Dawn Redwood Wilt?

Oleg

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I went out to my garden and was pretty shocked to see that half my DR has wilted in I would say no more than 2 days, I was in there weeding Sun & Mon. I have taken off all that is effected, does anyone know what this is?
Thanks in advance
.DAWN REDWOOD WILT.jpgDAWN REDWOOD WILT_1.jpgDAWN REDWOOD WILT_2.jpgDAWN REDWOOD WILT_3.jpg
DAWN REDWOOD WILT_4.jpg
 

shimbrypaku

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How much water are you providing them, I have about 20 or so seedlings and I keep them well hydrated and they seem to be doing fine in inorganic soil.

thanks
 

Oleg

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Yes and Yes. I agree that the two in the second row look dry. It's been windy and dry for a week, then it died down and was followed by a heatwave, 32 C and two days at 28 and 30 C. The bed is fine it's damp was moist on Sun, my knees were wet, we had a quick thunderstorm yesterday. I know they're thirsty but there is hardly any foliage it's still breaking bud also it's been in there for over a year so roots should be good. The odd thing is that the second branch up has two branches at the same node, one died the other is fine then there is another branch untouched and a wilted one, the whole top is lost. (what a bitch, it looked really good). I did find I have white grub in the bed that I weeded, deprived of food would they eat trees? As far as watering goes I have two BC two feet away and they have been good all last year but haven't leafed out yet.
 

Oleg

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The odd thing is that the second branch up has two branches at the same node, one died the other is fine
They are side by side not on opposite sides of the trunk, one completely dead the other is perfect.
 

Dzhokar

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I've noticed that mine take a lot of water even on cool days. I often have to water them when other plants don't need water.
Have you taken a look at the roots?
 

shimbrypaku

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Not an expert on dawn redwood but I keep mine in the shade for two weeks after a brutal root chop.Watered twice a day until the wood was showing green buds. Moved into 50/50 shade sun and when they leafed out I placed them in full sun.

Still sticks in a pot but they are healthy.

thanks
 

Oleg

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No I haven't looked yet, come to think of it last summer was cool and very wet. I just couldn't imagine having to watch a ground planted tree except maybe in a drought. I have watered and will keep it on the wet side.

Not an expert on dawn redwood but I keep mine in the shade for two weeks after a brutal root chop.
No root work, ground planted for over a year
 

Oleg

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Thanks for your input, I'll look into the grubs though.
 

Oleg

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White grubs damage young trees by feeding on their roots and interfering with the uptake and transport of water and nutrients within the trees. The initial symptoms of grub damage appear similar to those of drought stress: mild yellowing and wilting of trees.
Damn, I'll let you know.
 

sorce

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Roots for sure, looks insectish.

Sorce
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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I set my dawn redwoods in shallow trays of water for the hotter months of summer, just like I would do for bald cypress. I don't totally submerge them, just an inch or so up the side of the training pots. (I would not do this to good bonsai pots, the water will leave a stain line on the bonsai pot).

Your problem does sound like an insect or something eating roots.
 

rockm

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Wouldn't rule out simple mechanical damage here--Has the branch snapped at the trunk? or the trunk damaged below the branching on that side?
 

