Troubled trident, need advice

chansen

Shohin
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I've run into a problem that I've encountered once before. Last time I was sure it was due to the close proximity of time between root work and a hard freeze that lasted a few days (trident died a slow death). Now the situation is different.

I recently acquired a new trident. Bought it from a bonsai nursery where I have purchased a number of trees. I cut the roots back hard a few weeks ago as it was in desperate need of repotting. I put it in a lava/pumice/turface/bark mix. Same soil mix I use for all my trees without a problem.

I cut back some of the existing trunks/branching to bring things into relative shape. Nothing more drastic than what I've successfully done on other maples. The buds were starting to swell at the time.

We've had a fairly long winter/mild spring and due to my previous experience with loosing tridents with cold weather, I moved the tree into my unheated shed during the nights where the temps. were going to be below 40 (on the careful side since the forecast may be off).

The problem is, I'm running in to the same signs/symptoms the previous tree showed before it's slow demise. The buds opened but only one set of leaves emerged. They have stayed small and growth has not continued. Now the leaves are turning black at the tips, and it seems to be moving inward. Some of the buds pushed out a little, but are now black an crispy.

My other trident, which has graduated from stick in pot to bigger stick in a pond basket, was root pruned and cut back at the same time. It's doing just fine. The two trees have been treated the same over the course of the last few months. My other trees (chinese elm, zelkovas, acer p., american hornbeam) are all doing fine and are showing signs of normal growth.

At this point, I don't know what is doing this trident in. I'm worried, and I'm willing to do what is necessary to keep the tree alive. I'm even open to Superthrive :) ! If anyone has thoughts as to the cause of the problem and thoughts of what I can do to save the tree... I'm all ears. I'll get pics of the tree up tomorrow.

HELP!!
 
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discusmike

Omono
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Has the tree been in full sun?or have you had some windy days?Your best bet is to not do anything drastic,watch your watering,i would not fertilize until healthy.Try to keep it out of alot of sun for a few weeks and hopefully she will bounce back,hopefully you left enough feeder roots.
 

discusmike

Omono
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Ive heard people say they had tridents that dropped there first set of leaves,but put out new growth a few weeks later,hopefully this will happen to your maple.
 

JTGJr25

Yamadori
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I have had the same issue before and I'm lead to believe it was frost bite. Although I didn't lose the tree it was stunted growth wise all year. It never really grew at all and the leaves stayed real small. It was in the same pot as two other trees that were not affected. I'm not sure how that can happen but...well....it did. The only advice I can give you is keep it well protected from frost which it seems you've already been doing. Maybe others can shed some light.


Tom
 

chansen

Shohin
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All -

Thanks for responding.

It gets some sun, but not a ton at the moment. I can definitely move it to a more shady spot.

The nursery I bought it from (Gardens Unlimited in Ladysmith, VA) have always provided healthy, well kept trees so there were plenty of feeder roots close to the trunk.

There was probably a night or two that we may have had some frost that I didn't anticipate. I'll start watching the dew point more diligently.
 
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