Ezo spruce diagnosis?

BonsaiNaga13

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I recently bought 3 ezo spruce from Bill V and repotted them early spring as the buds started swelling. I full bare rooted them and planted them in a mixture of ALP and kiryu. All but one are doing fine. 20210606_165306.jpg the branches are droopy and my assumption is that I took off too much root so as a result the tree is having a difficult time carrying water to the entire tree but I'm just a beginner so this is only an assumption. My other 2 trees are thriving 20210606_165435.jpg I'm wondering what course of action I should take to save this tree. The foliage hasn't started to dry up or turn brown and after I water they briefly spring back up. Would the 1 insult per year rule come into play? Because I was considering trying to remove some foliage to lessen the load on the tree. Or am I completely lost and its another issue entirely?
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Are you sure it’s struggling, and not just slow moving? Spruces do start out a bit droopy. Regardless, I wouldn’t cut anything off. At most, I’d move it to more shade to slow down transpiration just a bit and see if it perks up.
 

River's Edge

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I recently bought 3 ezo spruce from Bill V and repotted them early spring as the buds started swelling. I full bare rooted them and planted them in a mixture of ALP and kiryu. All but one are doing fine. View attachment 379397 the branches are droopy and my assumption is that I took off too much root so as a result the tree is having a difficult time carrying water to the entire tree but I'm just a beginner so this is only an assumption. My other 2 trees are thriving View attachment 379400 I'm wondering what course of action I should take to save this tree. The foliage hasn't started to dry up or turn brown and after I water they briefly spring back up. Would the 1 insult per year rule come into play? Because I was considering trying to remove some foliage to lessen the load on the tree. Or am I completely lost and its another issue entirely?
If the foliage is droopy and then it perks up! I would suspect this one has more root difficulties! I would provide a plastic bag enclosure to keep humidity up for the time being. The other alternative would be to mist more frequently until the roots re-establish themselves.
Keeping out of the wind and in the shade will help, but may not be enough if quite a few roots were cut and it was bare rooted.
 

BonsaiNaga13

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Are you sure it’s struggling, and not just slow moving? Spruces do start out a bit droopy. Regardless, I wouldn’t cut anything off. At most, I’d move it to more shade to slow down transpiration just a bit and see if it perks up.
I'm not quite sure, all 3 have pretty different foliage but I have moved it into shade to be on the safe side. Thanks for the insight.
 

BonsaiNaga13

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If the foliage is droopy and then it perks up! I would suspect this one has more root difficulties! I would provide a plastic bag enclosure to keep humidity up for the time being. The other alternative would be to mist more frequently until the roots re-establish themselves.
Keeping out of the wind and in the shade will help, but may not be enough if quite a few roots were cut and it was bare rooted.
I got a clone dome thing I might try that.
 

mrcasey

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*Irrelevant aside/hijack*

I considered buying some of these from Bill, but worried that 6a might be too hot for them. I'm low elevation and we get temps in the upper 90s in mid summer. Sometimes hit 100 one or two days a year. In addition, Michael Hagedorn said that they can be a little more persnickety than some of our natives, so I passed.
 

River's Edge

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I got a clone dome thing I might try that.
I have often just used a large clear plastic bag, set the container in the bag and tent over the top. You might ned a couple of pieces of bamboo or sticks to prop up the plastic around the tree to keep air around the foliage so the enclosure is not too tight. I usually put the bag quite high and do not completely close it. Just enough surrounding to keep humidity levels up around the tree and protect it from drying out.
 
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