Vince_Maskeeper
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Semi-Dwarf Fuji Apple Leaves Shriveled & Turning Red-Brown

Location: Los Angeles (North Hollywood), CA
USDA Zone :10a/10b
Soil: Sandy, Neutral - Moderately Alkaline



I planted a Fuji apple a few months back. I followed the directions on the tag, dug out a large hole and mixed native soil with bagged organic soil (along with some of my own homemade compost). I placed a brick ring around the trunk (about 4 feet in diameter) and placed wood mulch over the fresh dirt (with none touching the tree trunk).

Over the first month or two I watered it regularly, a couple times a week (Calif is in drought conditions with zero rainfall for months). It has recently begun to shrivel and the leaves are turning red/brown from the tips up:

Image
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I'm wondering what is causing this, any ideas?


A couple of additional details:

- A few weeks back we did have some days with highs into the mid-90's. It's been cooler lately (80's) but there were a few days approaching triple digits. Most sites I can find list Fuji apples as 4-9 zones- is 10a/b just too much for this guy?

- I bought a moisture gauge and have been taking daily moisture readings in the soil around each of my fruit trees (both at the trunk and about 2 feet away, at 2 inches deep and 8 inches deep). It seems like the Fuji is not draining as well as the other trees and stays very moist (5+ on the meter) for days and weeks after being watered.

Not sure if I can dig him up and do something to help (maybe put in a gravel bed before replanting?) or if he should be ok in moderately moist soil.


Any tips on what might be causing the leaf turn I posted in the photos would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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ReptileAddiction
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I too am in Southern California though I am in San Diego County. How much water are you giving it when you water? You should be filling up the basin you created and letting it START to dry out before you water it again.

The leaves are definitely burned. It probably was just from the hot weather. As long as you are watering it well it should be fine. You should not dig him up now though. If you decide you want to you should wait till the tree is dormant in the winter though I do not think that is necessary.

I noticed in your picture you only mulched around the tree. I would mulch out past the bricks as much as you can. From the picture it looks like you do not have very good soil and mulching it will help immensely.

NatureHillsNursery
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Sorry to hear about your apple tree problem. My first thought on seeing the photo is “rust”. Could it be a type of rust that you could treat with a fungicide? I think I’d try spraying it and see what happens. Where I live in Michigan, fungus’ are an ongoing problem, so perhaps that’s why it immediately occurred to me, but it may be worth checking out.

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ReptileAddiction
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Our climate is so dry especially in summer that the likelihood of a fungus in the summer is little. That is not rust.

JONA
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I also think that it is much more likely to be due to water loss.
The plant can't take up water from the roots as fast as the leaves are evaporating it in in transporation.
Plenty of water needed and wait for cooler weather for the plant to recover.

Vince_Maskeeper
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How much water are you giving it when you water? You should be filling up the basin you created and letting it START to dry out before you water it again.
When I started I was watering into the basin a couple times a week. Once I got a moisture meter that was showing it was taking weeks to dry out under the surface I shifted watering to once every two weeks or so. When I do, I use a Treegator 15 gallon bag that slow drips water over 5-8 hours.

Since my last watering more than a week ago the soil is still showing extremely wet on a moisture meter. I have a total of 5 trees planted pretty much the same way and all the others dry out in a few days to a week, and this one does not.
I noticed in your picture you only mulched around the tree. I would mulch out past the bricks as much as you can. From the picture it looks like you do not have very good soil and mulching it will help immensely.
The top of our "soil" here is basically sand. Not "sandy" but literally like a kids sandbox. I mostly had the redwood mulch in the basin for decoration and to keep the ground around the rootball cool.

Over the weekend I removed the red wood mulch entirely to see if that helps with the soil drainage, and did a mulching of pure compost in the basin and 1 foot around the bricks for now. Last week I also added a 30% shade sunblock cloth over the tree to hope to reduce the direct heat. So far no change.
The plant can't take up water from the roots as fast as the leaves are evaporating it in in transportation.
But this wouldn't be because the soil is too dry? Everything around there is practically soggy... so I wonder what would prevent it from being able to pull the water it needs?

smoxi
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Was the tree container grown or root wrapped / bare root? what size is the tree and what was the size of the root-ball?

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applestar
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Apple trees don't like constantly soggy soil. That can lead to root rot and also some kind of a disease -- is it crown rot? If root is diseased then it can't take up water either.

Some rootstock are more suited to clay soil. -- is that when you have UNDER the playground sand soil? Is that why the area holds so much moisture? Or is it lower like a bowl than surrounding areas?

JONA878
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The problem is that there is a balance that has to be maintained between the size of the root ball and the amount of leaf surface on the plant.
Dwarf trees by their very nature have a relatively small root ball. So they have to be encouraged to make full use of the soil area available to them.
In very hot weather they are transporating huge amounts of water through the leaves and if the root ball is not large enough to replace this then desiccation will occur, even though the soil is at full capacity.
You seem to be doing all you can to help your tree...so just give it time to respond.
If you can give it shade that would help and keep the soil well mulched to not only keep the roots well watered but also to keep the soil cooler. Don't let the soil get water logged as Star has said, it will cause root death by starving the roots from oxygen.



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