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Acer Bloodgood dying by degrees
ianGC
Posts: 2
Our lovely Japanese Acer has been dying back for the last few months. We bought it two years ago and potted it up in a big white cube of a pot. Ist been happy until recently , now the leaves are shrivelling and going brown, the branches also going brown. It's now spread to all the branches with the leaves dying at the end of the branch first. Is this some sort of dread fungal wilt from the soil? Can we do anything to save it?
Last edited: 29 September 2016 14:21:14
0
Posts
Um, probably not. It sounds as though it's had it, albeit slowly. Get a nice new one, don't pot it up 'til mid- late spring and try and forget the tragedy.
H-C
I agree with H-C - it probabably won't recover and even if it does it will be misshapen now. When you remove it, check the drainage hole(s) in the big pot. Tree roots sometimes grow through them and block them, leading to water sitting at the bottom of the pot which causes the roots to start rotting, leading to symptoms similar to those you describe. You can help prevent that by drilling more holes if there is only one or putting a layer of gravel etc in the bottom and covering with a piece of weed membrane, in the case that drilling might break the pot. It also helps if you stand the pot on some stones or bricks etc, to keep the bottom clear of the ground below.
Thanks for your replies H-C and BobTheGardiner... yes I think the sad reality is that it is doomed. However if we replant next year and it was a fungus infection it may get the next resident of the1m x1m X1m cube the doomed one current resides in. Guess we would have to get rid of the soil and sterilise. We did drill holes in the bottom of the container and put lots of broken polystyrene in the bottom to aid drainage. Such a shame.