Tiny black on tip of new leaves.

My flowering crab (malus) is just starting to leaf out. I just did initional work on the tree 2 weeks ago, at a workshop with Bill Valvanais. The leaves are just starting to come out (most are about 1/4 inch) and at the very tip of most, if not all of the leaves they are black. My camara will not work on such close up pictures. The only thing i can think of is the little buds got to much sun to early as the black is only onthe very tip. Any help with this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Neil

Here is the tree the day after the workshop. Tree is about 12 inches from pot.

Front


top


back

How have you fertilized?

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:How have you fertilized?

yeah, I'd ask the same thing. If you have been as of lately, then it maybe too much. If that's the case, flush it out. Get a pan large enough and fill it with water until the level is higher than the pot. Put the pot in and you'll see bubbles come up, wait a couple of minutes and repeat it a few more times. Leave it alone until it needs to be watered again.

Unlikely to be too much sun. I'm wondering if it could be frost damage. I wouldn't worry about it if it is only involving the edges of the leaves.

Hey Neil,

I had a problem that might be similar. About 6 weeks ago my ficus started to leaf and I would get a few leaves that would come in and then a day or two later and fall off. Also a few leaves didn't even make it all the way out; they were small black and curled. I thought they might have been getting too much sun, so I moved it back from the window...after 4-7 days it was still happening. Thought it could have been fertilizer, but I use low strength everyday and I paused fertilizing...still happening after a few days. After consulting Jerry Meislik, he thought perhaps my soil was contributing to the problem. I was using diatomite fine particle. I switched to 3/8 in lava, so it was a lot more free draining because of the size. In 2 weeks the leaves started coming back and slowly stopped dropping and turning black and curled.

So, not sure if the problem is the same, but I thought my problem was unusual. Here's a pic of the leaves.


Good luck,
Jon

Orion wrote:

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:How have you fertilized?

yeah, I'd ask the same thing. If you have been as of lately, then it maybe too much. If that's the case, flush it out. Get a pan large enough and fill it with water until the level is higher than the pot. Put the pot in and you'll see bubbles come up, wait a couple of minutes and repeat it a few more times. Leave it alone until it needs to be watered again.

I have not givin any fertilizer yet, Bill Valavanis said not to for 6 weeks. The tree went through alot of pruning, top and bottom. When i water the only thing i may put in the water is alittle superthrive. I guess it may be frost damage since we had a few 65 degree days then 45 degree days with the night time around 32. Hopefully ill get a better look at more of the leaf tomorrow since it is gonna be another 75 degree day. I really need a camara that can take close ups. I thank you all so very much for the responses. I really like this tree and think it has alot of potential.

I will keep you all posted and thanks again,

Neil

Crabapple and other members of the rose family are prone to a number of bacterial and fungal leaf spot diseases. Almost none are fatal or produce more than cosmetic damage. Many are caused by watering that covers the leaves. Water drops tend to run to the edges or tips of th leve and stay there for a while -- enough time for whatever it is to reproduce.

I usually just remove the leaves (and put them in the garbage, not on the ground underneath!), but you could use a very dilute 30 or 40 to 1 spray of lime sulfur. It may prevent future occurrences, but watering the leaves or too much rain i harder to control.

(I'm moving this to Bonsai Pests and Disease.)