Sickly Deshojo

[Dan W.]

This guy was fighting mildew for part of the summer but otherwise seemed healthy, until... I looked at the bark more closely. -- The upper portion of the trunk seems to have some disease or something going on. I can't tell yet if it's the "Pseudomonas syringae" bacterial disease that Michael mentions on his blog or not. Here: http://crataegus.com/2011/11/29/read-this-if-you-grow-japanese-maple/





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It appears to be only in-between two wounds on the trunk (unfortunately that is much of the trunk...). You should be able to see where between my fingers in one of the pictures. -- I don't think the junk near the apex is from a disease; It just looks like the wound was treated poorly to my eye. That part will need to go for sure, but if the rest of the browned area is too diseased I may just cut all the way down to the straight section below the lowest wound and start over from there.

Can anyone tell from the pictures what's going on? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[Dan W.]

Here's a fall shot. And the rest of the disease pictures.



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[edprocoat]

I am not familiar with the disease you mention but if I were worried about any disease on a tree of mine I would certainly quarantine it away from any other tree I owned.

ed

 

[Dan W.]

Thanks Ed, I'm fairly certain whatever is going on is internal, and not prone to jumping. I still don't let it rub against any of my other trees though. I always clean my tools from tree to tree too.

 

[MACH5]

Dan how long ago did you notice this?

 

[0soyoung]

That looks like normal winter coloration to me. Anything killing the cambium will cause the bark to seemingly thin. The dark spots are not sunken so I don't think you really have anything to worry about. If they sink or get spongy feeling, I take it back.

 

[MACH5]

That looks like normal winter coloration to me. Anything killing the cambium will cause the bark to seemingly thin. The dark spots are not sunken so I don't think you really have anything to worry about. If they sink or get spongy feeling, I take it back.

I would also agree with this. The affected areas usually get blackened more solidly as well which you don't seem to have. Keep an eye on it for sure but I would not be too concerned. I have gotten similar coloration here and there on some maples as well with no ill effects.

 

[Dan W.]

Thanks guys! That would be much better than I was imagining. The darker coloration was only between those two wounds so I jumped to the conclusion that it was some sort if infection. I'll hold to the hope that it's just winter coloration, while keeping a close eye on it. -- I didn't notice the color until I was getting fall color, which supports your theories. And the earlier pictures don't seem to show any color.

 

[discusmike]

Nice little tree Dan, hope its doing well, I had pre bonsai mume that got that blackness then died, this does not look the same

 

[Jaberwky17]

Me too

I saw the thread title and thought it said “Sucky Deskjob”. I have one of those. I don’t have a nice maple like yours, however. I hope it is OK.

 

[chansen]

Dan -

Have you read this post from Michael Hagedorn's blog? It may give you some other ideas (i.e. paranoia).

http://crataegus.com/2011/11/29/read-this-if-you-grow-japanese-maple/

Hope it works out well.

 

[Dan W.]

Thanks Christian, I have read this post, but so far mine doesn't look the same.

 

[chansen]

Thanks Christian, I have read this post, but so far mine doesn't look the same.

lol... I thought I remembered someone referring to that article. Should have thought to read the first post...

 

[Dan W.]

Lol, no worries, I've done worse.

I asked M5 if he ever found a pot for one of his trees, only one or two pages after I complimented him on his new pot... On the same thread! It happens. Lol

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Hello Dan.
I'm just checking to see how this maple is doing. I used to be a Japanese maple addict. This was a thread I would review when I had some bark problems.

 

[yenling83]

Hey Dan

I'm no expert and could be wrong, but I believe what you are looking at is actually die back and not disease. The reason I believe this is because there are no branches growing from that section and there is a big wound below. This is common with J maples, especially the differnt cultivar's that might not be as strong as standard Acer P. Often these areas could be fine for the first year, but slowly die back after that. You should show Michael H a picture to see what he thinks.