HELP! Japanese Maples & new shoots just dropping off

[Schattenfreude]

Hello all,

Can anyone tell me why new shoots approx. 5" long with leaves would simply fall/break off? It's a large leaved japonicum variety approx. 4 ft. tall in a container. I brought it into the house overnight to avoid low temps, then set it back out the next morning. When I got home from work, several leaves and new shoots were on the ground or hanging by a thread. Could it have been the squirrels? Did my cat use the container for a litter box overnight? Was it too dry and in need of water? It was somewhat windy that day, too, but we'd had windier days prior and all was just fine.

I'm guessing it was the squirrels, but since this is my first experience with jap. maples in containers, I had to ask.

Thanks for your advice!
Kevin

[Chris_W]

Hi Kevin,

Was this an outdoor plant that you brought in just one night, and then it started to happen? The many reasons for buds to suddenly drop can be from drought, wind, sun scald, frost/cold, or even overwatering in a pot. The wind might have been a problem as it could dry out the buds or shock them if it was a cold wind, or maybe the buds were affected by frost some other night and it only took the wind to finish them off?

I'm not 100% sure what it could have been, but there is a chance that after it warms up more it could develop new shoots later on. Try to avoid the extremes going from indoors to out as it could confuse the poor plant even more.

Hopefully someone else with more Japanese maple experience can chime in here too.