jiminpa
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:56 pm
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania

Japanese Crimson Maple Leaves developing brown spots on them

I have a Japanese Crimson Maple tree that is about 8 years old and has been growing well but some strange light/brown spots are showing up on the usually bright crimson leaves.

Lately, we have been having an unusually high amount of rain and little sunshine to keep the balance. What is causing these spots on the tree? I have not seen pests but there are some holes in the leaves.

I would appreciate any help you could provide as it is a beautiful tree and will take whatever steps are needed to save it. I hope it is nothing to worry about but any advice you can offer is welcome.

Sincerely,

Jiminpa

Piet Patings
Cool Member
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:00 am

I can not help to pin-point the cause here but just to be sure I would spray an insecticide on it. It won't harm the tree.
Last year I was caught by lots of small holes in most of my (evergreen) shrubs. I am certain that these where eaten in but I have not seen a single insect that must have been guilty of it.
This year I sprayed EVERYTHING, last week for the second time this season.

The Helpful Gardener
Mod
Posts: 7491
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

Water drops hit by direct sun can magnify and burn holes; the delicate maple leaves are famous for this. It might be bacterial or fungal spotting, but I see nothing from your post that suggests it. Think of it as a bad haircut; it will grow out. You could scissor off leaves at the petiole, but suspect the few days you would spend doing the whole tree might be onorous... keep an eye and if you start to see bugs or leaves collapsing then we'll go to Orange Alert, but I suspect waterspotting...

HG

jiminpa
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:56 pm
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania

Thanks to everyone for their input about the problem with my Japaneses Maples. It turns out the problem was silk bag worms which was discovered by observing bags or cocoons hang off the tree. We pulled them all off and crushed their cocoons and putting them in a plastic bag and sealing it. The trees are experiencing renewed growth and looks better. Ohio State University had a very good article about how to take care of these.



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