Autumn Blaze, leaves turning red this time of year?

[drewp24]

I had two Autumn Blaze trees planted last fall and both have leaves that are starting to turn red.

Is this normal or a cause for concern?

[bullthistle]

I wouldn't worry now. Plants become stressed like humans, cold winter, hot spring. Like humans they expect normal. If they start losing leaves early then I'd start to worry. Did you tamp down the soil when you backfilled with the end of your shovel. Sometimes it takes time for airpockets to start working on plants depending in the root ball. Shortcuts to hurry things up can come back to haunt.

[SandyJ]

Drew,
I am going through the same problem as you with my Autumn Blaze that we planted last fall. I planted like 12 of them and only 2 are doing this. Have you had any changes to the tree since your post? Find out anything new on it? Here is a photo of what mine looks like, very close to yours.

Thanks

[img]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x329/SandyJ031667/IMG_92612.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x329/SandyJ031667/IMG_92792.jpg[/img]

[rainbowgardener]

Early fall color is a sign of stress. Younger trees are more vulnerable and do it easier, but any tree will if stressed enough. Probably heat stress in much of the country right now. Keep the tree very well watered but not waterlogged. For a good sized tree that means put the hose on trickle and let it run all day, occasionally moving it around the tree. If it is really hot and you are not getting any rain, do that once every 7 - 10 days.

Coloring up means the tree is getting ready to go dormant, which is a survival tactic, conserves energy. It is always a good idea to give trees some good deep watering just when they are going dormant anyway, to help them get through the winter - just that would usually be later in the season.

[SandyJ]

Thanks for the info, but I am wondering what the stress could be from? I have the trees on a drip line and I have been watering them deeply for atleast 18 to 24 hours weekly. I used my H2O tester and it says that the soil is still at 9.8 ( this after the trees were watered at the first of the week. Should I water it more? Would it do this if the drip wasnt getting all the way around the root ball? I live in Nevada and it has actually been a cool summer for us. This is the first year for the trees, we planted them last fall.

Thanks again for the help, I really appreciate it!