HELP - Coast Redwood Needles Curling

[Sempervirens]

Hello new member here looking for advice. I've had this Coast Redwood for about 1.5 years. I had it potted in potting soil w/ a little extra grit to help w/ drainage (though I don't think it helped much). It grew great for the last year or so and now that's it has woken up for spring it's newest growth is curling and deforming. Any idea what could be causing this?

I did just recently re-pot (not included in pictures as I re-potted today 20MAR2022 and the photos are from 19MAR2022) so I don't think the re-potting is the cause. In fact I'm hoping it's the solution.

New pot is much bigger 3.6 Gallon w/ better drainage holes. Changed soil from potting soil to a mix of: Fir bark fines, Pumice, Lava rock, and Monto Clay.

See attached pictures. Any help is greatly appreciated. Picure of washed roots provided for feedback. First time washing roots for a repot but figured it was appropriate as I was moving from soil to soil-less.

 

[Bricker918]

Did you repot after the buds started growing? That could definitely be the issue, keep it in shade or dappled light and watch the water until it starts to grow normally. They generally like water so make sure it doesn’t dry out. Where are you located? Add it to your profile so people can give you good advice based on your climate

 

[Sempervirens]

Did you repot after the buds started growing? That could definitely be the issue, keep it in shade or dappled light and watch the water until it starts to grow normally. They generally like water so make sure it doesn’t dry out. Where are you located? Add it to your profile so people can give you good advice based on your climate

So this the curling started happening prior to the repot. I repotted as I was told in bonsai forum on Reddit that potting soil would kill it and that I needed better draining soil.

After reading a lot by Bob Shimon on here though it seems they love moisture. Bit confused honestly. Thanks for the advice will keep it in shade and keep on top of the watering.

 

[Bricker918]

So this the curling started happening prior to the repot. I repotted as I was told in bonsai forum on Reddit that potting soil would kill it and that I needed better draining soil.

After reading a lot by Bob Shimon on here though it seems they love moisture. Bit confused honestly. Thanks for the advice will keep it in shade and keep on top of the watering.

Yeah just leave it be for a while. I’m in no way an expert but one thing I’ve learned is to not repot a stressed tree unless it is dire (no percolation in the soil at all). Hoping it recovers!

 

[LittleDingus]

So this the curling started happening prior to the repot. I repotted as I was told in bonsai forum on Reddit that potting soil would kill it and that I needed better draining soil.

After reading a lot by Bob Shimon on here though it seems they love moisture. Bit confused honestly. Thanks for the advice will keep it in shade and keep on top of the watering.

They are a temperate rain forest tree. The dry brown needle tips on the old growth on yours is likely an indication of being in too low of humidity for too long. Mine tend to do that when I winter them indoors...even when kept well watered.

The simplest "solution" handed out to most new people is to repot into better draining soil. "Bonsai" are often grown in very open soils...some might even say "rocky" soils. Redwoods are pretty tolerant of soils in my experience. If you don't have puddles on top of the soil after wateting and water does drain out the bottom, it's probably fine. That your washed roots are so light is a good indication that they are fine. Roots turn black when rotting.

The tree may sulk now that you did wash the roots, though. They will be less efficient at pulling in water for a bit. That could have a negative impact on all that bright tender new growth

As far as the curling, the new growth looks healthy to me. Were I to guess from these pictures, I'd say the tree could use some more light. Notice how the new frond is wider than the previous frond. The individual needles are longer. That could be a sign of too little light. The tree is trying to compensate by increasing the surface area of its solar panels. That may also explain the curling as the tree is trying to optimize the orientation of the solar panels to pick up more light. The color of the new growth also seams pale to me...especially at the start of the fronds...also a sign of too little light.

Where is this tree kept? Is it currently outside? Has it been there since bud break?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Hmm… suggest you stay off Reddit if you are doing bonsai…. Just don’t. This is a bonsai site. Bonsai mix is for plants in their middle to final stages of development and refinement.

I’ve had all three of my Coastal Redwoods in potting soil with some fir bark with a pumice bottom layer, in successively bigger pots for over four years to caliber out. This year they are all due for a ground layering to develop their nebari. Each are growing awesome. I often make a joke that I wake up in the morning and beat them with a stick.

Your redwood looks like it has had a bit of a hard winter, hence 5h3 brown needle tips etc. New growth looks curly at first the fleshes out.

Repotting when one isn’t sure of what the issue is ain’t kosher. In this scenario you are stuck. Keep the tree in a bonsai mix or repot or move back. I’d keep as is, but prepare to water a lot.

btw, please double click your icon on the top of the page and re-enter your approximate location. If you want the very best help here we need to know at least your approximate location… not your address. That way we can give you our very best help.

Good luck,
DSD sends

 

[Sempervirens]

They are a temperate rain forest tree. The dry brown needle tips on the old growth on yours is likely an indication of being in too low of humidity for too long. Mine tend to do that when I winter them indoors...even when kept well watered.

The simplest "solution" handed out to most new people is to repot into better draining soil. "Bonsai" are often grown in very open soils...some might even say "rocky" soils. Redwoods are pretty tolerant of soils in my experience. If you don't have puddles on top of the soil after wateting and water does drain out the bottom, it's probably fine. That your washed roots are so light is a good indication that they are fine. Roots turn black when rotting.

The tree may sulk now that you did wash the roots, though. They will be less efficient at pulling in water for a bit. That could have a negative impact on all that bright tender new growth

As far as the curling, the new growth looks healthy to me. Were I to guess from these pictures, I'd say the tree could use some more light. Notice how the new frond is wider than the previous frond. The individual needles are longer. That could be a sign of too little light. The tree is trying to compensate by increasing the surface area of its solar panels. That may also explain the curling as the tree is trying to optimize the orientation of the solar panels to pick up more light. The color of the new growth also seams pale to me...especially at the start of the fronds...also a sign of too little light.

Where is this tree kept? Is it currently outside? Has it been there since bud break?

Hi and thanks for such detail. I clearly have a lot to learn… I see what you are saying about the new growth and wanting more light. It has been outside most of the time.

I did recently move it indoors to a south facing window after new growth popped through and temps dropped below freezing for a couple of days worries the temps would kill off the new growth. Maybe that was a mistake.

 

[LittleDingus]

Hi and thanks for such detail. I clearly have a lot to learn… I see what you are saying about the new growth and wanting more light. It has been outside most of the time.

I did recently move it indoors to a south facing window after new growth popped through and temps dropped below freezing for a couple of days worries the temps would kill off the new growth. Maybe that was a mistake.

As long as day temps get into the 40F range and nights don't dip below 30F, I try and leave mine outdoors.

I've been surprised by the weather app a couple of times and they suffered through an evening or two in the 20s and did fine. The needles seem to take it fine. I'm not sure how tender new growth would fare. This extreme has been a rare occurrence though...I'm not sure they could take the rootball freezing solid for any length. The temps are probably fine...but they can dehydrate fast. If you had extended sub-freezing, yeah, probably safer to move indoors.

Mine were grown in zone 6...some from seed, some purchased cultivars. They wintered under lights in my garage where they remained pretty much dormant...though my "filoli" (a purchased blue needle cultivar) did flower the past 2 years and this year my "albi-spica" flowered as well I'll have to rethink that next winter as I just moved a zone colder to zone 5.

Anyway...sorry for all that blather! The only thing I see of concern about yours is the dried needle ends on the old growth...which doesn't look to be a soil/root problem because that is a nice set of roots! Just be aware that it might be weepy now after a repotvwhilevtrying to extend new growth...