Amur discoloration

[karen82]

I'm wondering if anyone has any idea what might be wrong with my Amurs.
I have 3 small Amur pre-bonsai that I planted in ground this spring, about a month and a half ago. When they began to leaf out, I sprinkled some Miracle-gro shake and feed on the ground as our soil is sandy and (I assume) rather nutrient poor because of that.

I got two of the Amurs last fall, from the same nursery, and overwintered them in their pots prior to planting them in ground. Of these two, one has normal, healthy dark green foliage. The other has pale, weak, mottled looking foliage.

I bought the third Amur this spring, while still dormant, and planted it in ground at the same time as the others. It looks better than the second one but the foliage is yellow and just seems a little weak.

Amur 1 (healthy)


Amur 2 (mottled looking and yellowish)


Amur 3 (yellow)


Basically, I can't figure out what's going on with them. It looks a little like a nutrient deficiency, but it seems like they haven't been in ground long enough to develop one. Plus plants 1 and 2 came from the same nursery last fall and had identical foliage color then, They're all planted within a few feet of each other too. I don't see any insects or pests on them.
The mottling on the 2nd one could be a virus maybe? but I don't see any other plants around that look infected.

 

[JudyB]

Not sure what is going on, but here are a few charts for nutrient deficiencies. I wonder if it is a transplanting or new sun exposure issue?

 

[JudyB]

Maybe the yellow is just too much water for that plant, I would look at that too.

 

[karen82]

Thanks.
I should add that the two that spent the winter here were planted in ground well before leafing out; the other one which I got this spring was barely beginning to leaf out when planted. They are in a spot that gets full sun only part of the day, the rest of the time it's part shade. I don't think they get enough sun to burn.

I also haven't had to water them much - just a bit when first planted to settle the soil. (which is why I've been using the slow release fertilizer). But there is a slight slope where they are planted - so I suppose the one at the bottom gets more water. Interestingly, the green healthy one is actually in the middle - between the two sickly looking ones. That's why I can't figure out what's going on, they are so similar in growing conditions.

 

[August44]

I have several Amurs and the older one has the variegated leaves like yours. Its healthy for the most part, but the variegated leaves are very dominant. Have no clue what is causing it. Wish the nutrient charts would enlarge so one could see them better.

 

[rodeolthr]

Acer ginnala is very reliable at showing signs of chlorosis (lack of iron absorption, if I understand correctly) When I grew them in my garden in Wyoming, where both the water and soil are very alkaline (but the tree is bone hardy) I would sometimes have to supplement with agricultural Sulphur or something like MirAcid. Also, we would use a spray of chelated iron on any trees/shrubs/roses that showed the same signs. Usually worked quickly and brought back the green. Just a suggestion.

 

[JudyB]

I have several Amurs and the older one has the variegated leaves like yours. Its healthy for the most part, but the variegated leaves are very dominant. Have no clue what is causing it. Wish the nutrient charts would enlarge so one could see them better.

Google plant deficiency leaf charts.

 

[cbroad]

@karen82
I had an issue a few years ago with an amur that was looking chlorotic, not quite like yours but with pale foliage and green veins.

It was conatiner grown and had been repotted that spring with fresh biotone added to the soil, so I knew it wasn't a lack of nutrients. The thing kept growing vigorously but just had the discolored foliage.

There was a thread on here about a similar issue with someone else's amur and we figured out both of us had used Superthrive. Maybe it had thrown off the pH and locked out some nutrients, not really sure.

Maybe amurs are sensitive to certain forms of nutrients or something like that?

My foliage stayed that way for the better part of the growing season and the normal color would return to the older foliage further down the stems as they matured, but it otherwise had really good growth. If your plant seems otherwise healthy and vigorous, than I wouldn't really worry too much and hopefully the issue clears up on its own.

 

[karen82]

Thanks. They don't look like they are dying or anything, they are growing ok, so I'm hoping they will recover from whatever this issue is.
I was using the Miracle-gro shake n feed because it seemed like a nice mix of chemical and organic fertilizers (I don't have the package to look at right now but I think it had earthworm castings and blood meal besides regular miracle-gro). But maybe it hasn't broken down enough to fertilize the trees yet.
I sprinkled a little bit more around the trees; it's going to be raining on and off for the next week or two, so that's all I can really do.
When (if) it ever stops raining long enough for them to need watering, I might try some mir-acid.

 

[AlainK]

I have the same problem with my Acer tataricum ssp. ginnala - in French "Erables de l'Amour", since the name of the river is the same as the local lingo for "Love", most people wonder why "Maple of Love"

I used chelated iron-based fertilizer, and they're getting better.

I'll also use some "greening" fertilizer with sulfur in it : as someone (?) wrote in other threads, sulfur is an essential component to help plants get the right amount of other essential elements...