Chlorosis? on amur maple

[Lars Grimm]

Hi All,

My amur maple has grown a ton this year, but most recently the new growth has looked decidedly white. It looks to me like chlorosis, but I wanted a second opinion. The pictures show the new white growth and the older green growth. I'm a little surprised if this is the case, because I water alternative between rain water and city water. None of my other trees have shown the same problems. Are Amur's specifically sensitive?

Lars

 

[GrimLore]

I would like to see @MACH5 opinion on this one. To my knowledge that type of leaf coloration with green veins on new leaves and older growth being normal usually indicates the plant is not getting enough Iron. I am not certain if this would apply to Amur though...

Grimmy

 

[Lars Grimm]

I would like to see @MACH5 opinion on this one. To my knowledge that type of leaf coloration with green veins on new leaves and older growth being normal usually indicates the plant is not getting enough Iron. I am not certain if this would apply to Amur though...

Grimmy

Thanks for the response Grimmy. I thought chlorosis was an iron deficiency.

 

[GrimLore]

Thanks for the response Grimmy. I thought chlorosis was an iron deficiency.

It is but simply lack of light can have similar results. As I said not certain in Maples the same rules apply is all. It certainly could be as you mentioned rain water - your tap water contains a lot of stuff including Iron.

Grimmy

 

[63pmp]

Looks like iron deficiency to me. Check your soil pH as this can bring Fe deficiency on.

 

[ajm55555]

I also think it's some kind of deficiency in the nutrients. It doesn't look like any disease to me.

 

[ConorDash]

My maple has the same issue... I started a topic on it a while ago. I thought it had recovered now that all the leaves fell off it but it still seems to have the problem and most leaves just go crispy and die off.
A good number of my leaves look the exact same as yours, described as "vericose vein" looking.
I started giving it fertiliser every 2 weeks and dappled shade, tried a few things but doesn't seem to have cured it yet.
Mine did go from a poly tunnel to a very open garden though, which may have been my problem and its still bouncing back.

 

[Lars Grimm]

My maple has the same issue... I started a topic on it a while ago. I thought it had recovered now that all the leaves fell off it but it still seems to have the problem and most leaves just go crispy and die off.
A good number of my leaves look the exact same as yours, described as "vericose vein" looking.
I started giving it fertiliser every 2 weeks and dappled shade, tried a few things but doesn't seem to have cured it yet.
Mine did go from a poly tunnel to a very open garden though, which may have been my problem and its still bouncing back.

I have read about people using foliar feeding to help correct it using a liquid iron supplement. Have you tried that? I was thinking about doing it next.

 

[ConorDash]

I have read about people using foliar feeding to help correct it using a liquid iron supplement. Have you tried that? I was thinking about doing it next.

I'm using miracle grow, all purpose 24-6-18.
I've not heard of foliar feeding before, I am in England though so stuff might be named differently.
I'm just hoping it stays ok till winter, when the leaves drop any way. Then next spring it sorts itself and new growth is all good. Sort of run out of ideas really.

 

[GrimLore]

I have read about people using foliar feeding to help correct it using a liquid iron supplement. Have you tried that? I was thinking about doing it next.

I'm using miracle grow, all purpose 24-6-18.
I've not heard of foliar feeding before, I am in England though so stuff might be named differently.
I'm just hoping it stays ok till winter, when the leaves drop any way. Then next spring it sorts itself and new growth is all good. Sort of run out of ideas really.

Perhaps you are both not giving them enough nutrients? Reason I am stating that is MANY people are under fertilizing for fear of hurting the plants. That is old school and does not apply today in our era.

You can and should fertilize properly, 20 minutes or so after watering. Try applying a liquid fertilizer 20-20-20 with micro nutrients. All of my plants are currently in organic mix and I still double up the recommended dose. If you are using inorganic substrate start at 3 - 4 times the dose.

If your soil drains good and you water first it is nearly impossible to over fertilize, during growing season of course...

Grimmy

 

[chansen]

Foliar iron supplements for chlorosis can help temporarily, but they won't be a permanent solution. Chlorosis is a mineral deficiency in the leaf, and it's either caused by lack of minerals in the soil, or the pH is off enough in the soil preventing the plant from taking up the available nutrients and minerals in the soil. So you can treat the soil and foliage with extra chelated iron (they usually have more than just iron since it may not just be an iron deficiency), and you can adjust the pH of your water/soil components. I test my water pH with a kit for fish tanks, and it's within the range I need. My water tends to be really hard, so I adjust my pH instead of adding iron, and that solves it for me.

