leaves turning yellow on sycamore

 Hello,

I had 3 sycamores planted last fall.  All three came to life wonderfully
this spring and were doing great up until this week.  Now the leaves of one
of them are turning yellow with something of a mottled appearance.  There
are still plenty of green leaves but this came on quickly.  Nothing
particularly different about the location of this tree compared with the
others.  They all get about the same sun and water.  The affected one has a
monkey flower bush closer to it that is probably best but there isn't any
sunlight competition.

This is San Diego.  Not the coastal climate region but the one just in from
that.

Thoughts?

And before you chime in John the mulch is about a foot from the trunk and it
was planted by professionals at the proper depth.

thanks
ml

 
been rainy? here in the east they get anthracnose to the point of
defoliating in a wet spring.

 



No, not really, and no signs on the symptoms on the other 2.

 kzen

The tree can survive a year without leaves.  take your finger and scrap the
outer bark and you will see green tissue.  The tree sheds its outer bark an
leaves an envelop of green cortex like a big leaf around the tree.  If you
planted it at the right depth and pruned the roots correctly and mulched
correctly and did not add nitrogen at planting time you should be ok.  I
would recommend an application of microelements with a correct mulching
program.  I would stay clear of urea and fast release nitrogen.
Microelements would be helpful.  All you can do is love the tree or trees.
Its natures way of thinning.


--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Tree Biologist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and  www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.
Some people will buy products they do not understand and not buy books that
will give them understanding.

 
Sandy Eggo is much too warm and arid, and its soil is typically too
poor for growing sycamore.  Trying to grow sycamore in San Diego is
like trying to grow joshua trees in Noo Yawk City.  Where did you get
sycamore trees in San Diego, the nurserys there certainly don't sell
them and mail order companies don't ship plants to California.  You
didn't smuggle them in, did you?