Is my tree burnt? Or something else. Photo included.

[Gardener123]

Can anybody tell me what the issue is with this tree? The leaves appear to be burnt. They are crumbling at the edges. The tree gets 100% full sun. I water it. The grass near the tree is very lush from the watering of the tree. The tree has some dead spots, but some spots have tons of new growth.

I don't know what kind of tree it is, but it is a young tree. I planted it 3 years ago, and it has been doing great until now.

[rainbowgardener]

You are in philadelphia area. Is this tree in the ground or does it come in for the winter?

Does it look like this:


https://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/wp-c ... 20Tree.jpg

This is a fig tree. But I looked it up and you are probably in zone 7 (philadelphia area doesn't get as cold as Cincinnati?? ) . I was thinking if it were fig it would have to come in for the winter, but not in zone 7.

Brown leaf margins like that can come from under watering. But: " The grass near the tree is very lush from the watering of the tree" can be a clue. Paradoxically the same symptoms can come from over-watering, if the ground is getting water-logged or the roots are getting damaged. Then the plant can have trouble taking up water.

Tell us more about how often you water...

Do you use synthetic fertilizer? Build up of salts in the soil can draw water away from the tree.

[Gardener123]

I water about every 2 -3 days for 5 to 10 minutes.

We were given the tree. I think we were told it is the male version of the tree that drops those stinky green balls. Or maybe the female, but in any case, this one doesn't drop those balls. It is about 17' tall, I imagine.

I have never fertilized any of my trees in my entire life.... never really had any issues until last year, when my weeping willow upped and died for no apparent reason. And I don't know if that was a fertilization issue.

I think I need my soil examined.

[applestar]

It's NOT a ginkgo. It really does look like a fig.

17 FEET tall? OK, maybe you'd better show us a photo of the entire tree so we can see the growth pattern and shape.

[applestar]

Hmm... If it IS a fig -- could this be it?

https://plantdiseasehandbook.tamu.edu/fo ... crops/fig/

Anthracnose (fungus – Glomerella cingulata): The fungus which causes anthracnose attacks both the fruit and the foliage. Infected fruit are characterized by a soft rot and premature dropping of the fruit. Immature fruit are dried up and may remain on the tree. Infection results in a small, sunken, discolored area. The areas enlarge with age and become covered with a pink mass of spores. Affected leaves will have a dark brown margin. Defoliation occurs with increased infection. Sanitation is extremely important in the fig planting. Diseased fruit as well as infected leaves should be removed.

[Gardener123]

It's NOT a ginkgo. It really does look like a fig.

17 FEET tall? OK, maybe you'd better show us a photo of the entire tree so we can see the growth pattern and shape.

I'll try and snap one on Sunday when the sun is up. But this tree has no fruit of any kind.... just leaves.

[Gardener123]

Well, it is EXTREMELY sunny today, and I couldn't even really see the photo as I was taking it, but here you go.

[rainbowgardener]

Well it is definitely not a ginkgo tree. Ginkgoes are very primitive trees with limited branch structure and a lot of leaves that just come off the branch


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... 3008px.jpg

they have fan shaped leaves:


https://blog.healthpost.co.nz/wp-content ... banner.jpg

I'm trying to think of other trees that drop green balls. Osage orange drops BIG green balls, 4-5" in diameter. Sweetgum drops spiky brown balls. Walnuts have a green rind when they drop. But it doesn't matter because none of them have leaves like yours. Have you ever seen your tree drop "stinky green balls" or is that just something you were told?

I can't think of anything else that has leaves that look like fig leaves. Some times growing conditions lead trees not to fruit.

[GardeningCook]

It definitely is NOT an Osage Orange. We have quite a few here on our property & the leaves aren't even remotely like the OP's pics. And they drop their grapefruit-sized fruits fairly early in life - the OP would definitely know if he had an Osage Orange - lol!

[Gardener123]

RBG.

The lady who gave us the tree was trying to start a nursery. It failed. She said it was the non fruiting version of a tree that dropped green stinky balls. At least that is what I recall. I sort of remember telling her that I didn't want it if it was dropping the stinky green balls.

[GardeningCook]

RBG.

The lady who gave us the tree was trying to start a nursery. It failed. She said it was the non fruiting version of a tree that dropped green stinky balls. At least that is what I recall. I sort of remember telling her that I didn't want it if it was dropping the stinky green balls.

"Green stinky balls" does sound very much like Gingko, but your leaf pics don't even remotely support that I.d. Hmmm. . . .

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, I think she was just wrong in her ID.

[Jaiaceae]

I vote for fig tree also, looks like frost or some sort of cold damage. Perhaps even something drifted on those leaves and burnt?

[Gardener123]

I vote for fig tree also, looks like frost or some sort of cold damage. Perhaps even something drifted on those leaves and burnt?

But there isn't any fruit? Or do not all fig trees actually produce fruit? I don't know anything about fig trees.

[GardeningCook]

Yes - all Fig trees do produce fruit. Unlike Ginkos, which have male & female trees, all Fig trees produce, & at the size/age of yours, you should definitely be getting fruit. Your tree actually does sound like a male non-fruit-producing Ginko, but the original small pic of the baby tree you posted was definitely that of a fig.

Can you post a new closeup pic of the leaves of the mature tree? Because that should clinch whether it's a Ginko or a Fig.

[Gardener123]

The first post in the thread is of this 15' high tree. I just snipped a piece off for the post.

[applestar]

What does it look like now?
My figs are all producing little figlets in the leafnodes....

[Gardener123]

What does it look like now?
My figs are all producing little figlets in the leafnodes....

It seems to have recovered. Still has a ways to go, but better than it was when I posted.