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White spots on leaves of young trees #871228

Asked June 02, 2024, 11:02 PM EDT

I have 2 different young trees - one that I’ve had for 2 years old and one for 1 year - that have white spots on them. Cause? Cute?

NOTE: On one picture you can see some kind of bug.

Weld County Colorado

Expert Response

Good Afternoon Louisa,

Thanks for contacting us with your question about your trees. We need some additional information to address your questions.

1.Are the trees different types?

2. What type of trees are they?

3. Are the spots appearing on both trees or just one?

4. Did the white spots appear just this year or have you seen the in the past?

5. Are the spots appearing all over the tree or in a limited area?

6.What does the area around the trees look like?

Also could you provide pictures of the entire tree(s) and the area around them.

Thanking ;you in advance for the additional information.

Linda, Weld County Colorado Master Gardener

Weld County Colorado Master Gardeners Replied June 03, 2024, 3:34 PM EDT

Thank you for helping me on this.

Here are the answers to your questions:

(1) They are different trees. We got each from a state or county tree give away - different years. They are planted about 75 feet apart.

(2) One is a red maple. We planted it last October. I’m not sure about the other. Perhaps you can tell from the pictures. That one was planted about three years ago.

(3) There are spots are on both trees. At first they were just 1-3 big white spots on a leaf. Now there are also a lot of small white spots - different? - and the leaves are developing holes. The small spots are now much more abundant. You can hardly see any of the big spots on the red maple.

(4) This is the first year we have had spots on any of our trees.

(5) The spots started just on a few leaves, but are expanding. (See question #3)

(6) Red maple: The area around it is dirt as it was just planted last October and we dug a very deep, wide hole, mixing topsoil + as our soil is clay based.

Other tree: It was planted the same way, but native grass is now growing there.

Both: The larger area around them has native grasses. A lot has no grass as it had a weed problem. The grass is now growing back.

SEE PICTURES BELOW

Each group has pictures of the tree, the bark, the leaves, and the area around it. NOTE: had to send pictures as attachments, so may not be in that exact order!

The first four are of the red maple. It is about 6 feet tall.

The last 5 are of the other tree - unknown species. I remember it was said to be a medium height, wide tree with shallow, wide roots. We thought it was dead last year, but kept watering it. It grew mainly grew back from the roots this year. Some is from the original trunk. It’s now about 4 feet tall.

On Jun 3, 2024, at 1:34 PM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

The Question Asker Replied June 03, 2024, 6:18 PM EDT

Loiusa,
Thanks for answering my questions. I'm not able to open the pictures. Please resend them the the following email address:
<personal data hidden>

Thanks,
Linda Weld County Colorado Master Gardener

Weld County Colorado Master Gardeners Replied June 04, 2024, 3:57 PM EDT

I am the Weld County Master Gardener on duty this week.
I am unable to see or open the photos you took.
Would you please send just one photo, as kind of a test run, and I'll let you know when I get it? Here's the email address for you:

<personal data hidden>

Thank you, Ms. Warfield.

Sue
Weld County Colorado Master Gardener

Weld County Colorado Master Gardeners Replied June 11, 2024, 10:51 PM EDT

Good Afternoon,
Since we have not been able to open the additional pictures you sent I will provide some possible causes to the white spots on the trees:

They could be caused by Leafhoppers or aphids; both occur on trees and display similar damage on the tree leaves. The following links will provide information about the insects. The documents also contain information about the control of the pests: https://extension.usu.edu/planthealth/ipm/ornamental-pest-guide/arthopods/leafhoppers
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2339&context=extension_curall
https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/insects-diseases/1402-aphids/
https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/aphids-on-shade-trees-and-ornamentals-5-511/

I hope this information is helpful. Feel free to contact us if you have additional questions.

Linda, Weld County Colorado Master Gardener

Weld County Colorado Master Gardeners Replied June 13, 2024, 4:41 PM EDT

White spots on leaves of young trees #871228

Expert Response

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