trident maple

I posted about my 2 tridents in worst winter post.. 1 of them died, the larger one still has light green under the bark... is it just prolonging dieing or is there a chance ??? no buds have formed yet 21 st of may ! opions please thanks john

Could be either. All I can tell you is that I had a Chinese quince that never woke up from last winter. However, it was green under the bark for quite a while. When I unpotted I found the roots had died back, I'm pretty sure it was from getting too dry during the winter (but not sure).

I do have some trees that are just now budding out, though they tend to be late most years. So there's still hope...but a trident, I would expect that to have at least started to push buds by now.

Good luck,

Chris

Chris,, Thank you for your responce. I have not much hope but i will leave it for a while longer. my oldest tree and it came from a friend that introduced me to bonsai.. take care,hope your trees do well. john

Some of my tridents have already been defoliated, and now growing with the second flush, and I live in a tropical place.

So yours should really have leafed out by now. I'd do as Chris did, check the roots. Tridents are tough anyway when it comes to roots, so it should be fine to just to take a peek (not repot).

If all fine, then I guess you just need to wait and see ...

Brett2013,, Thank you for posting,, I don,t guess it would hurt to look at the roots.. i know they did not dry out over winter,, may be too wet,, i don,t know.. thanks take care john

John. Don't mess with it. If it is dead, you can't revive it. If you uproot it, chances are it WILL be(come) dead. If it lives, it lives.

JimLewis wrote:John.  Don't mess with it.  If it is dead, you can't revive it.  If you uproot it, chances are it WILL be(come) dead.  If it lives, it lives.  

Yup, what Jim said. It's either going to grow, or it won't, but mucking around with it won't help. If the bark on the branches looks shriveled, that's a bad sign, but you should still hang on to it until mid summer at the earliest. Make sure it gets a fair amount of sun, don't over water but don't let it dry out completely, either.

Dave Murphy wrote:Yup, what Jim said.  It's either going to grow, or it won't, but mucking around with it won't help.  If the bark on the branches looks shriveled, that's a bad sign, but you should still hang on to it until mid summer at the earliest.  Make sure it gets a fair amount of sun, don't over water but don't let it dry out completely, either.

Agree with this. I wasn't suggesting to unpot the tree at this point, just noting that when I finally unpotted my quince (sometime later in the summer) I found the roots had died off - but they weren't mushy/rotted, rather they appeared all dried out.

John, what kind of conditions was your tree exposed to during the winter? Indoors, outdoors, heated shelter? Was it healthy last summer (or struggling)?

Chris

Jim ,Dave ,Cris , Thank you guys for posting ! I thought about it and desided to let it be.. the trees were in a green house with heat lights from the top hanging down but not too close to the trees.. last year they grew very well. we will have to see,, just hate to loose this one !! thank you all take care john

I'm in Massachusetts. My Trident maple just started to leaf out last week (usually happens in mid March) so don't give up hope yet. Water as needed and give it sun.

Well,, I did the scrach test again,, the tree is gone .. there goes another 20 year old tree.. some times I THINK should i keep on but still buy more plants !! maybe i am just crazy !! thanks to every one for your support.. take care john

I think it should be fine it's just talking time. I may be wrong but here in MN some trees are totaly leafy and some are barly buding.