What’s happening to this trident maple?

[ochong]

Any thoughts on what’s happening with this trident maple? I have one other that’s the same age, size, and in the same media. The leaves are similarly small, but its leaves aren’t browning and changing color.

 

[Firstflush]

All things being equal and you arent seeing pests, I would say too much water. Keeping it outside hopefully.
If outside in MA, did you get any really out of nowhere cold snaps. That could be it too.

 

[sorce]

Soil particle size says too little water.

Overwatering is a myth.

Sorce

 

[Firstflush]

…..unless you want to manage your watering regimen and not have to be all OCD about it.
Last flower ID you’ll ever get ….ha!

 

[Kullas]

Is this a recent repot? If not I will say not enough water. It looks as if the brown starts at the tips and is working it's way back.

 

[Colorado]

+1 for chronic underwatering or also a possibility that it got too dry just once and killed off some roots. Looks like it would be hard to OVER water in that tiny container and large particle size.

 

[ochong]

Thanks for the input all. It isn’t a new repot, though maybe I should have got it in to a bigger container in the spring.

I’ll try young the watering and see if that addresses the issue - if I haven’t already killed it!

 

[Shibui]

Based on the green leaves I'd say it is nowhere near dead and will bounce back easily. I've seen much worse an they grew again.
You could take the opportunity to prune some of the long branches. That will reduce water needs and concentrate new growth in just a few places which can help in recovery.

Trees in too small pots can be slip potted into larger container any time. No need to wait for approved repotting time if you're not chopping lots of roots. Just tease the tangled outer roots to make sure they start to grow out into the new soil. Slip potting without doing that can result in worse problems as the roots and water won't cross between old and new.

 

[ochong]

Following up on this topic, I trimmed it back quite a bit a week ago and I’ve upped my frequency of watering. Since then, the existing leaves seem to have stabilized and some new growth is occurring. Thanks for the thoughts and advice everyone!