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.
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.
+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.
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.
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!