Dawn Redwood leaves browning on top

woodkraftbonsai

Yamadori
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The leaves on the top of my dawn redwood are turning a bit brown.

This part gets a bit more sun than the bottom of the tree, so I'm wondering if it is due to that or from a watering issue?
Any ideas?

The leaves on the bottom are a beautiful green still. It is a recent purchase from a nursery and is still in a fairly organic soil.
 

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Shibui

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Are those upper leaves brown because they are burnt or just because they are new. New growth is often a bit more red/brown than older leaves.
Dawn redwood does like water so make sure it gets plenty, probably more than most other species. You could sit the pot in a shallow tray of water if necessary during hot, dry weather.
This one looks healthy enough so just monitor for the moment and see what happens.
 

woodkraftbonsai

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Are those upper leaves brown because they are burnt or just because they are new. New growth is often a bit more red/brown than older leaves.
Dawn redwood does like water so make sure it gets plenty, probably more than most other species. You could sit the pot in a shallow tray of water if necessary during hot, dry weather.
This one looks healthy enough so just monitor for the moment and see what happens.

I'm not sure if they're brown due being burnt or new. I believe they were a brighter green when i got the tree. Is there a way to revive them if they ARE burnt?
 

amatbrewer

Shohin
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I will pass on some of what I learned from my VAST experience (~two years with 1 metasequoia...so...yeah not much). Mine shows red tint in some of the new foliage and it developed some red tint as a result of a late session cold snap we had, which has greened up. Last summer it did experience some sun burnt foliage due to the hot/bright sun in my area combined with a large change in location...it came from the southern Midwest, but that was brown/tan with no hint of red. I moved it to some partial shade and it recovered nicely and grew like a weed.
I suspect you are not getting enough sun in Kirkland so far for too much sun to be the problem (Hi from Yakima BTW). But if you had anything like the late cold snaps we did on the west side of the mountains, that could account for what you are experiencing.
There are folks here with FAR more knowledge and experience than I have (or probably ever will have)...hopefully someone can confirm this, or correct what I got wrong (then we will both learn). :)

BTW based on your screen name, maybe you should come over to Yakima for a visit: "Yakima: We grow your beer!" You won't find much in the way of Bonsai, but you will find good beer.
 

Colorado

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I highly doubt that it is leaf burn. I’m 6,000 feet higher than you with sunshine nearly every day, and mine has no leaf burn at all (yet?):
E205F693-8BD3-4636-A0DC-AC212C5F45C9.jpeg

I think it’s more likely a different problem. I’d guess just a little shock/stress from moving locations.
 

Bonds Guy

Mame
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I have the same problem. My dawn recieved about 9hrs of direct sun and the leaves did turn brownish. I read somewhere on reddit that dawns don’t like too much sun so I moved it to an area with less sun and I feel it looks better (Not 100% sure yet). However I have been giving it lots more water too. I’m now reconsidering if sun was the issue based on colorado^^ pics.
 

woodkraftbonsai

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Mine was just from shock of moving, I believe. It has gotten over the shock and my leaves are nice and green now :)
 

Bonds Guy

Mame
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A few week ago, I moved mine to an area that gets afternoon sun and the leaves are back to green. So I’m super confused now. Last year it didn’t mine the area that received 9hrs of sun. This year that area and the less sunny area caused browning. Only thing those two areas have in common is morning sun.
 
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