What Is Happening To My Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)

EverydayDiesel

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I recently bought 2 bald cypresses (Taxodium distichum) and I have been watering them once a day because I understand that they love water. The top of one of them has recently starting to wilter. I try to give them 4 hours of morning sun and then partly shady the rest of the day. Are they not getting enough sun?



 

BethF

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It might just be seasonal. My BCs get ragged looking this time of year. Mine are in full sun, but I don't know if that's best for trees as young as yours.
 

rockm

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Could be a number of things, like maybe TOO much sun. The wilt means you have a root issue--probably not enough roots to keep up with transpiration in the sun. BC seedlings tend no to do too well in full sun. They're usually under larger trees that provide shade and keeps their roots cool.

I'd also look at the soil. Mud isn't the greatest for them. They need a bit of drainage in containers.
 
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GrimLore

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Could be a number of things, like maybe TOO much sun. The wilt means you have a root issue--probably not enough roots to keep up with transpiration in the sun. BC seedlings tend no to do too well in full sun. They're usually under larger trees that provide shade and keeps their roots cool.

I'd also look at the soil. Mud isn't the greatest for them. They need a bit of drainage in containers.

Exactly what the man said...

Grimmy
 

jk_lewis

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That is a root issue. The muck you have them planted in is so thick and heavy, I'd bet there is no oxygen in the soil at all. Get them put into a fast draining soil with perhaps 20-30% organic material. BC like water but they don't need to live in sog.
 

EverydayDiesel

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I have only had the plant about a week, that is the grower had the plant in.

I was going to put the BC in 50% organic, 25 inorganic(perlite) and 25% potting soil
 

EverydayDiesel

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Well I was very gentile and used alot of water to slowly remove the dirt from the roots. I got most of it but not all because I did not want to damage the roots.

Here are the pictures today, I hope I didnt lose this tree.


 

Txhorticulture

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It was probably just stressed / injured from shipping it looks like it isn't even a year old. I've had seedlings grow a meter tall their first year.

It will probably be fine.
 

Umeboshi

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I don't know about those transparent planters though...
I once was short a small pot when I was up potting a bunch of seedling pines. I used one of those clear plastic cups that potato salad from the deli comes in. The soil grew a green slime all around the inside of the pot.
 

EverydayDiesel

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According to another thread on here they should be fine. Sounds like you had some kind of bacteria problem with your salad containers. They browning has leveled off...not getting any better and not getting any worse since I put then in the shade
 

Borg

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I have one that's about pencil thick in the trunk. It went bare root, off season a year ago from my grandparets property in Louisiana to NM in the trunk of my car. Then over the summer came from NM to Ohio in the back of my in laws truck bed. All of its leaves were dry and falling off by the time it got here. Well, right now it's starting to get cold out and this fighter has grown all its leaves back, just in time to loose them for the winter. This next repotting season, it will be getting a cement mixing tub, better draining soil, and a 8 inch deep kiddy pool for constant water supply, in hopes of a boosted growing season and to begin training purposes... Hopefully I also am able to get another cypress from my grandparents place, this one had a 4inch diameter at the base and interesting flair around the roots. Just have to find a way to get down for the holidays.
Moral being, if mine survived all that mistreatment, yours is probably going to be fine. Lol
 

sorce

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green slime
kind of bacteria

It's just algae, mostly harmless.

It can cake and flake, which could cause drainage issues, but if it does, you know your soil is not loose enough, or you need a bigger screwdriver to punch your drainage holes with!

I like heating up the screwdriver, and melting it through, from the inside down, that way the hardened plastic makes feet, and the water flows down them, and the plastic doesn't heroin, I mean crack!

Sorce
 

jk_lewis

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That's a tiny tree. It should be OK. Will lose its leaves over he fall. Pot is probably too deep; you want the roots to spread, not grow downward.
 

SU2

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Could be a number of things, like maybe TOO much sun. The wilt means you have a root issue--probably not enough roots to keep up with transpiration in the sun. BC seedlings tend no to do too well in full sun. They're usually under larger trees that provide shade and keeps their roots cool.

I'd also look at the soil. Mud isn't the greatest for them. They need a bit of drainage in containers.
@rockm do you think there can be too much sun for bc yamadori? Of what I've collected, the ones w/ the least sunlight are the most vigorous- but with such limited #'s and time I can't tell if it's causation or correlation...keep thinking nearly full-sun in a hot spring like we're having is too-much, we've been breaking 80deg with almost full-sun for the better part of a week now and can't help but feel I'm just baking these things in full-sun on a bench!
 

rockm

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Well, these aren't really "yamadori" as much as they are seedlings.

I would split the difference and give them afternoon shade.
 

miker

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To me, based on my experience, it LOOKS like your young tree started to lack water, but was then rehydrated before the whole tree dried up. That, or maybe a bit of fertilizer burn? I would guess the former.

Edit, should have looked at the date of the original post. Still, my guess remains, brief lack of water.
 
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SU2

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Well, these aren't really "yamadori" as much as they are seedlings.

I would split the difference and give them afternoon shade.

Oh I know I just figured there may be some correlation going on and figured it was a good place to ask you (you're one of the very few people whose answer I really wanted but hadn't gotten, 2/3 people were saying full sun but most were from LA, for FL people it was ~half/half, I guess a better way to have phrased it than "should it be getting less than full-sun?" would've been "am I hurting it by giving it partial-shade / afternoon shade?", because I couldn't care less about whether it gets more or less buds or has a faster start I simply want to ensure it survives the collection!!

Thanks for the reply (as always!!) :)
 

JoeH

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well, mine is in full sun and has been since I got it from a nursery, chopped and repotted it. I just did a repot as it was budding back out and chopped it down to the first branch and then put it back in full sun, in the nondraining pot that its been in for a year half soil and half some kind of local gravel. Had a mass of healthy white roots.
 
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