Trident Maple (2003) leaves burnt

[Simon]

Hi all,

I am new here and this is my first post. My name is Simon and I have been interested in Bonsai for a long time and have finally taken the plunge and started.

I purchased a small Trident Maple (dated 2003) during winter from my local nursery, and come spring, it came back well with great new leaf growth.

With the recently hot weather in Sydney, all the leaves dried out, and have fallen off. My fault for not keeping up the water, or moving it to a more protected position away from the hot winds.

This happened about 2 weeks ago and I have not seen any new shoots. Have I lost this poor tree? What should I try to encourage a new round of leaf growth? I am watering as required.

Regards,

Simon.

[paddles]

probably dead, but you never know.

[Espresso]

Simon i would suggest it was a major lack of water, i am in Sydney and my maples coped fine with the hot weather, only one got a bit of wind burn.

I would find a spot for it that only gets the morning sun and keep the water up to it and see how it goes. One way to tell if the tree is alive is if the branches are plyable or whether they are brittle and break?

[Simon]

Thanks for the feedback Espresso,

The branches still seem plyable and they are not breaking, so maybe there is hope.

It is currently getting more afternoon sun rather than morning sun, but I will see where I can move it.

Thanks again.

[MelaQuin]

Do the tried and true 'Fingernail Test". Make a tiny scrape on the bark high up and if there is bright green that branch is alive. If the green is soft it could indicate it is dying. If that is the case do a scrape lower down or elsewhere to check other areas. You don't need to remove much of the bark area to expose the cambium [the green growing layer]. Do a fingernail scrape on a nearby actively growing tree/bush to see what colour you are looking for. Back to your trident... if the area is not green, try further down. If it is impossible to scrape - it's deader than dead. If the leaves go it could take several weeks to get another go on. But the Fingernail Test never lies and quickly sorts hope from futility or vice versa.

[tr3nt29]

I had the same thing happen to one of my tridents. It dried up and only 3cm of the trunk remained green. I didn't give up on it though and it took over 12 months for it to reshoot (it was in mid summer), so it might still have a chance.

Trent.

[Simon]

Do the tried and true 'Fingernail Test". Make a tiny scrape on the bark high up and if there is bright green that branch is alive. If the green is soft it could indicate it is dying. If that is the case do a scrape lower down or elsewhere to check other areas. You don't need to remove much of the bark area to expose the cambium [the green growing layer]. Do a fingernail scrape on a nearby actively growing tree/bush to see what colour you are looking for. Back to your trident... if the area is not green, try further down. If it is impossible to scrape - it's deader than dead. If the leaves go it could take several weeks to get another go on. But the Fingernail Test never lies and quickly sorts hope from futility or vice versa.

Thanks MelaQuin,

I will definately give that a go and see where I stand. Great idea.

Simon.

[Simon]

I had the same thing happen to one of my tridents. It dried up and only 3cm of the trunk remained green. I didn't give up on it though and it took over 12 months for it to reshoot (it was in mid summer), so it might still have a chance.

Trent.

Trent,

That's amazing...just goes to show the strength of these trees. I won't be giving up either...your post gives me hope.

Cheers,
Simon.

[MelaQuin]

If there's a lot of dieback but the lower trunk is still green, cut it to above the living part and let it go with care. Keep the soil moist but not wet since it won't have any leaves to need much moisture at this stage. When it starts shooting restyle what is left to begin a new tree. This is what you can do with tridents.

Trident Trunk 2006-07.jpg

Trident trunk 2009-01.jpg