"oh, oh..Houston, we have a problem.."

Nov. 19, 2025 - 

Over the last day or so, I noticed that my Japanese Maple was looking disheveled, but figured it was due to the storm & that JM's don't like being wet & cold. Upon closer inspection, I saw that some of the leaves had discolored tips..in fact, the tips were turning a blue-black color, as you can see in this enlarged photo (left)

I began researching possible causes for this discoloration & learned that it indicates a circulatory problem, possibly root restriction or damage to the roots. Either way, this changes my plan & probably overall strategy for this tree.

Nov. 20, 2025 - Regardless of my long-standing plan to wait until winter & dormancy, it will be necessary to de-pot this plant, today if possible, & take a good, hard look at the roots & the root system for signs of rot, infestation, or constriction due to overgrown or potbound root growth. If there is rot, I will remove the affected portions or treat them if it is an infestation or some sort. Now I have no choice..I'm going to have to re-pot him as a consequence..

I will post updates to this item as the day progresses. 

(to be continued)

 He came out of his nursery pot fairly easily, due to still being semi-saturated from the last few days of rain. This plant was NOT root bound..no circling roots, no feeder roots reaching for the surface. But I wanted to get a better look at the roots than just what I could see,so I began removing the compacted soil mix, in order to get a better look at the roots ball & to see if I could see anything amiss with the potting mix that it had been growing. 

Managed to remove about 50% of the soil..very wet, but not muddy.. what I saw now were the rest of the root ball, & the feeder roots. The mature roots looked normal, but the feeder root growth was all on one side, with a large gap on the opposite side of the root ball.

The only conclusion that I can come to is that perhaps when this plant was potted, a large air space went undetected & created a perfect spot for fungal growth..dark, humid, presence of oxygen.. Since I was going to re-pot, I went ahead & pruned the straggly roots so they were even & re-potted.

Now it's just a "wait & see" as to whether or not this tree can recover, given a fresh start in well-draining potting soil. Additionally, I am foliar-feeding the affected leaves to help them heal the damage done by the fungal infection.

You can monitor the Japanese Maple's progress as time goes on by "clicking" on Japanese Maple on the right-hand side of the front Page