Received sold as *1G* plants. It was a good solid 40 inch high leader on both plants received. No side branching. I know it needed a root correction before planting because it was more a 4" liner root bound compacted ......super dense root. Rare cultivar, have not seen available for awhile...so I decided to leave it alone for 1 growing season and then do a root correction next year . I regret not doing it... Both plants leafed out. One died post leafout. The latter did keep its leaves up until this week and now it's on its way out. A scratch test on the one remaining....haven't done one this week but last week, it was still green. WWYD. Root correction seeing how compacted it was or knowing it was hard to find, let it grow for one season to *take ownership that plant received without messing with it's roots, was a plant that grew* https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/c84s...ey=ogio5rnm37f2raquhvxbpbp5h&st=f70gqm5f&dl=0
I have never seen roots that thick in a liner pot. Must have been there for years and years. Don't even know if it would be amenable to correction.
While the roots aren't pretty, I don't think they are so dense and/or gnarly enough to account for the death of the trees. I have intentionally grown similar looking roots using a 4 inch liner to create an exposed root acer palmatum. I think it more likely the conditions they encountered in transit is to blame. When we talk about the cold hardiness of plants, it is implicit that they are planted in the ground (which never gets as cold as the air temperature). Roots are far more temperature sensitive than the above ground parts. IOW, the above ground stems and buds of a zone 5 acer can survive -20F, but the roots, nevertheless, cannot survive ground temperatures below 14F. Cargo holds (be it in an airplane or the back of a semi) generally are not temperature controlled. Especially in this time of year, they could have been exposed to temperatures around 14F or even colder (for many hours) which would have been fatal to the roots of most every kind of maple.
For clarity, if a plant was decline during winter, wouldn't it either have dieback or just not grow at all ? All the visible buds did lead out, then declined ad died put. My current other one, although it has stayed alive up until this week.....it has also declined to leaf shrivel. However, it's still green on the scratch test and there is a single leaf closest towards the soil line that does appear to remain alive....for now. Plant was received circa November .....they were overwintered outdoors in their original shipping pots heeled into the ground. Pretty sure it was on a Freight Train for most of its transit....aside from the local UPS truck on the local pickup and delivery routes. PNW to NorthEast We've had fairly mild winters the last few years.....if not this year. I have 2 snowblowers at home and the last time recall breaking them out....was maybe 5 years ago...... This is not recent, but here is a pic of the other one....It was planted too deep . Advantagous roots created this weird *bulbous* area along the trunk. It's shaped like a hourglass. The roots below were same:similar https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ie6n...ey=cgx0rmuxl6wno8z4mmwgryqtp&st=1x4qtw81&dl=0
In spring, a piece of stem with one or more buds and no roots (commonly called a cutting) will break buds and begin to express leaves that will subsequently lose turgidity and then wither away. It takes an additional amount of time for the stem cambium to die and turn brown. Trees compartmentalize damage which essentially means that they clog up the xylem lumens (wood) to seal off the area. This reduces or even removes the supply of water to the foliage above. Being 'root bound' simply reduces the vigor of the plant and only causes death over the course of several growing seasons. Keeping trees 'root bound' is actually a tool for keeping trees small = bonsai.
