Hello, I have had this japanese maple for over a year, and this is the second Summer its been in... it has been very hot in the area I live in, up to 90 degrees. I did not water it for about 5 days to a week because I forgot to water it, and then it started to wilt. The leaves got all crispy, and all shriveled up. Eventually, they all died, but did not drop. I started to notice the branches were turning black, and that was when I started to get worried. It has been about 1.5 weeks since I have noticed the branches. I have pruned away the branches that are black, and also the branches that are yellow with black spots forming not them. The blackness has spread from the top, and is slowly moving downwards towards the trunk. As you can see in the pictures, the top trunk is slightly darker than the bottom half of the trunk. I just did a scratch test today, and it wasn’t perfectly green, but it wasn’t pure brown either. When I pruned the branches off the top, the inside of the branches were still green. I think I have Verticillium Wilt, but I really hope not. Just in case, what should I do? I have been keeping it inside facing the window to keep it cool.
Thank you!