Dehydrated field maple

[PlantsNFishin]

Hello, I have a field maple over a rock that dried out in its original pot. I did a check test and it’s still green under the bark. I slip pot it into a bigger pot without touching the roots and added soil just to keep more moisture on it. The leaves look sad to say the least. Any advice? I’m in Toronto.

For those of you wondering about the blue gravel, it’s old aquarium gravel that I add to my non-show trees soil just to help with drainage. In this case I just put it on top over the soil. I’m young and can’t afford all the nice things! Don’t judge

 

[Jrmcmich]

How long has it been on the rock? If roots are not real long might struggle getting water to them especially if not very deep in soil. I have seen root over rock started where rock is covered in foil and buried to help with roots getting moisture. If you look up posts from @SeanS and @Shibui they have some good posts on how this is done. Not knowing how this was established not sure best direction to help. How long you owned tree?

 

[PlantsNFishin]

How long has it been on the rock? If roots are not real long might struggle getting water to them especially if not very deep in soil. I have seen root over rock started where rock is covered in foil and buried to help with roots getting moisture. If you look up posts from @SeanS and @Shibui they have some good posts on how this is done. Not knowing how this was established not sure best direction to help. How long you owned tree?

Not sure how long it’s been over the rock but I’ve owned the tree since last fall and it’s been healthy up until this week. I just think I didn’t water it enough as I’ve had a busy two weeks.

 

[shohin_branches]

Bonsai soil isn't really the same as gravel, it's more moisture retentive so that could be your issue. I received a tree once that was planted in pea gravel and I couldn't keep up with how often it needed water. Once I put it in a mix of bonsai soil it retained moisture a lot better. At this point top dressing with some sphagnum moss might help it hold more moisture until you can repot in the spring. We still have a lot of hot summer to get through. You could also bury the whole rock in potting soil to help you make it through the summer.

Check out some of the soil alternatives suggested on this site too.

 

[PlantsNFishin]

Bonsai soil isn't really the same as gravel, it's more moisture retentive so that could be your issue. I received a tree once that was planted in pea gravel and I couldn't keep up with how often it needed water. Once I put it in a mix of bonsai soil it retained moisture a lot better. At this point top dressing with some sphagnum moss might help it hold more moisture until you can repot in the spring. You could also bury the whole rock in potting soil to help you make it through the summer.

Check out some of the soil alternatives suggested on this site too.

It was in bonsai soil. I slip pot it into a bigger pot with soil, spagnum, and the gravel on top since it’s in my bucket of recycled soil

 

[Shibui]

Something I learned real quick is rocks always suck moisture out of the soil so any tree with a rock will need more water than equivalent trees without rocks.
The best treatment for dehydration is simply soak the whole pot in water for a few hours. Dry soil is very hard to rewet so soaking is the best way to get water back into the centre of the root ball. Leaves and shoots usually stand up after a couple of hours when the roots receive water.

The leaves are still green so dehydration was not severe. No need to check for green under the bark. Scraping bark just allows entry for diseases and not really all that informative on tree health anyway. In future, skip the scratch and just continue care. If the tree is alive it will recover. If it is dead it won't recover no need for scratch test.

The leaves may look droopy for a few hours after watering. They may stay that way for longer because you have now slip potted. Please make sure the old, inner root ball has received proper water. Water often does not transfer easily from new soil to older root bound soil after slip pot so unless you soaked the original soil it may still be dry where the roots are. Soak in a tub of water if you have not yet done that.
The leaves still look good but it is possible the tree might drop all the existing leaves in an effort to survive. If that happens please don't panic. It's normal and mostly new shoots will emerge after a week or 2.

 

[Woocash]

It's a field maple. Rock solid and resilient. I echo all @Shibui said. It looks fine to me, no sign of shoots withering, just a little thirsty.

 

[Tieball]

My Field Maple (Acer Campestre) new leaves and new stems droop like that whenever there is a lack of watering. It is most often seen if i put off watering to late afternoon on sunny warm days. My tree needs daily watering. Even if it rains during the day or night before. The foliage mass blocks a lot of rain from penetrating the substrate. The treewill perk up and return to full normal within hours. The newest growth is most sensitive to lack of moisture.

 

[PlantsNFishin]

Something I learned real quick is rocks always suck moisture out of the soil so any tree with a rock will need more water than equivalent trees without rocks.
The best treatment for dehydration is simply soak the whole pot in water for a few hours. Dry soil is very hard to rewet so soaking is the best way to get water back into the centre of the root ball. Leaves and shoots usually stand up after a couple of hours when the roots receive water.

The leaves are still green so dehydration was not severe. No need to check for green under the bark. Scraping bark just allows entry for diseases and not really all that informative on tree health anyway. In future, skip the scratch and just continue care. If the tree is alive it will recover. If it is dead it won't recover no need for scratch test.

The leaves may look droopy for a few hours after watering. They may stay that way for longer because you have now slip potted. Please make sure the old, inner root ball has received proper water. Water often does not transfer easily from new soil to older root bound soil after slip pot so unless you soaked the original soil it may still be dry where the roots are. Soak in a tub of water if you have not yet done that.
The leaves still look good but it is possible the tree might drop all the existing leaves in an effort to survive. If that happens please don't panic. It's normal and mostly new shoots will emerge after a week or 2.

So it’s been about 3 days and there’s no improvement. The leaves are still down and are now crispy. It was super hot today so I sat it in a pot of water just so it doesn’t dry out and it’s in the shade.

 

[PlantsNFishin]

My Field Maple (Acer Campestre) new leaves and new stems droop like that whenever there is a lack of watering. It is most often seen if i put off watering to late afternoon on sunny warm days. My tree needs daily watering. Even if it rains during the day or night before. The foliage mass blocks a lot of rain from penetrating the substrate. The treewill perk up and return to full normal within hours. The newest growth is most sensitive to lack of moisture.

 

[PlantsNFishin]

This is what it looks like after 3 days

 

[leatherback]

So it’s been about 3 days and there’s no improvement.

Note that leaves once dehydrated fully will not come back. So if after watering you see no improvement within a few hours, most likely you will not see the leaves recover. Keep an eye on the buds at the base of the leaves. Those should start swelling over the next days.

DO NOT overwater at this point. The tree will need LESS water than before, not more.
So do not soak for hours etc. Just put the tree in a sheltered spot and only water when you are sure the soild is getting drier.

PS: The leaves that you show are not fully dehydrated from what I can tell. The centre of two or so leaves seem shiny and should be ok

 

[Tieball]

Needs a shady location for awhile. The leaves are toasted. The dry leaves are unlikely to ever recover or rehydrate. I've had this problem on a different tree species. I snipped off the dry leaves, leaving the stem, and shaded the tree in a below-deck area that had light but no direct sunlight. It took some time but the tree recovered. I monitored the soil to be moist but never soggy. I have one of those nifty moisture probes that is inserted to detect moisture below the surface.

I think, without hands-on direct experience, that your tree roots are not getting water and the sun is simply drying the tree out. If my tree, i would brush off the blue pebbles, I would slip-pot the tree in a mix of small-size substrate and pine bark chips and bury the entire root area with the rock now under soil. I would bury the roots to a point just above the nabari so the lowest point of the trunk is at the soil level. I would hope to give all the roots a chance to regrow.