what factors make a trees leaves turn yellow and red and so on? because some turn earlier than others....why?

Question

i have one tree in my front yard that turns regularly, but i have one that never seems to get the memo on time, it is usually mid winter when it finally turns. craziness i say. what's up?

Answer 1

The color you see in leaves is actually their REAL COLOR! Trees use chlorophyll to produce food for themselves, and if it has been a "good" summer for them, and they've made a lot of food and stored up plenty for the winter, the chlorophyll in their leaves aren't needed, and go away, and the actual color of the leaves finally show through!! I thought this was AWESOME when I first learned it! Who knew!

Answer 2

It all depends on the kind of tree and then it may still vary from year to year. The red and yellow pigments are there year around but there is so much chlorophyll the green covers them up. As the days grow shorter the chlorophyll gets less and less and the undercovering colors start to show.

The things that contribute to how spactacular they are are the amount of rain in the last 2-3 weeks of summer, the night time temps vs day time temps, how fast the temp drops to get the first frost, and how much stored sugar is left in the leaves and some minor things.

Answer 3

I think because trees are different and the guard in the leaves tells the rest of the tree on what to do when the weather changes. So maybe they both get different temp., sun, and water.

Answer 4

When it gets cold enough the tree siphons the chlorophyll out of the leaves for next year

Answer 5

Depends allot on the weather, species of tree and the amount of water they get. If they get less water during the year, they will start to turn earlier.

Answer 6

The colour is created when sugar gets trapped in the leaves. When days are warm and nights are cold, this will trap the sugar in the leaves. More sugar brighter the colour. As you will notice Maple has sugar in it and it turns red. Also cooler the nights brighter the colour, as more sugar gets trapped.

Answer 7

When the chlorophyll in the leaves dyes you see those other colors...I guess one of your trees is holding on to it's chlorophyll longer that the other.

Answer 8

It depends on when the sap stops running to the leave and nourishing them. When the clorophorm stops being fed and creating photosynthesis is when the "true color" of the leaf shines through and they "turn colors"