Spots on maple leaves

digger714

Shohin
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Hello, I know i have seen the question before, but the leaves on my maples are getting spots on them. They seem to be dark brown with black in the middle. Can anyone educate me on this, and what to do to get rid of them, if possible. Thanks alot.
 

John Ruger

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without a pic it's hard to tell, but it sounds like a fungus...is it on all the leaves or mostly on the interior, and do you mist the foliage? do you spray with any insecticides/funguscides?
 

digger714

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Its only on the oldest leaves. The new leaves dont have them. I havent sprayed with any funguscides.
 

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John Ruger

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Yeah, that looks like fungus. Usually what I do is don't mist the leaves, and I don't even let rain hit it since it appears that it spreads the spores more easily. I've ran into this issue from time to time and what I do is unless it's a nasty case, I remove the larger leaves that are infected and that'll help cirrculate more air and sunlight and keep the foliage dry. As for as treatment, I use a Neem oil insecticide/funguscide and spray it as per directions, usually every two weeks or so.

So the solution seems to be, keep foliage dry and well ventilated...just water from the bottom.

Let me know how things progress.
 

DaveG

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My primary experience with leaf spots like this is from a single case. From my research at that time, it could be either fungal or bacterial. Either way what I read is that the infection will probably not seriously hurt the tree. Defoliation was not recommended, but you could probably very gradually remove leaves starting with the worst if you really feel like getting rid of them. Just try not to touch them to other leaves on their way out and wash yourself and any tools you used really well once you're done before you work with any other trees. But remember, the last thing you want to do is stress the tree, so don't remove a lot at once.

FYI, the leaves that are currently spotted will never get better, as those are dead spots on the leaves. So do not assume at any point in the future that your treatments haven't worked because they didn't go away.
 

digger714

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Thank you both for the input. I didnt think they would do any damage. I have seen this on many trees in the landscape. This tree is actually recovering from a dig last year, and a trunk chop. It is
doing very well, except for the spots. Ill try to spray with the neem oil, but dont think i will defoliate yet. Thanks again for the help.
 

Dav4

Drop Branch Murphy
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Are those landscape trees or potted? I've seen leaf spot on larger landscape maples like the Norway and sugar maple, but can't say I've ever seen it on japanese maples or bonsai stock. Just wondering...

Dave
 

digger714

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They were originally wild trees that are growing on my property. I was wanting some practice collecting yamadori, and found this one thats someone interesting, but mainly for the learning experience before i dug some nice azaleas i have. Im pretty sure its just a chalk maple. I think the trees around where i have it, have the same spots on them. All my japanese maples are ok.
 

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