Bud Loss Over Winter

[0soyoung]

What causes leaf buds to fall off during the winter? I only know that the birds didn't eat them.

It is a fact that a twig/branch that looses its leaf buds during the winter is dead, even though this 'winter die-back' may not be apparent until later in the spring. Hence it is important to avoid leaving trees in conditions that will cause the leaf buds to drop, whatever those are.

 

[drew33998]

I have found that on my Sangu Kaku, coral bark maple, that it will lose branches very easily during the winter if they are brushed or moved by the wind. I am fine with that as it will just cause ramification.

 

[Jester217300]

Wind would be my guess, as well. I had some dieback on landscaping material from the extreme wind this year.

 

[RKatzin]

Late season nitrogen? I used to feed my maples throughout the growing season, and always had alot of dieback and bud loss. The past two seasons I stopped the nitrogen in July and have had only minimal dieback. The past seasons have been record setting as far as lows for this area, dipping into single digits a few times. We had an extended freeze this year and I was very happy to see everyone busting out this spring. A few seedling maples perished, but all my established trees did well with minimal bud loss.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I have found that on my Sangu Kaku, coral bark maple, that it will lose branches very easily during the winter if they are brushed or moved by the wind. I am fine with that as it will just cause ramification.

That is a good outlook on things...

 

[lordy]

Late season nitrogen? I used to feed my maples throughout the growing season, and always had alot of dieback and bud loss. The past two seasons I stopped the nitrogen in July and have had only minimal dieback. The past seasons have been record setting as far as lows for this area, dipping into single digits a few times. We had an extended freeze this year and I was very happy to see everyone busting out this spring. A few seedling maples perished, but all my established trees did well with minimal bud loss.

Rick, do you attribute that to more time to harden off due to cessation of growth before the cold?
I lost a LOT of ramification on multiple trees this winter. Pretty sure rabbits are to blame last fall just before I enclosed the over-wintering area.

 

[kirk@localbonsai.com]

Maybe assess your winter storage conditions... rodents will have a field day with a bundled bonsai btw.

 

[RKatzin]

Hi Lordy, Yes that is my line of thinking. Sept and Oct can be quite nice here and if fed nitro in late summer the maples will continue to push new shoots through early fall and these do not get a chance to harden off before winter moves in. You also have to not trim in late summer as this stimultes the advent of new shoots too late in the season.

There is one other item that could be the cause of winter dieback and that is frozen roots, esp. the bottoms of potted trees. I keep growing maples in a bit deeper container and slip pot in the fall to add a layer of soil under the bottom. My garden trees I make sure the roots are covered good and mulch heavy, at least six inches.

 

[lordy]

Hi Lordy, Yes that is my line of thinking. Sept and Oct can be quite nice here and if fed nitro in late summer the maples will continue to push new shoots through early fall and these do not get a chance to harden off before winter moves in.

That makes sense, I would just hate to lose almost 1/3 of the growing season. Maybe I need to relocate to warmer climes.

 

[RKatzin]

Ok, so maybe you do lose a little growth at the end of your season, but I think you make up for that by having a tree that is ready to jump to it come next spring. I do give an 0-10-10 in the fall and this generates a good strong root and in the spring this all comes to the top. Bada Boom! Explosive growth in the spring!

 

[lordy]

Ok, so maybe you do lose a little growth at the end of your season, but I think you make up for that by having a tree that is ready to jump to it come next spring. I do give an 0-10-10 in the fall and this generates a good strong root and in the spring this all comes to the top. Bada Boom! Explosive growth in the spring!

I do agree, just sayin'. I too use 0-10-10 beginning probably in August when things slow on their own due to temps here. I guess I never really thought about how long the foliage continued to grow and how much may not be hardened off.

 

[GrimLore]

I found in this climate any Maple that gets to much sun in the Fall is far less likely to do well in the Spring. If they have to much sun I noticed they don't drop leaf - have no explanation it is just how it works here.

Grimmy