Oleg

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Thanks everyone, I have checked for and found no damage so roots it is. I didn't think digging it up would help it's overall health so I am acting on what I have found. As I was weeding (pulling with a wiggling/vibration type of pull) I was getting most of the roots and very nice roots they are, very fine and holding all the soil (I'll have to dry them out to get the soil back). Soil is coarse concrete sand, humus and peat so the tree roots should be nice also. The bed is 8' x 7', I found 6-7 white grubs, they were not a C shape and I saw no brown head, not that I noticed anyway, I also found 2-3 that looked the same but were medium grey and did not move I thought they were dead and the white ones weren't very active either. These were fat and juicy 1.5" x 1/4".
This morning I put the sprinkler on for 1 1/2 hrs to hydrate prior to treatment, it looks like we can get no insecticides here for grubs seems they kill everything. What we can get is several brands of Nematodes I bought Grub be Gone by Scott's. https://www.scotts.com/en-ca/scotts-grub
This lists a lot more types of grubs than the 3-4 common ones I found.
Interesting things I learned, There are 3 common types, life cycles can be 1 year to 4 years depending on type. They can damage trees, the major threat to trees is by a 10 lined June Beetle, but with young trees with very fine roots others may be interested (especially if you weed their main food supply!) LOL. Heavy watering will bring them to the surface, and one article said to mix 3 tablespoons of dish soap to i gallon water soak the soil (2 squ. yrds) and count them 10 min. later.
I have never heard of grubs on this site, I don't know who could benefit from this other than me, I guess if your trees are in the ground grubs prefer grass and weed roots leaving your tees alone, however weeding when you have grubs may not be a good idea.
Some articles I found may be of help if you ever have a problem, this first one is lists Nematodes and insecticides, the second one lists insecticides that do and DO NOT work on grubs seemed very good for anyone who can get them, Canada is very strict on these things.
This last one is on the 10 lined June Beetle / Bug? same thing? I don't know, I also could not find a geographical range for them, the original article I read I thought was from Texas so I don't know if this one is up here north or in the east, long way away and totally different climate.
So I have watered, I saw none on the surface or any birds gorging on them, and I applied the Nematodes and watered about a cm. more maybe a bit less. I stupidly did not get a photo, what I did just see on a life cycle chart is that different stages look different, stage 4 Pupa is not C shaped and may explain why they were very lethargic. One other thing Neem Oil, "Neem oil works more as a repellant against Japanese beetles and lawn grubs – inhibiting egg laying, growth and feeding. "
I'll keep you up to date.
Thanks again
 

GGB

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I was just noticing some weird wilted parts on my DR yesterday. I planted mine the ground a few years ago and just let it become a landscape tree. I never water it because it doesn't need it in my environment. I just kind chalked it up to a late frost we had that injured the soft new growth, and was then finished off by the sunny warm weather we FINALLY have now. I will keep an eye on it now that i know someone else is seeing die off.
 

Oleg

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In my case I think it is probably due to wind, heat & root damage at the same time and I say that because of the "weird wilted parts", I understand die back and losing the top as they are extremities and will dry first but when one branch dies and another close by is totally unaffected I find this very strange. I don't know what it is called but I read here that with certain trees one branch can be fed by only one root cut it and the branch will die, where as others trees roots feed the tree in general. In any case I got a better photo (below) of what I meant above, along with this I have one branch dead and the next one up or around the other side is perfect.
DAWN REDWOOD WILT_5.jpg
The bud next to the red I do get, the branch died back (very abrupt change) but others are the same no gradual decrease in wilt. The branch in blue is touching at the base of the one circled in red and is fine right to the end!!! How is that??? Even with what I said about one branch one root, that's a bit weird don't you think?
Anyway my DR had a nice weeping top, nice bark, 24" high,now looks like this.
DAWN REDWOOD WILT_6.jpgThink of it with this on top.DAWN REDWOOD WILT_7.jpg

Crap!
 

Oleg

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I did not originally think that digging this tree up would do it any good as it was unable to keep it's branches hydrated... but it has lost another branch to what ever ails it. I have dug it up and I found nothing??? I have previously treated with Nematodes for white grub I found in bed.
2020_further-wilt.JPG
Shot #1 a dead branch.
2020_further-wilt_1.JPG
shot #2 a few browned leaf tips, Isolated incidence a little further up the trunk, all other leaves in good shape.
2020_further-wilt_2.JPG2020_further-wilt_3.JPG
Shot #3 & 4 healthy roots, no grubs or insects found, all other trees in the grow-bed are fine, no sign of wilt. The tree is now cooling in the garage, roots covered and it has been misted, it will probably hit 30 C later on. does anyone have any further ideas on what could be the problem? I am now thinking the sky is so clear with lack of pollution, that with the wind it did just dry out. I had all the trees dealing with full sun just fine but we had a super clear sky two weeks ago and I ended up with a bad case of sun burned leaves on several trees. Also how do I get it back in the ground without causing death?
Thanks
 

Rivian

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I think they hate getting cut during summer, mine showed wilting on new shoots despite sufficient watering. Its in shade now, getting better I hope.
 
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