Amur maple -- pink?? leaves

treebeard55

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Hello, all,

About a month ago I trimmed one of my Amur maples back hard. Since then, the new leaves have been coming in off-color. Some are yellow-green with dark veins, some are just too-light green, some are pink. :confused:

Two other Amurs less than 10 feet away show no color change at all.

I suspect a nutrient deficiency, but have been unable so far to track down which nutrient is deficient. (Google isn't always helpful.)

The pictures were taken from above the tree. You can see the normal-color older leaves down below.

Is anyone familiar with this situation? (Besides Bonhe, but he's running a quiz.)
 

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DaveV

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Hi Treebeard. The other leaves on the tree look very green and healthy. Only the new growth is light color. Therefore, I wouldn't think its a nutrient deficiency.
 

treebeard55

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Noisee, yes. They're pretty good for keeping squirrels and chipmunks from exploring too far. And the critters are too big to be at much risk of real injury, so my little girl doesn't feel bad.
 

treebeard55

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Our new place has trees growing very close to the house, and a healthy population of small urban wildlife. (Drives the dogs nuts sometimes.) This solution keeps me from thinking thoughts about shotgun blast patterns and chipmunk puree after finding excavation projects in the potting mix!

I did once find one on the ground below the deck, empty but with distinct chew marks on both sides.
 

good_ol_jr77

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New growth on my Amur seedlings looks like this every spring, I don't think there is any problem.
 

treebeard55

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JR, it wouldn't bother me in the spring, but this didn't start until June. Also, all the off-color leaves still have dark green along the veins, so I'm thinking somethin' ain't right.

Blowgun, noisee? Where's it from? Are your darts bamboo and tipped with native curare? I've seen such, in Ecuador. You handle them very carefully!
 

davetree

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I have a couple of these, and the new growth after pruning can come in red, pink, striped, all kinds of colors. I wouldn't worry.
 

JTGJr25

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Awesome idea with the mouse traps I cant believe I never thought of that. I may be stealing your idea.


Tom
 

Ang3lfir3

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@treebeard I wouldn't worry about it. All of my Amurs do this and later in the year after pruning they will get excited and start a second growth spirt (which can be useful). Some of mine do this without much pruning as they simply get excited. If you are concerned about the lack of greeness (they should green up after awhile) you can give them some Iron Chelate and that should help. I tend to mix it in with my fertilizing soup and feed it to them that way...
 

davetree

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Yes, new growth can have some veining. Make sure you're giving regular food.
 

rockm

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Not a nutrient deficiency. Looks to be sunburn. I have had amurs for going on 15 years now. They are kept in full sun. New growth can sometimes look like this, especially if new growth begins during a cloudy period (for a week or so, sometimes less depending on growth rate) followed by extremely sunny weather....The older foliage, as mentioned looks fine. Wouldn't worry. Amur are tough as nails. I have trouble keeping up with them--they push new growth in Feb. and grow rampantly all summer. I've hacked my two Amur forests back three times so far, since May.
 

treebeard55

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Thanks to all for the replies, esp Dave and Angel (Eric?) The tree looks healthy otherwise, so I'm just going to keep an eye on it.

BTW, Rock, it can't be sunburn. The tree has been in medium shade since before it was trimmed. Temporary spot; I'm still trying to make time to get a new site ready at a new house!
 

ghues

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Hey TB55,
To bring it back to trees.......(no traps needed here), just wanted to share my first amur.
In leaf late Sept, (just starting to colour) and recently after our first "sou' easter".
G
 

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