Verticillium wilt (I think) in grow bed.

[b3bowen]

Lost my air layered acer campestre carnival. It has grown and died back and grown and died back since spring. Ive been removing wilting limbs and using copper fungicide but the whole plant finally died. It was growing in my grow bed of predominantly maples. No other plants are showing symptoms. I believe the woody discoloration is classic for the disease. Anything I should do for the other plants?

 

[b3bowen]

Look at that root spread i had to look forward to...

 

[HorseloverFat]

My condolences, friend.

I lack enough experience to give any definite answers... (Possible misinformation is DANGEROUS)

I’m glad none of your other plants SEEM affected.

That seems positive.

 

[0soyoung]

The woody discoloration looks more like the boundary of the central pith and subsequent growth rings to me, but the symptoms would seem to be consistent with most anything that would cause the xylem to be clogged. Certainly verticillium is one possibility. However, verticillium's growth essentially comes to a stop when the temperature is above 75F, so it strongly tends to be an early spring phenom and it is very strange for it to be affecting tree's this late in the season in your climate. While I cannot identify your problem I don't believe it is verticillium. On the other hand, you may be able to get a definitive analysis via your local ag agent.

Another valuable thing to know about verticillium is that the microsclerotia are killed by the temperatures commonly found in compost heaps. One full year of proper composting is usually enough to eliminate verticillium from infected gardening soils/materials. Conversely, don't import materials to your garden that haven't been composted (if verticillium is active in your area or that of the material's origin).

 

[NOZZLE HEAD]

What was the pattern that the symptoms appeared?

Healthy followed by instant death is not how verticillium works, also in a growing bed I would expect more than one plant to be infected.

Normal verticillium progression is, first symptoms look like drought stress, followed by the plant parts furthest from the roots wilting and going necrotic, and in maples plant death may take years even in bonsai.

The symptomatic wood in your picture is deeper than I would expect from verticillium, a mainly vascular disease.