QUESTION: Could you tell me what's happening to my 2-year-old Japanese maple? The leaves on the end of the branches are turning brown and drying out. This has started at the top of the tree and is slowly moving toward the trunk and ground. It gets afternoon sun. We tried to make sure it was watered. Will it recover?ANSWER: Afternoon sun, the hottest part of the day, is the source of your problem. But contributing to it is the tree's youth and the fact that it isn't established enough to combat this stress. It will eventually do so. It is likely that this year's damage began during the very dry weeks of early to mid-spring. Because those weeks were cool, you may not have realized that water was needed as the leaves expanded.Next year, you will see a new crop of foliage and a fresh start for the tree. In the meantime, keep it watered when rain doesn't fall and consider using root-stimulating fertilizer.

QUESTION: I have two camellias that get a lot of sun. On one, the leaves are turning yellow, even though I keep it watered. The second is fine. What is wrong?ANSWER: Any of several things, including insects, underfertilizing and too much or too little water could cause these yellow leaves. It is important to determine the cause.Insects: Look over the leaves, top and bottom, for signs of insects feeding on them. This will lead to yellowing or whitish leaves.Nutrition: If your older leaves are yellowing and the younger, green ones getting pale, that usually indicates nutritional deficiency. Did you fertilize the plants this spring? Cottonseed meal, an organic fertilizer, is widely used on camellias in the spring after flowering. If you can still see green veins on the yellow leaves, that signals iron deficiency, which can be corrected by spraying the plant with iron chelate several times.Watering: Overwatering can cause yellow leaves (so can underwatering, but the plant usually shows signs of wilting first). Overwatering keeps the ground soggy and that deprives roots of air. Roots of a shrub like a camellia that is planted too deep can also be starved for air. The plant should be set so that the top couple of inches of root ball are above ground level.Any of these problems could cause the yellow leaves. But since the problem isn't too grave yet, you should be able to solve it without too much trouble.

QUESTION: I have two Better Boy plants on my deck, in a container filled with potting soil. My plants appear very healthy. There are around 50 tomatoes on the two plants. I have noticed several of the tomatoes have turned brown on the bottom end. What causes this and how can I correct it?ANSWER: You did a good job with your tomato plants, and I can tell it means a lot to you to have a good crop. But you left out one essential ingredient. Your problem is blossom-end rot, and it's caused by calcium deficiency. It does not actually make the tomatoes inedible. You just slice off that darkened portion.Since a large amount of fruit has already set on the plants, you cannot fix it for them. But your plants are in good condition and should continue to bloom and bear for some months. So I would add a handful of lime to each plant and water it in.Next spring, at tomato-planting time, don't forget this. Lime and steady watering make all the difference in avoiding blossom-end rot.Contact Nancy Brachey at The Charlotte Observer, 600 S. Tryon St., P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230By MCTNews Service