Help with Acer

Hi all

I don't know if this is posted in the correct section so mods, please feel free to move.

My fiancee and I planted an acer atropurpureum for a certain reason, which i won't go into, but it means a lot to us.

The problem is it's just going down hill, holes in the leaves surrounded by brown.

I know nothing about plants but her brother checked it and couldn't see any bugs or anything however when i was out this morning i saw a small black thing crawling over the stalk.

Any help to fix this, if possible, would be greatly appreciated as we want to keep this one and not replace it.

Here's some pics if they help







Thanks for any help.

Ian

 

Hi Ian
It certainly is a sorry sight
However, recently we have been having heavy winds and downpours of rain followed by very hot humid days and even drying winds
I have a number of acers feeling the effects similar (but admittedly not quite as bad) as yours
Maybe it is in a windy corridor? or open to these unusual elements too much?
One piece of advice is NOT to fertilise in the hope that it will provide a cure ... it will have the opposite effect
Give the plant some protection and keep your fingers crossed. It will probably be all right
P.S. you could even remove the damaged leaves to at least make it (and you) feel better

 

Thanks for the quick reply whis4ey.

Here in Glasgow it has been VERY humid, we've had the heat but no sun :( breezy with the odd shower.

The part of the garden the plant is in is where i thought got the least wind, would you recommend maybe just moving it to another part and see how it goes.

As far as not fertilising the plant, i have no idea what that means, as i said i have no knowledge of gardening at all, wish i did now!

My fiancees father-in-law deals with the garden but he works away and is only up once a month, we just water all the plants at the end of each day and he tends to them when he's here.

 

Hi ianac1, looking at the holes, it could be vine weevil. Here is some info for you.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0600/vineweevil.asp

 

Thanks a lot for the reply Blackthorn, i suspect it might well be this.

It would fit in with the little black bug i saw crawling around this morning.

I think i'll get some of that Scotts Bug Clear Ultra Vine Weevil Killer, it's worth a try eh?

I'll also get some insect barrier glue as i saw something small and black dissapear under the rim of the plant pot.

Is there anything i could put around the rim of the pot in the meantime to stop the vine weevil getting to the plant?

Thanks again.

 

So i take it this insect barrier glue is the only thing that can stop vine weevil?

I want to stop the pesky wee things getting to the plant until i get some of that glue.

I think it's definitely these as i tapped the rim of the plant pot firmly and a small black bug fell out from underneath and scuttled under the pot.

 

They are nasty things indeed. Luckily, I have only had them once many years ago, and the plant died before I realised what the problem was. These great big fat white grubs had eaten all the roots and the plant just keeled over.

So I cannot help you with what the latest cure is, hopefully someone else will advise you as to whether that vine weevil killer product will do the job, but I wonder if it's worth carefully lifting the Acer out of it's pot and inspecting the roots for grubs?

 

Surely vine weevil grubs would have killed the plant? They eat the roots and the plant dies.
Something might well have been eating at the leaves, but I can't see the normal vine weevil tell tale signs

 

Hi ianac1. Just one thing I'd like to ask, did you pot it up using Ericaceous compost ?
Cheers...freddy.

 

No Freddie i'm told it's just normal compost but my father-in-law has a plant the exact same potted in Ericaceous compost sitting a few feet away from mine and it's also starting to suffer the same effects as my plant.

Are you thinking it could possibly be down to compost type?

 

Any ideas what else could be eating the leaves if not vine weevil wis4ey?

I saw something on the plant so i do think somethings eating it.

After reading Blackthorns post it mentioned that adults hide during the day so i gave a solid tap to the rim of the plant pot yesterday and a small black thing fell from underneath and scuttled away under the pot.

As i say, i know nothing about plants, you guys do but from what i've read and seen it seems as though vine weevil is a good call.

 

No
Japanese maples do fine in ordinary compost/soils
Are the plants free draining?
When I look again at the first pic I notice that the plant is fairly low into the pot. These plants are shallow rooted. Maybe it isn't getting the chance to drain properly
Don't forget that Blackthorn, Freddy and myself are only able to make possible suggestions to try to point you in the right direction. It is you who can see exactly what is there 'on the ground' so to speak

 

"Japanese maples do fine in ordinary compost/soils"

They do ? What made me think otherwise ? Hmm... Thanks for that info Sam :thumb:
Cheers...freddy.

 

Actually Freddy, i take back what i said.

I was just saying what i had been told but having just inspected my father-in-laws plant it seems his is only suffering winburn.

The usual brown round the edge of the leaves with the odd brown spot (not holes) spread around the leaves.

His certainly looks a LOT better than mine.

 

Yes i take your point whis4ey but when you don't have a clue about plants you have to rely upon the advice of others as with anything else.

I appreciate all the help.

There's just so much of it :gnthb: that i don't know what my next step is.

Take the plant out the pot and inspect for grubs?

Replant it using different compost?

Treat for vine weevil?

The plant does drain fine, however when i moved the pot there was a small pile of wet, sludgy compost under the pot.

I don't know if that would have any bearing on the situation.

Mines is on the ground, my father-in-laws is sitting on a pallet (been building in the garden) so maybe his is draining better?

It's all guess work on my behalf really.

Thanks for all the help guys.