Boron deficiency?

Discussion in 'Maples' started by xman, Jul 12, 2006.

  1. xman

    xman Active Member

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    Location:
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    Hi,

    Some of my container maples are showing signs of boron deficiency (young leaves distorted and fail to develop, buds fail to leaf and dry out). These maples are about 3 - 4 year olds and are in a good draining mix (pine bark, turface, granite grit, expanded shale) and were repotted this year in feb and are in part shade. I use an organic slow release fertilizer 4-6-2(this also contains most of the micronutrients except for boron) once a month.
    The issues I am seeing are some of the buds do not open and look dry and unhealthy, the branch itself looks healthy, so of the buds look healthy but do not leaf. The buds that open result in leaves that are either deformed (sickle shaped) or look unhealthy and sometime turn crispy. These conditions are noticed only on the leading end (near the tip) of the branches and new shoots.

    Have any of you experienced similar issues? do you think this is a nutrient deficiency?
    What is a good source of boron, in case it turns to be a boron deficiency?

    thanks,
    xman
     
  2. Galt

    Galt Active Member

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    Location:
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    What fertilizer are you using? I don't know about the boron deficiency, but it might have something to do with the fertilizer, as I suspect we are using the same thing. I have not seen bud failure, but I have see a larger than average number of deformed leaves, not limited to terminal shoots, but also along the trunk and inner branches. The leaves emerge deformed and the fail to develop. A large number of the plants I have used this fertilizer on in the spring had dwarfed leaves that failed to fully develp in size, shape and color character. I think it is an imbalance or an excess of something, but I would not bet that boron is involved.

    regards,
     
  3. xman

    xman Active Member

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    This is what I am using as fertilizer, it is in a pelleted form.

    Fujiyama Brand - ORGANO GRO

    Major Fertilizer Elements
    Nitrogen N 4% of total weight
    Phosphorus: P 6% of total weight
    Potassium K 2% of total weight

    Minor Elements
    Iron Fe 543 mg/kg
    Manganese Mn 67 mg/kg
    Zinc Zn 71 mg/kg
    Copper Cu 8 mg/kg
    Sodium Na .2% of total weight
    Magnesium Mg .6% of total weight
    Calcium Ca 5.3% of total weight

    thanks,
    xman
     
  4. Gomero

    Gomero Well-Known Member Maple Society 10 Years

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    How can you claim your maples have boron deficiency?
    C. Whitcomb says
    Are you watering your maples with demineralized water?

    Gomero
     
  5. xman

    xman Active Member

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    Gomero,

    I am not saying that the soil is boron deficient. On researching the symptoms, it appears that the symptoms are similar to that of boron deficiency(and boron is not present in the fertilizer I use). Only a soil test will conclusively prove one way or another. I was hoping to see if anybody else had similar issue with the buds on their maples and have found a fix or a reason for it.
    Another thing I realized yesterday while reading some posts was that since my soil had good drainage and I was watering very deeply everytime I water once or twice a week (I water till a decent amount of water leaches through the bottom of the container), I may be just washing out all the nutrients from the soil. I have been doing this since spring, and maybe my trees are just starved.
    I am going to switch to light watering to see if it makes a difference.

    thanks,
    xman
     
  6. Galt

    Galt Active Member

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    Xman,

    Read this thread, if you haven't already. Boron resitant fruit trees

    I don't have the answer yet, but it is going to have to do with a possible toxicity as explained when higher levels of boron are in contact with high levels of calcium, or it is going to be an issue of something like high levels of nitrogen early in the season masking a defficiency that only later appears in the second flush of growth.
     

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