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Acer Shaina dieback

jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
in Problem solving
Hi all, yet another ailing Japanese Maple tale of woe for you all :-) 

Similar to a recent post from another user, this Acer took a turn for the worst visibly in the last few weeks.

I took it out of the ground this morning, cleaned the roots a little without really cutting any, didn’t really see particularly clear signs of root rot (although I find it hard to tell with Japanese maples as to me they tend to have a ginger-brownish hue anyway).

Anyway I did a little pruning to make to shape and remove the dead / dying / diseased branches… and this is what I saw. Does anybody recognise this?

I cut that branch with the black stuff out right down low, but you’ll see the black stuff is right there down near the base. Is this really bad news? Can it recover?
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Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    edited February 2019
    I'm no expert on such things, but it does look as if it might be verticillium wilt.
    I have a similar problem with one of my acers.
    In the spring some branches don't produce proper leaves and some branches start to die back over summer.
    But see what others think - fingers crossed it's not

    Some google images here


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • TheveggardenerTheveggardener Posts: 1,057
    I know nothing about Acers but found this forum with questions and answer hope it might help or someone on here will be able to.https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/did-my-japanese-maple-catch-verticillium.16670/
  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    I don’t know if the black stuff means it’s verticillium or not, it isn’t quite clear.

    I guess I’ve done what I can and at least back in a pot I can keep close eye on it.  
  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    Turns out it was something called “Botrytis” and that the Shaina variety is particularly susceptible to this and gets more damaged by frost than many tougher varieties.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Interesting... how did you come to that conclusion?

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    No scientific proof ... but I sent the images to the author of a book and “Larchfield Cottages” Neil Kenney and also a local arboretum owner who has lots of experience and found the consensus from the pictures and descriptions.

    It’s in the pot right now in a sunny spot and will be coming inside overnight as a low of -1 is forecast for a couple of the early hours tomorrow.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I hope your tree recovers
    All the best

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    Pete.8 said:
    I hope your tree recovers
    All the best
    I realise it has only been one month but for anyone interested after pruning the dead stuff off and re-potting I moved this plant into a sunny spot and gave it a little bit of aliette along with the new potting mix and some seaweed root growth feed.  So far, it looks happy and all buds seem to be starting to open.  I don't know much about disease or whether these things just end up coming back, but so far so good!

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Good news!
    My poorly acer is just coming into leaf - looks lovely at the moment, but with mine I find that a lot of leaves don't develop properly and on some branches the leaves remain very small and drop early.
    Fingers x'ed your's will be ok, just keep an eye on it

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    I have had that small leaf development problem on a mature tree which I moved last January, it suffered all year before developing large white fungal patches on the bark and after 90% of the branches had died I decided to remove it.

    Here's how the Shaina looks so far ... 

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