Removing green leaves from a.p. Variegated leaf variety.

I was told by a nursery owner today that if I don't remove the green leaves from my "roseomarginatum kagiri-nishiki" (I think this is what I have), that all leaves will lose the variegated color and eventually turn green. Has anyone ever heard this and if so what is the best way to do this?

 

yes, it is called "reverting" and it means that the green leaves will take over the tree and
the variegated will lose out - in other words the variegation will revert to the basic original green.
Usually the reverted green leaves look bigger and different from the variegated so they are noticeable.
Remove the all green leaves and the tree should releaf and keep the variegation but sometimes a whole
branch will stay reverted etc. The point is to keep an eye on your variegates to weed out reverting green leaves.

 

Thanks! I will sit down with a cup of coffee tomorrow morning in front of my small tree (now 36") and see if I can distinguish the variations. Is it too early at this stage to begin doing this?

 

if there are solid and usually bigger green leaves amidst the variegated leaves then it is not
too early to remove them and they reverted leaves should be noticeable - if they are not then
wait a bit and watch for that possible reversion to occur. there is nothing to fear in waiting a bit
because it takes a while for a tree to revert to all green - you'll notice especially if you keep an eye
on your tree watching its progress every day or so. good luck and don't worry too much about it.

 

Katsura, I am much less confused now. Thank you ever so much for an informative response :)

 

Mike,

Is it possible to just pick the leaves off to avoid reversions? I didn't know that. I've always removed the branch.

 

I have always picked off the leaves on my mature variegates unless the whole branch is basically
reverted and then like you I will take off the branch, but that has always worked for me but you have
to catch the reversion before it has basically taken over the tree.

 

I'm gathering the best time to do this is spring before the leaves change color. I took a foliage picture about a week ago which I am posting. I've also examined her up close and I'm thinking of following your advice and wait till next year. I'm pretty sure I see margins on every leaf which makes me think they haven't reverted.

 

Thanks for the pictures. No reversion there that I see. That's why I said solid green and usually
different sized leaves and like you I see margins on all your leaves so your tree looks fine.