MissRomsMami
Mame
Please tell me there something I can do? He’s been behind some of my hinoki cypress. I wish I would have seen him sooner but hoping there’s a way to halt or recover?
Cork oak - a goner?
- Thread starter MissRomsMami
- Start date
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Not necessarily. Cork oaks drop old leaves about this time.
Look at the buds in the narrow crotch where the leaf petiole (leaf stem) meets the trunk. If it has some reddishness, it is alive and should soon emit a new shoot with leaves. I can marginally grow these and often mine look like your pix in spring. Often the stems with brown leaves have died, but the tree itself is not deceased.
The standard routine when repotting them about this time of year is to also defoliate - buds will pop more quickly.
So, repot if you want, defoliate if you want, wait and see.
Look at the buds in the narrow crotch where the leaf petiole (leaf stem) meets the trunk. If it has some reddishness, it is alive and should soon emit a new shoot with leaves. I can marginally grow these and often mine look like your pix in spring. Often the stems with brown leaves have died, but the tree itself is not deceased.
The standard routine when repotting them about this time of year is to also defoliate - buds will pop more quickly.
So, repot if you want, defoliate if you want, wait and see.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Pull dem weeds!
Sorce
Sorce
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
Tree is definitely still alive, but appears that you are seeing some die-back caused by any number of issues.
I would cut off all the dead leaves by cutting them at the stem close to the branch. Do NOT pull them off or cut the dead-looking branches because there may very well be some active buds.
Get those weeds out of the pot - but be careful because there are new buds popping all over the trunk base and you will want those low branches.
Let the tree throw new growth without pruning it. This is really important - cork oaks have to be allowed to extend their new growth and harden before you prune them back. It will look really shaggy but that's ok. Let it extend for about a month, harden for a couple of weeks, then prune.
Going forward, cork oaks are Mediterranean live (evergreen) oaks. They like infrequent deep waterings, hot environments and direct sun.
I would cut off all the dead leaves by cutting them at the stem close to the branch. Do NOT pull them off or cut the dead-looking branches because there may very well be some active buds.
Get those weeds out of the pot - but be careful because there are new buds popping all over the trunk base and you will want those low branches.
Let the tree throw new growth without pruning it. This is really important - cork oaks have to be allowed to extend their new growth and harden before you prune them back. It will look really shaggy but that's ok. Let it extend for about a month, harden for a couple of weeks, then prune.
Going forward, cork oaks are Mediterranean live (evergreen) oaks. They like infrequent deep waterings, hot environments and direct sun.
MissRomsMami
Mame
Thank you! Ya after I took th picture I removed all the weeds. It had been sitting behind quite a few other bigger trees and wasn’t getting much sun, definitely not direct.
I didn’t even notice those buds! That’s awesome, and reassuring. Seems like it’s oretty root bound, is it ok to repot while I’m waiting for it to get healthy again?
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
I have a couple of these guys. They don't seem to mind being root-bound as long as the soil is free-draining and their roots don't sit in soaking wet soil. One of the ones I have had for about ten years I thought for sure I had killed because I wasn't letting the new growth extend and was pruning too early and the tree just kept getting weaker and weaker and wasn't budding back. I lost the entire upper half of the tree, but then I left it completely alone and it budded back all over the trunk like yours is doing. It corks up really quickly and I have a new trunk right now and you can't even tell where the old trunk used to be.
It is definitely telling you it is unhappy. I would pull it out of the pot and examine the roots. If possible I would try to loosen the roots and remove some of the old soil without bare-rooting it. Don't trim or aggravate any of the roots. Then I would move it into a larger container with a coarse soil mix with about 75% inorganic and then about 25% chunky organic that is acidic - pine bark with rough peat, for example. Try to make your container shallower (or at least no deeper) than the current container.
You should see a marked improvement. Next spring you can do a "real" repotting when it is stronger and it is earlier in the year.
MissRomsMami
Mame
Great idea, thank you! I just bought some pine bark to start mixing my own soil so we’ll see how it goes!
Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
Was this subjected to under 25 degree winter temps? If too cold may have frost bite. Personal tree had temps down to about this range before coming indoors and all leaves still perfectly green/healthy and just got major trim today
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MissRomsMami
Mame
If it was, it would have only been for an hour or 2 in a random night. I’m in Northern California, Sacramento specifically, we don’t get to freezing or below very often.Was this subjected to under 25 degree winter temps? If too cold may have frost bite. Personal tree had temps down to about this range before coming indoors and all leaves still perfectly green/healthy and just got major trim today
ChristianDGreat
Shohin
For cork oak owners.
Is Cork Oak can be defoliated consistently? Or just cutback(clip and grow)?
Is Cork Oak can be defoliated consistently? Or just cutback(clip and grow)?
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
Only in the spring. They will put up with a ton of abuse if you do it early in the season. However they do not respond well if you prune late in the summer, and you may get die-back instead of back-budding.
ChristianDGreat
Shohin
Is this full defoliate? Or just cutback?
