I bought a 3 Gal Waterfall Japanese Maple and have yet to plant it (waiting until mid Sept early Oct) but some of the leaves are starting to shrivel up and fall off. It is sitting where I intend to plant it. My questions is might it be due to to much afternoon sun - it gets sun from 11-4. Or maybe not enough water or other issues. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Harry. A pic will really get you a better, more targeted answer, especially if this is your desired planting location. For what its worth, my waterfall here in st. louis has been one of my most sun tolerant
My feeling is that if you know where you're going to plant it, you might as well do it now. One reason is that as long as it's sitting in a pot, the soil (and hence the root) temperature will be higher -- as hot or hotter than the surrounding air -- and this will cause the roots to function less effectively, so the plant won't take up water efficiently, no matter how much you drench it. I basically feel that trees are "designed" by evolution to grow in the ground. You'll still be able to pamper the tree -- even shading it with some kind of temporary screening if it seems to be suffering from sun-related stress -- just as easily in the ground as in a pot. It may or may not start spreading its roots into the surrounding soil right away, but at least the roots will stay cooler, and the plant can begin to adjust to its permanent home right away.
My reasoning behind waiting is that I was under the impression that planting now (hot hot hot) was not good for the plant. I never thought about the pot increasing the temp of the pot/roots. AS long as i keep it watered you think i will be ok (i will put a few inches of mulch down as well).
Kaspian, Attending to the soil/root temperature in Summer is something I've neglected lately. Thanks for pointing it out. Do you know the thresholds temps at which the roots lose their ability to function effectively?
Harry, An alternative solution if you have reservations about the spot you've picked out, or just want to try it out for a while, is to plant the POT. Yep, just leave the plant in the pot and plant it in the desired location up to the rim. This will allow you to see if the plant likes that spot while the roots stay cool and un-stressed by transplanting. I even mulch mine, just as it would be if it was planted in the ground. Later, if that spot looks good and your plant is happy, you can plant it there permanently. If the spot is not right, then you can easily move it to another spot and try again. This strategy has worked well for me. Most of my 'buried pot' trees this year did great in the locations I had chosen, and they will be planted out permanently when the weather cools. One little tree (A.p. 'Beni Ubi Gohan') didn't like the spot where I placed it. It was too hot there and I had to dig it up to keep it from frying. But at least I had that option! If I had planted it in the ground, it would have recieved major stress being dug up and moved or re-potted in July. Since it was still in the pot - no problemo! Try it! Regards,
