[Arid_gardener] Re: Chinese Elm & Mulberry, Brown Leaf Edges

[Olin Miller]

The symptoms sound like salt buildup in the root zone.  It is a common
problem that may be due to the quality of irrigation water or improper
irrigation.  It is also common with trees and shrubs on drip irrigation.
The best solution is deep irrigation to leach out the salts.  Fill the tree
basin with water, then keep the bastion filled by showily and continuously
watering for a day or so.  Doing this several times per year should solve
your problems.  The addition of gypsum is also often recommended to displace
the sodium but this can also have a long term negative effect because the
calcium in gypsum (calcium sulfate) adds calcium to the soil which is
already overly abundant in the form of calcium carbonate.

Olin Miller, Master Gardener Volunteer
U of A Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County AZ
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----- Original Message ----- From: <jamieeire at yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 2:53 PM


>J and C,  85210
> The tips of the leaves of our Chinese/Evergreen Elm are brown and some of
> them are brown all the way around the edges. We have been in this house
> for a year and a half, so I don't know any more history than that. It
> looked healthy last year when we moved in but the leaves have looked like
> this for a while now. Could the frost from last winter have caused this
> damage? Or are we not watering enough/could it be salt build up?
>
> Similarly, our Mulberry tree has browning leaves at the tips and around
> the edges. One half is like that, and the other half looks healthy. This
> is not new, I have noticed it for some time now. Could this be a frost
> issue as well or something else?