Japanese maples always catch my heart . The foliation , the colors , the height – everything about them is unequaled and they make beautiful additions to the garden .
So it ’s extra dissatisfactory when they ’re plagued by pest .
We link to vendors to facilitate you find relevant products . If you grease one’s palms from one of our links , we may earn a commission .
Photo by Jim Occi, BugPics, Bugwood.org viaCC BY-NC.
I suppose part of my personal fascination with these plants is due to the fact they wo n’t survive in my stale growing geographical zone , so I ca n’t have one in my own landscape .
The few geezerhood when I did live in a region with a climate they were able-bodied to withstand , I would salivate over each one that I saw , gayly expand in yard and botanical gardens .
But I did also notice I was n’t the only creature that was attracted to these trees …
A variety of worm can be found hang around from time to meter , but they lean to do more than just admire the leaf .
Luckily , we ’ve suffer everything you require to know about what case of pests might assail your Japanese maple , including details on how you may deal with them !
Here ’s what we ’ll cover :
How to Manage Common Japanese Maple Pests
1. Aphids
aphid are always at the top of the list of pests that you’re able to find on closely any plant life . These pretty Tree are no dissimilar , and a variety of aphid species love to hang out and suck on them .
Aphids are soft - corporate insects with two seeable tailpipes , and they may be seen in a range of colors . Most exhibit tincture of chocolate-brown or unripe .
They ’re quick to multiply , and able-bodied to do so even if male are n’t present .
They might look dumb and naked , but if populations grow significantly , winged adults are produced to facilitate further spread , andantswill tend them to keep predators aside in exchange for the honeydew they get .
The hurt they cause is mainly aesthetic , as their feeding may head to folio curling , and the honeydew they exudate draw ablack sooty moldthat does n’t add to the feathery beauty of this well recognizable Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . invariant feeding can also countermine plant and dissemble as anentry for diseases .
Ladybugs , parasitic wasps , and lacewings all attack aphids , and local universe of thesebeneficial insectscan be preserve by avoiding chemical substance pesticide .
In order toget rid of aphidsyourself , spray the leaves with astrong stream of insensate waterto wash them off the plants .
Insecticidal goop or horticultural oil spraying can also assist if good louse or cold showers do n’t seem to be doing the trick .
Bonide Insecticidal Soap
Bonide Insecticidal Soap , available at Arbico Organics , is a production that work well . These types of products do require unspoiled coverage to be in effect and repeat lotion are often necessary .
2. Beetles
Japanese beetles ( Popillia japonica ) , grain ambrosia beetle ( Xylosandrus crassiusculus ) , and vine weevil ( Otiorhynchus sulcatus ) are all types of beetle that might attack these delicate , attractive maple .
Japanese beetlesare oval - shaped insect that are very easy to identify , thanks to their metal rust and green color , with white hairsbreadth tufts lining the side of their abdomens .
They masticate on the leaves and can all skeletonize them . If there is enough damage the leaves can turn brown and free fall , and the tree is later weakened .
Granulate ambrosia beetles ( formerly hump as Asian ambrosia beetles ) , are humble red - brown borers with hunched backs .
They are attracted to already weakened Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and they bore into thin bark , leaving pencil - lead - sized holes behind . Sometimes you ’ll see strand of boring dust – as if the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree just squeezed a hickey – protruding from the plant as well .
Not only do the female excavate burrow in the wood to lay their eggs within , but they also communicate ambrosia fungi , and produce excellent entry points for other pathogens as well .
Vine weevil are diminished black beetles with the typical snout nose of these insects and indented elytra ( wing cover ) .
They chew D - shaped notches in the leafage edges . But the larvae – creamy - colored , cytosine - shaped grub with reddened nous that dwell the soil – are the real trouble . They are root bird feeder , and their snacking can go away a flora infirm , or dead .
Beetle larvae are hard to point , and each of three types described above remain hidden in the soil or in the Grant Wood of infested tree .
AzaGuard
Apply pesticides at the first foretoken of feed damage , point the adults . AzaGuard , available at Arbico Organicscan be apply to the industrial plant surfaces for the beetles to ingest as they feed , poisoning them .
For vine weevils and Japanese mallet , whose larvae experience in the ground , beneficial nematodescan be go for as a land drench .
