Last year half my Kurabayama suddenly--over the hottest weeks of the year (and we were away)--died back, one entire half of the tree. The limbs turned back and leaves became crisp. The other half was better but still suffered, but I assumed p. wilt and cut the tree. It was in a prominent place, too. This year I have a sprout from the base and also a seedling with truncated center lobe, like a broom. I'm planning to let these grow, but had put the area off limits for maples. Is there any hope that the area will be able to support maple growth long term? I was surprised that these came forth assuming the soil housed the pathogens. The basal sprout looks like the Kurabayama leaf. David
not for my experience after the winter this "new maple" dead ,only 2/over 40 maples dead in my gardens ,survivor ...good luck:-
Thank you for your answer. I really do not expect it to survive, and that is too bad, I loved that tree, it was about 15 years old and gorgeous. I have contingency plans for the area, especially since other mature canopy trees have unfortunately had to be cut in the last several years. There is a mature redbud there, too, and they are susceptible to wilt. I had the perfect understory, but that changed very quickly. I still have 35 or so Asian maples. I lost only 2 this year. I can't imagine losing as many as you did.
I am now convinced that the Verticillium fungus is all over the place, I've had maples catching it while planted in virgin forest land. Some soils have higher density of the pathogen than others, depending on land use before. Now to the question: does a soil, where a maple has died of V. wilt, contain an unacceptable levels of the pathogen so as to make it impossible for another maple to grow healthily there?, my answer is: I do not know. However, being curious by nature, I am experimenting just that point and planting maples in spots where other maples have perished due to the wilt. Silly experimentation some would say. Maybe, but so far I have not seen any correlation. Gomero
