Is summer heat killing my japanese maple?

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thedementedbuny Tulsa, OK Jul 27, 2011

I just bought a Japanese maple 'Shigarami' in early spring (potted). It was doing very good on my south facing patio in partial shade, but when we started getting into the 100's it started looking a little parched. I moved it to the other side of my apartment (still south facing) where it gets morning sun instead of full blast afternoon sun and it is still getting worse, i water it -one pitcher a day- so that the soil is moist most of the day and mostly dry by morning, thanks to well draining soil (potting soil and decomposed granite with small rocks in the bottom and cedar chips on the top of the soil about 3 inches from the bark).

Is it just too hot for it right now? It was thriving until summer... should I cover it, bring it in, water more?
Thanks for any help.

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thedementedbuny Tulsa, OK Aug 28, 2011

All of the leaves dried up and fell off, I moved it to my neighbors north facing porch, which is at least 10 to 20 degrees cooler, and full shade. The leaves are all growing back and its looking good. Now I am just wondering why it got so bad... We beat the record highs for oklahoma this year, 115! Could that be the reason or was it that my japanese maple hates the sun? I even bought a shade so it was getting only one or two hours of sun.

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 28, 2011

They don't like the sun, especially in a hot climate. I would make sure and keep it somewhere that it gets an hour or two of morning sun at most, and definitely shade during the afternoon. Even with those precautions though they will sometimes get a bit crispy looking by the end of the summer.

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Aug 29, 2011

If the plant is still in it's pot then think of a pie in an oven, the pot has very little soil in it to take up enough water, and the pot draws the heat of the sun, so the plant is being cooked.
These are slow growing plants for ornamental use and as said before, they don't like heat/ hot sun, they come from a climate that is cooler, they grow in shade and take many years to mature, your plant will either need re-potting every 2-3 years or if set out in a border in the garden, will require watering, cool situation or set out UNDER a larger shady tree, they also like a slight acidic compost, give it good light but NOT direct sunlight, this dappled light will help keep the variegation to the foliage too.
Good Luck.
WeeNel.

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