Early coloring Japanese Maple!

Hi Artists,

This is a question I asked at the Ausbonsai forum:

Does exposure to dark shade or lack of feeding cause Japanese maples to redden prematurely?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Brad Jackson (NSW Australia)

Hi Brad, with standard Japanese Maples I have seen the opposite. Trees in the shade stay green and trees in the sun redden. Even leaves on the same tree, if one overlaps another, the portion of leaf that is shaded will stay green and the exposed part will get red. I feed them all the same so I can't say whether feeding or not feeding has any effect.

Two trees of the same variety. One planted on the southeast corner of the house where it gets direct morning sun and sun most of the day. The other planted on the northwest corner in an alcove where it hardly gets any direct sun. The one on the SE corner is red all summer and the one on the NW is green all summer. Rick

Early senescence (leaf coloring) is often a sign of stress. I have seen this on numerous Acer palmatums undergoing air-layering, where the portion being layered will have orange/red leaves in the middle of summer. I have also seen this when A.p. have an infection, usually above the infection.

Hi Artists,

Stan mate, early senescence, I never thought of that. My year 12 horticulture class is coming back to me. Thanks for the posts guys!

Cheers,  

Brad Jackson.

RKatzin wrote:Hi Brad, with standard Japanese Maples I have seen the opposite. Trees in the shade stay green and trees in the sun redden. Even leaves on the same tree, if one overlaps another, the portion of leaf that is shaded will stay green and the exposed part will get red. I feed them all the same so I can't say whether feeding or not feeding has any effect.

Two trees of the same variety. One planted on the southeast corner of the house where it gets direct morning sun and sun most of the day. The other planted on the northwest corner in an alcove where it hardly gets any direct sun. The one on the SE corner is red all summer and the one on the NW is green all summer. Rick

Hi Rick,

Along with the senescence information from Stan Kengai, your first hand experience with standard Japanese maples has explained my situation with my maple.
Thanks for passing on your observations, I appreciate it.

Cheers,

Brad Jackson.