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Japanese Maple - New growth always discolored/shriveled

JakeDiamante
9 years ago

I have had a japanese maple bonsai for about 5 years and it seems like every year, after the initial flush of new, healthy leaves, the rest of the summer all I get is discolored, goofy-looking leaves growing...

Ok, so whatever, overall it still looks good, BUT-

This spring I repotted in some straight pine fines, unscreened with a lot of smaller particles, because I live in the high desert, and water retention is a big deal, and I decided to omit the perlite I usually use. The bark is not very composted, so I just thought I'd have to add more nitrogen, etc... So I've been fertilizing with some diluted acid-loving fertlizer mixture since repotting.

So this year the discolored goofy leaves are worse. Any ideas why? They are not browning at the tips or getting sunburned, etc... Anyway you can see the pics. Nitrogen leaching from the new bark? Too much fertilizer? Not enough air circulation? Anyone ever have a similar problem with japanese maple new growth? It doesn't seem to hurt the tree overall, but I just cant figure out how to keep all the leaves looking healthy, not just the initial flush. THANKS!

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