European Hornbeam buds are dying

[TerryBryan]

I have a European hornbeam that was repotted last spring 2017. The tree was very healthy and had three flushes of growth. In the fall of 2017, all the new buds set and everything looked great. When spring 2018 came, the tree struggled to get started and had an initial growth spurt. As the growth continued and new buds were created, a lot of them would turn fat and green and then sit there and turn brown and die off. The second picture of the buds I took are of buds that have been like that for 3-4 weeks and will eventually die. The tree seems very stressed and is producing buds like crazy, but most of them are dying off. Some are leaving out but very week. I have only done some very minor trimming about two months ago and nothing since. The existing leaves look good and dark green, but I should have to trim a lot more. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[queenofsheba52]

Hi Terry, glad you found this great site!

I don't know anything about hornbeam but there are lots of folks here that do. I'm sure they'll answer you, but first -- it helps us if you fill in your location in your profile. That way we can give good advice for your area.

Good luck,
Helene

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Landscape hornbeams (they're actually called Hedge-beeches in my country, we have millions of them) lose their buds when they're not watered enough. Or when they get too much sun. Natively, they come from mixed forests with a lot of shade.

I dont have experience with them as bonsai though.

 

[Paulpash]

I'd keep it in semi shade and damp? Did you have any leaf browning at the tips? This is another tell tale sign of water stress.

 

[rockm]

Would help greatly if we knew what the soil looks like in more detail--can't see it well in the photo--info on sun exposure, as well would help.

 

[JudyB]

Yes the soil and sun site information will be helpful here. I have lots of hornbeams, all Korean though. I don't know how different they are, but given enough moisture they can take a fair amount of sun. But they do not like to dry out. Your current leaves all look very healthy, so not sure what's going on. Lets find out what your soil situation is, and your watering habits.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I have Korean and Japanese hornbeams. The Japanese hornbeams have smaller leaves and are generally weaker trees (at least for me). They like water, and (at least in California) will get leaf burn in the summer if not provided with some protection.

I had a lot of problem with my hornbeams this spring - I believe due to our very strange winter. We did not get any cold weather until February, and even that was warmer than normal. Many of my trees didn't go into a hard dormancy, and in the case of my hornbeams, only about half of the buds opened in the spring. The Japanese didn't bud at all until May. I kept them in protection and watered and fertilized them like normal, and strangely, when they went to push their second round of growth, the remainder of the old buds from last year opened, so now the trees look relatively healthy. I lost a few of the smaller weaker branches, but I had been afraid I would lose at least one complete apex.

 

[TerryBryan]

Thank you everyone for your help. I should of also added that due to leaf burn last summer I now have the tree under a 40% shade cloth. It started to get some leaf burn again, so I shaded it. All of this was happening prior to the shade cloth. When it was re-potted in Spring of 2017, the main root ball was very dense and compacted. It would of been in a Clay King or similar soil when re-potted with the Akadama very broken down and compact and then the new base soil is 60% of heat-treated Akadama 25% of heat-treated pumice, 10% of Kiryu, and 5% of Fuji-sand. I use Bio-Gold and Super Thrive and Bio-Vital. I usually water once daily since the original soil stays wet for a while. Should I try to water twice daily? I was thinking that it was maybe getting over watered.

 

[TerryBryan]

Also, prior to the re-pot, it was in a training pot for quite a while. Since the re-pot was done when the buds were pushing, could this be a reaction to the re-pot? Although it did very well after that summer. We also got very cold this winter, down to -20 and it was in an attached garage for protection. That's about all I have.

Thanks,

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Based on what you are saying (repot a year ago suggests roots and soil should be fine) I would assume the browning buds are due to sun scorch.

Is this happening primarily to buds at the top of the tree? Are buds lower down and/or in the interior still ok?

 

[TerryBryan]

It seems to be happening in different spots. The picture of the buds that I showed will just sit there and maybe 1 or 2 will leaf out, but the others will sit there and eventually turn more brown, dry out and fall off when I touch them. I will try and take more detailed photos tonight showing a dead one. This photo is about a month after the re-pot in spring of 2017. All of the buds are leafed out and the tree needs a trim. It hasn't done this yet this year.

 

[JudyB]

If it is very hot where you are, I would be watering twice a day. I do in hot weather. If you think wind is adding to this issue, you might try adding Pro-Tek to your watering in hot dry conditions. It's a silicone additive, I use it when my weather is hot and dry and windy. I use about once every week- two weeks depending on conditions. It's made by Dyna-gro.
It could be that the pot is getting very hot in the day and as you're not watering later the roots are getting cooked slowly.

 

[petegreg]

I don't know if this helps, but...
I have a few eu. hornbeams in development that are doing great on my east facing balconies. But in past... always I left hornbeams there over winter I lost them in spring. The symptoms were very similar. Buds started to swell, shoots started to extend and suddenly the growth was stopped, new shoots wilted and turning greyish-brown. Similar can happen to newly collected trees. In my case I suspected damaged roots after winter or root unsuficiency of collected trees. They didn't resume growing and died.

Good thing in your case is that you have some keepers. So if it's a root issue it's not so serious and adjusting watering should help. On the other hand I haven't experienced any other case with similar symptoms, maybe check for spider mites.

... here's my biggest stump collected last year.

 

[TerryBryan]

Thanks Judy, I'm familiar with the Dyna-Grow line and might have to try that out. I did a spider mite check a few weeks ago and didn't see anything. PeteGreg, you could be on to something with the roots damaged by cold. We had a true temp of -20 below zero for a week. Although the tree was in an attached garage, the temp in there if the kids are opening and closing the garage door could probably have gotten down to 10 - 0 degrees F for a period. I did loose a very healthy winged elm last winter that was right next to the Hornbeam as well. It was probably less cold hardy. I am purchasing a green house this year for the winter that will have a heater as well, so I hope this doesn't happen again. We usually don't get that cold on a regular basis, but it can happen.

 

[petegreg]

... and I've just checked all my hornbeams, those getting full morning sun are ok and one sitting in a darker corner will need less water. And they all are growing in a used hard particle mix of DE, lava and zeolite. Starting root rot?
Have you found your tree with wilting leaves recently?

 

[TerryBryan]

Hi Peter,
The tree did struggle to come out of dormancy in the spring. I'm leaning towards something wrong with the root system like you mentioned either damage from the winter or root rot that has started. Should I try and separate it from the pot and take a look? I did start to hold it to one side after watering to make sure it drained completely. Thanks for your help.

 

[petegreg]

It's always risky to play with roots out of repotting season, especially if the tree is not doing so well. But many claim summer repotting is safe.

Did you remove all old soil when repotting last spring?

 

[TerryBryan]

We couldn't, the root ball was so dense that we would have destroyed most of the roots. The soil we lined the bottom of the pot and back filled with drains very well. The original soil is very wet and clay like. I'll take better photos tonight.

 

[petegreg]

Hmm, not nursery soil is same. Some is mixed carefully and can work just fine for a while and some trees are burlaped in pure mud. I've got one mugo growing half in inorganic and half in good original organic mix with no issues.

Hornbeams can stand serious root work done in right time.

 

[leatherback]

Hornbeam and full summer heat and sun is a bad combo. I have moved my hornbeams out of the sun as we are having a very long dry & hot streak; No real rain since early april and windy with 90F daytime temps: All my hornbeams stpped growing. After putting them in the semi-shade they picking up pace again.