be used regularly. I use SuperThrive and have for a few years on my seedlings in their pots and you will NOT believe the healthy growth they will put on. Also, matt makes a good suggestion to start the tree outside with some shade especially afternoon shade in your very hot climate (I get 85-105 daily from end of March til end of October and my trees do great in morning and some after- noon sun) but like you say above I would gradually move it into more sun - morning sun would be fine for your tree after it gets used to being outside. Your tree is lucky it has you because u obviously care very much foir it and will take good care of it. Best of luck!
After a little research, I think your absolutely right about the excess nitrogen and salt deposits. For the time being I'm going to try a little morning sun (3 out of 3 votes for outside) and just plain water. (We're on a well.) I'll see what happens in a week or two. Thanks alot for the advice. It's greatly appreciated.
