Help - save my Acer

Acer planted in a large pot, sheltered position, gets the morning sun, it survived the winter and had a lot of new growth until a few days ago, was a good colour etc. now it has wilted and looks very poorly - It wasn't lacking water or got caught by the frost but I had put some compost (from the compost heap) on the surface of the pot a few weeks ago so I sort of blamed that - I have now taken all the soil (was garden soil) from around the plant and put a general compost with some peat around it - Is there anything else I can do? This all happened within a few days which makes me suspect some nasty person being around. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

 

Is it in a windy spot, wind does have an effect on ornamental acers especially the very fine leafed palmatum atropurpureum types but this usually shows as browning or dieing off around the leaf edges

 

Just found this on a gardening forum

apparently they can be prone to a type of verticillium wilt
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/jgard/msg1116023410391.html

 

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your reply -I don't think it is the wind that is the problem but 'verticillium wilt' seems likely

 

Have a read here

http://www.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/grownet/tree-disease/vertwilt.html

it usually affects areas of a tree as opposed to a whole tree but i suppose a small tree could be affected totally, and the tree depending on vigour can recover or outgrow the disease

if all fails and it does not recover then make sure you don't use that compost for anything else

 

The other common cause of a sudden wilt at this time of year in container plants is vine weevil. When you changed the planting medium, did you check for the little nasties?

 

Fran

I DID see a long thin insect with lots of legs a pinkish colour - is that a vine weavil, there was only one or two at the most. The plant is still in a very sorry state tomorrow I am going to take a sample to the nursery by us and see what they think, I'll keep you posted. I have been reading loads about verticillium wilt but wonder if it would wilt so quickly - there was plenty of good healthy growth after the winter, I've had it about 9 months.
Bye for now.

 

The insect you describe is a centipede - he's one of the good guys & eats other insect pests (as opposed to millipedes which are usually black & eat vegetation). Vine weevil grubs are about 1-2cm long, creamy maggot like & curled into a c shape- they eat plant roots. The adults are darkbrown with a pronounced "snout" & move bl***y fast! Squish any you find! Was your Acer in very wet soil, i.e not free draining?

 

I have acers (in pots) too and at first they did really well.

After a while they started wilting and dropping their leaves.

I spoke to someone at the local garden centre and he advised me to change to ericacuous compost, and also to feed them with a special feed. Previously they were just in normal potting compost.

We did that and within days they'd perked up and are now in their second year.
They survived the winter outdoors and are now full of leaves.

Feline.

 

Thanks for all your interest - today I went to the Garden centre and they didn't know what it was but advised ericacuous compost which I bought, I got as much as the soil from around the roots and around the roots I found little yellow eggs - I could well have been fertiliser but suffice it to say they are there no longer. I cut off the really dead bits. This is the second time I've changed the compost and this is all the pampering it is going to get - if Feline knows what that feed was called I would be grateful - if it survives I will post again so if you see Acer have a look.

Thanks again Mabel

 

It might have been 'sequestered iron' which is available in sachets and is a tonic for acid loving plants

 

Steve,

that's the one!!!

We thought ours were beyond saving - but they are doing great now.