Elm dropping leafs only on one side

[Steven1969s]

Hello everyone.

I have An Elm that has leafs turning yellow, but only on one side of tree.
What would cause this yellowing on one side?
I try to water evenly.

Steve

 

[0soyoung]

Is that side always shaded?
Is the pot dark colored and that same side in full sun?
Did someone spray an herbicide nearby?
Did you put a lot of fertilizer on that side of the tree?
Did anything other than fertilizer get deposited on that side of the tree? A granular systemic pesticide, say.
Is there damage to the trunk/branch on that side of the tree (corresponding to the yellowing branches)?

Can you operate a camera and post a pic or pix?

 

[Steven1969s]

Hi.

Right now a picture won't help since I removed all the yellow leafs.
That side of the tree does get hit with the sun the most. On very hot days like we've been having here in NJ, I water early morning and when I get home from work.
I keep a tooth pick in the soil and check for humidity to make sure it needs additional watering when I get home from work.
I use liquid fertilizer and I try to evenly spread it throughout the pot. I have several trees and this is the only one with this problem.
On a few occasions in the last 2 weeks the soil was completely dry when I got home from work.
Could it be that the soil gets extra dry on that one side?

 

[armetisius]

Is that the side that is turned outwards? Could this be
some sort of reaction to excessive winds on warm days?
May need to either put up some sort of wind-breaking
fence or get some large plants to act as a wind break.

 

[Steven1969s]

All my trees are on a bench against a shed. If you are looking at the front of the tree, it's the left side that keeps dropping about 15 leafs a day.
It's the left side of the tree that gets the most sun since the sun goes down on that side of the tree.

 

[0soyoung]

On a few occasions in the last 2 weeks the soil was completely dry when I got home from work.
Could it be that the soil gets extra dry on that one side?

Get a meat thermometer probe and stick it in the roots on the yellowing side; also check the other side. Especially check it on a weekend around 3 pm. I presume your work would keep you from doing this just any day and that you either water before you leave for work or sometime after 5 when you are back home - whatever the habit, maintain it for now.

Roots stop growing at temperatures above 95F and definitely are dying by the time they are at 115F. If they are close to 95F you should do something like cover the pot with a light colored towel that you wet when watering, put damp sphagnum on the soil and possibly shield it by shiny side out aluminum foil that is covering the pot, put it in a shadier, or just do whatever you can to keep the root temperature safely below 95F.

Maybe all this fancy solar reflector stuff is unnecessary and you just need a sphagnum top dressing. This alone may be enough to keep your substrate damp and cool - root temperatures soar rapidly when the substrate goes dry!

 

[sorce]

I don't think I got you yet Steven.

Welcome to Crazy!

Pics can help!
Especially with the leaves gone.

Sorce

 

[Steven1969s]

I took these pics today. Also notice how much thicker the right side is. The right side only had 2 yellow leafs while the left side had about 20.

Steve