NemAttack and NemaSeek
Combo compact ofSteinernema carpocapsaeandHeterohabditis bacteriophoraareavailable at Arbico Organics .
Simply mix with water according to package instructions and apply to the soil around your tree .
For see ambrosia beetles , keep the tree diagram as healthy as possible is the easiest way of life to forestall damage . Pyrethroids can be use while the beetles are active .
PyGanic Gardening Insecticide
strain PyGanic , usable at Arbico Organics , if you do n’t require to employ celluloid pyrethroids and your tree diagram is too debile to deal with any additional equipment casualty from these pests .
3. Caterpillars
A variety of caterpillars are pull in to Nipponese maples , admit leafrollers .
They chew through the foliage , create holes in the middle and around the edge of foliage .
Other denotation that you might be carry on with caterpillars include white webbing and chunky droppings known as frass , and in the case of leaf rollers , curled leaves .
Most of the metre , caterpillar alimentation is merely ugly . Too much cat feeding , however , can inhibit plant growth or even kill unseasoned plants .
you may choose to handpick any butterfly or moth larvae that you see , or practice aBacillus thuringiensisproduct to manage infestation .
Bonide Thuricide
Try Bonide Thuricide , useable at Arbico Organics .
The cat need to chow down on leaves covered in it in guild for the mathematical product to work , so apply it to all folio open . It will take a few day before they start to break down off .
Monterey Garden Insect Spray
you could also sample a spinosad merchandise such as Monterey Garden Insect Spray , available at Arbico Organics .
4. Mealybugs
Mealybugs are lite gray-headed to white insects , often cut through in powdery white wax . They have strand along the edge of their bodies , and some even have tails .
They are particularly attracted to splits in the bark and other lesion , and they suck the muggins of the tree diagram when they feed . Like aphids , they also excrete honeydew melon .
If there are a mass of them feed in one field , they can cause bitterness to form . So between the insects themselves , the resentment , and the sooty mold that can grow on the honeydew melon they pass , mealybug are not a welcome sight .
predator such as ladybugs and parasitic white Anglo-Saxon Protestant can provide good ascendency . Spray a strong current of body of water to rinse these dim dew worm off the tree .
you may also assay insecticidal liquid ecstasy and horticultural oils , but the louse ’ waxy coating helps protect them against such products .
5. Scale Insects
Cottony maple scurf ( Pulvinaria innumerabilis ) , gymnastic horse chestnut scale leaf ( Pulvinaria regalis ) , and Nipponese maple scale ( Lopholeucaspis japonica ) are three species of these common plague that you might find on your tree .
Cottony maple scale and horse cavalry chestnut tree scale are exchangeable in appearance – modest , monotonic , and browned . These insect often go undetected until the females deposit their fluffy white ovisacs on the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree branch .
scale of measurement insectsare unremarkably just an ugly presence , but if there are significant numbers of them sucking on your tree , the leaf may turn yellow or die , and branches may die back .
Heavy , consistent feeding can kill weak trees . And these pests also produce honeydew melon .
Japanese maple scale insects are shaped like an oyster eggshell , brownish in color , and often covered by a blank waxy covering . As is distinctive of scale insect , they suck on plants to feed , which can get sprig and arm dieback , tree weakening , and a loss of vigor .
Spraying infested offshoot with a strong stream of water can help dislodge scale , and this is best done when the tree is dormant . Lacewings , ladybugs , and predatory wasp such asPteroptrix chinensiscan be very effective in controlling population as well .
The adult are well protected under their hard , sometimes waxy covering , so if you do need to use pesticides , target the juvenile crawlers before they settle and develop that impermeable covering .
Pyrethroids and systemic insecticide can be very in force against scale insect . AzaGuard can also work , which employ azadirachtin from the neem tree .
Buy Your Own Tree, Bugs!
The inclination of coarse pests that may affect Japanese maple is not too long , but it ’s nothing to be sneezed at either .
Luckily , it ’s very unconvincing that you ’d have to deal with all of these at once . And when one of these pests does seem , you ’ll know what it is and how to lot with it .
And once you ’re done there , check out these template togrowing and worry for Japanese maplesnext :
© need the Experts , LLC . ALL right RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Product picture via Arbico Organics . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
About
Sylvia Dekker
