Leaves deformed and wilting on cherry (Prunus Dream Catcher)

[DC Cameraguy]

So I bought a pre-bonsai last autumn, a proper cherry tree (Prunus Dream Catcher, a cultivar created by the National Arboretum). Wired and repotted at the end of January with minimal root pruning. It flowered beautifully in February. But when the leaves started budding out, many of them were weirdly lopsided and then most of them started wilting.



At the moment, she’s still hanging on to a few strong leaves, but there aren’t that many left. I unwired the tree and am keeping in quarantine and trimming off any dying leaves in case it’s a disease. Anyone have experience with this happening to their Prunus trees? Nutrient deficiency?

 

[0soyoung]

"Over watering" is a common problem after repotting - try not watering it so frequently.

As far as fungus is concerned, you can spray a solution of 2 teaspoons 3% hydrogen peroxide (from the grocery/pharmacy) in a quart of water every few days, instead of cutting off leaves. This solution is an environmentally friendly, broad-spectrum fungicide.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Does the pot have holes?
I've seen this foliar behavior when strongly overwatering cherries, or when there's total root death.
Is the plant outdoors?

 

[DC Cameraguy]

Does the pot have holes?
I've seen this foliar behavior when strongly overwatering cherries, or when there's total root death.
Is the plant outdoors?

Yup, definitely has drainage holes and the drainage has been good. But root death would fit the symptoms. We haven’t been below freezing very many times this year, and I brought the tree inside if we went below 30F. The roots looked healthy when I repotted so it would have to have been fairly recent.

The tree was outdoors all winter otherwise. I did bring her inside for the two weeks of flowering because it’s been really windy lately. But she went back outside as soon as the leaves started popping out.

My only other thought was that when I wired the trunk that I somehow damaged the cambium layer even though I didn’t break the bark or the wood. I’m hoping that removing the wire will make a difference. We’ll see.