 

[aframe]

Looks like Iron deficiency; yellow leaves with green veins. Present in one of my oaks.
If water pH is high, say above 7.5, iron available to plants is low.
pH 5.8 - 6.5: good range where most micro and macro nutrients are available to a wide variety of plants.

 

[GrimLore]

Foliar iron supplements for chlorosis can help

But a good fertilizer regiment as I described WITH micro nutrients will circumvent the problem as it contains a decent amount of Iron...

Grimmy

 

[quietobserver]

Might want to try some "Ironite", available at the big box stores. Helped a couple of my trees this year before I can repot next spring to address pH issues in the old soil.

 

[cbroad]

@Lars Grimm

Did you by any chance use superthrive recently?

I had the same thing happen to my Amur this spring, I bought a 12" tall bonsai starter and repotted it and then used superthrive. All of the other plants that got it were fine but for some reason my Amur started getting chlorotic. It was mostly evident on the new growth, the oldest growth near the bottom was more yellow and green. It lasted almost two months but eventually started going green.

I read a thread here somewhere and a person mentioned superthrive doing that. That's the only thing I could think of because there was no way it was nutrient deficiency/toxicity.

 

[cbroad]

My leaves stayed turgid and otherwise healthy and the plant continued putting out leaves and stems, just not the right color...

Good luck!

 

[fredman]

Check your soil pH as this can bring Fe deficiency on.

That is always the best option. I used to have sleepless nights about the whole pH issue. I got over that in time, but its still in the back of my mind...
Obviously the best way to check it, is to send a sample to a lab, but that takes time, money and other nuisancenses..... pH also varies all the time....
I've been thinking of getting a good quality pH meter for some time now. Just not sure how effective they are.... Any thoughts on that?

 

[Lars Grimm]

@Lars Grimm

Did you by any chance use superthrive recently?

I definitely used superthrive recently. It hasn't affected any of my other plants, just the Amur. My other Amur in my grow bed looks fine.

Might want to try some "Ironite", available at the big box stores. Helped a couple of my trees this year before I can repot next spring to address pH issues in the old soil.

I have started using ironite. I tried a soil watering last week and just tried a foliar feeding.

Looks like Iron deficiency; yellow leaves with green veins. Present in one of my oaks.
If water pH is high, say above 7.5, iron available to plants is low.
pH 5.8 - 6.5: good range where most micro and macro nutrients are available to a wide variety of plants.

I will have to check my pH, but I use a combination of rain water and city water so I assumed that I would be ok since I am varying it up.

Perhaps you are both not giving them enough nutrients? Reason I am stating that is MANY people are under fertilizing for fear of hurting the plants. That is old school and does not apply today in our era.

You can and should fertilize properly, 20 minutes or so after watering. Try applying a liquid fertilizer 20-20-20 with micro nutrients. All of my plants are currently in organic mix and I still double up the recommended dose. If you are using inorganic substrate start at 3 - 4 times the dose.

If your soil drains good and you water first it is nearly impossible to over fertilize, during growing season of course...

Grimmy

I've been fertilizing pretty heavily with green dream once a month and weekly applications of organic balanced liquid fertilizer. I have also read that overwatering might be a problem. The tree is in a larger grow bag and I am worried that perhaps I haven't been as good at checking the soil moisture content as my smaller trees.

 

[ajm55555]

I'm very careful with fertilizers even if the soil drains well. I had a bad experience this spring my Deshojo, whose new leaves are apparently very sensitive to fertilization.
Hardened leaves are much more resistant so I guess at this time in the season there is less danger.
I'm not sure that the leaves will change color though, even if they receive the right nutrients now. I would not worry too much about the results and see what happens the next spring with the new regime.

 

[Lars Grimm]

I'm very careful with fertilizers even if the soil drains well. I had a bad experience this spring my Deshojo, whose new leaves are apparently very sensitive to fertilization.
Hardened leaves are much more resistant so I guess at this time in the season there is less danger.
I'm not sure that the leaves will change color though, even if they receive the right nutrients now. I would not worry too much about the results and see what happens the next spring with the new regime.

The chlorosis is only appearing on new growth, so your point is well taken. That is helpful to know regarding changing color. I wasn't sure if I should try and really combat it. I plan to repot it in the spring anyway so it will be in a new soil mix regardless.