[grumpydad]

we have had acers in pots for several years, some i have grown from seed and are over 25 years old, this year, for some reason i have started to loose some, the leaves turn brown and they just die off, very quickly, i have lost 5 so far this year.
any ideas ?, thay have had the same treatment as other years, renew of good quality compost in the top with a fish blood and bone feed, plenty of water, as they are in pots.

martyn

[doubledug]

twenty five years old, thats quite an age to be in a pot for what is after all a sicamore tree. if you think what size the roots would be left to roam free do you think it could be they need too be planted in mother earth.    

[grumpydad]

possibly, but the 2 biggest seem to be ok at the moment, it is the smaller ones that are dying off, thought it might be windburn, but the leaves are not coming back when i have moved them to be out of the wind

[sunshineband]

Acers are fairly long lived so I doubt it is because they are at the end of their life.

Did they get very wet in the winter? That might sound daft but it can affect their ability to grow in the spring 

It has been very hot, sunny and windy so it is possible they have been too dry now, but if the others are OK...

Acers don't tend to suffer too mcuh from diseases, and pests are mainly things like aphids.... check the trunks to make sure they are not infested with giant scaly woolly looking aphids as these can kill a tree quite quickly, especially if it is under stress already. (or botrytis which you'd notice  )

Good luck 

[celjaci]

It has been very hot, sunny and windy so it is possible they have been too dry now, but if the others are OK...

possibly, but the 2 biggest seem to be ok at the moment, it is the smaller ones that are dying off,

Could it be the big ones are OK because they are in bigger pots aaand the others, in smaller pots have dried out?  Wind and sun we have had lately is very drying

[Aunt Sally]

I've lost a lot of leaves off mine this spring.  I've put it down to cold, drying winds 

[sunshineband]

I've lost a lot of leaves off mine this spring.  I've put it down to cold, drying winds 

You're probably right. One of ours has windburn on the more exposed side.. all curled and brown edges 

[Aunt Sally]

Yes, that's what I've got !

[sunshineband]

Shame really as the leaves are so gorgeous. I'm cutting them off, including the stem as more will grow 

[Trillium]

If your acers are at all like Canadian acers, they get HUGE! (60ft and taller) and have incredibly deep taproots. I can't imagine them living in a any sized pot for over 25 years unless you've turned it into bonsai. The root spread is also enormous so I'd say that your potted tree has reached its end. If you open up your pot I imagine you'll find an incredibly tangled mess of starved roots.

[sunshineband]

If your acers are at all like Canadian acers, they get HUGE! (60ft and taller) and have incredibly deep taproots. I can't imagine them living in a any sized pot for over 25 years unless you've turned it into bonsai. The root spread is also enormous so I'd say that your potted tree has reached its end. If you open up your pot I imagine you'll find an incredibly tangled mess of starved roots.

I think japanese ones are much smaller 

[Diy-king]

I give mine a feed once a month of chicken manure pellets and fish, blood and bone every other month. Every year they are taken out of the pot just before they start into life again and the roots are cut back to allow new root growth and room in the pot. All soil removed and then re-potted with fresh soil. This seems to do the trick for me.

[Goosegirl]

Cold, drying winds can affect them as has been said here by others as I know to my cost. Something I learnt recently about acers in pots is that the pot has to dwarf the acer or it can die - don't know the facts behind it but found it by accident on a website. Don't know if this helps.

[sunshineband]

Cold, drying winds can affect them as has been said here by others as I know to my cost. Something I learnt recently about acers in pots is that the pot has to dwarf the acer or it can die - don't know the facts behind it but found it by accident on a website. Don't know if this helps.

Sounds like the same principle that bonsais work to 

[grumpydad]

thanks or the advice, have trimmed the branches that are dying off the big acers, one is an 8ft tall red. it has put out some shoots from the trunk in the last few weeks, so it looks like it will survive, but i have lost 5 smaller acers, up to 3ft tall.
disposed of in case there is something in the soil. no scale aphid on any of them

martyn