Hinoki cypress help

[Steve C]

At just 3 yrs I'm still learning but I have an issue here with my cypress I need some advice on. This is my first Hinoki cypress and I have had it for about 3 months or so. It's been doing well till I just noticed the other day, some of the inner foliage is starting to look yellow/brown and even a bit brittle. It's getting good sun, watering it when it seems to need it, and the ends of the branches are still nice and green. What would cause this? I know I must be doing something that is causing it.

 

[Steve C]

BTW sorry for the poor pic focus.

 

[Cotyledon]

Normal . That's how they lose there old leaves.

 

[Steve C]

Oh okay....well that is good news then and glad I asked. I was worried I was killing it. Thanks Cotyledon.

 

[quietobserver]

What cotyledon said...it's self-pruning the solar panels that didn't perform well this year.

 

[Steve C]

This makes me much better guys thanks. For a while there today I was feeling like Charlie Brown with his Christmas tree...."Oh no I killed it" lol.

So will all the foliage do that over the next few weeks then? And I know it will have to over winter / go dormant, but when in the spring will it show new green? (zone 5/6)

 

[M. Frary]

You don't want those to die off if you can help it. Once they are gone they are gone for good. No backbudding on these.
It almost looks like the wire may be on too tight.
Or if you repotted it and did a lot of root work and wired it it may be stressed and dropping foliage.
And no,once it gets to this point it won't green up in the spring after winter.

 

[Stan Kengai]

It is normal for Hinokis to shed inner foliage this time of year, but yours seems to be losing a higher percentage than normal. This tree should be in as much sun as you can give it.

 

[Steve C]

Thanks for the input everyone. It's in pretty much full sun all day, but I think I will take the wire off of it for the rest of the fall/winter just to make life as easy on it as I can till I see what comes of it in the spring next year.

 

[f1pt4]

Take the wire off, and don't do any pruning of branches until the spring.... at least that's what I was told about mine by someone who knows more about hinokis than me.

And like M. Frary said, they don't back bud, so regular pinching back and removing too dense growth opens up the pads to more light, whereby preventing some inner die back.

Then again, I don't know how yours looks because the photo doesn't load up on my end.

 

[Steve C]

Then again, I don't know how yours looks because the photo doesn't load up on my end.

It's not just you, I host my pictures on "Imageshack" and they have been having trouble all week and will be down till Saturday from what they said. So right now pretty much all pics I have posted that are hosted there are down.

 

[f1pt4]

It's not just you, I host my pictures on "Imageshack" and they have been having trouble all week and will be down till Saturday from what they said. So right now pretty much all pics I have posted that are hosted there are down.

I noticed that, but didn't want to fuss over it.

I just drag and drop my photos into the posts. No need to host. Works great!

 

[aml1014]

when in the spring will it show new green? (zone 5/6)

Pretty much all plants begin metabolism at 42°Fahrenheit.

 

[Steve C]

I've been meaning to take the wire off of it but just been so tied up the past few days I have not had a chance to do so yet. I just looked at it again and I'm getting concerned, it looks like it's browning/yellowing out further now I think?

When I picked this one up back in the spring and repotted I didn't root prune all that much, reduced by maybe 35% at the most if memory serves correct so I don;t think that's the problem. I know you guys said it is normal to shed the inner foliage, but this much? It's looking like a lot of brown today to me.

 

[M. Frary]

Can't really tell from the pictures but did you also repot it this year?

 

[sorce]

When I picked this one up back in the spring and repotted

repot

Could be the wire.

Sorce

 

[M. Frary]

Could be the wire.

Sorce

Duh.
Very well could be the wire and the repot.
The soil needs to be water retentive but free draining. These trees suck water but don't like to sit in it at all. Watering should be done in the mornings so they use up excess and aren't sitting in it overnight.
And sorry to say Steve but the inner branches are gone bud.

 

[Steve C]

Repotted when I bought it back in May, repotted in a soil I have used for all my trees which has worked for them all which is about 40% Pine bark soil conditioner, 40% diatomaceous earth, 20% top soil. It's worked for all my trees till now, is that maybe what was wrong here?

Damn Mike, hate to here that, live and learn I guess Guess the best I can take away from this is "why". Was it the soil or something else maybe?

 

[M. Frary]

Mine are in like 80% D.E. and 20% turkey grit. Almost all of my trees are in that. But I'm going to start adding some lava in next year. I stay away from all organic soil components.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

It's not the wire. It's shedding old foliage.