How to care roots that are not doing well, in the wrong season to attempt anything

Ayxowpat

Yamadori
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Hello everyone.

The title pretty much explains the topic. How to apply proper care for the roots that are under stress when the timing is not right? Let's say that I have a pine and it has yellowing needles and I am sure of that the issue is with the roots. But it is not the right time to attempt anything in order not to make it worse. Or let's say that I have a maple with lots of leaves but it has some other root issues (root rot, disease etc.). I know it is not the right time (generally speaking, not for today) but if I don't do anything it will go worse. Waiting the right time to apply some techniques or solutions might bring the things in a more difficult situation to deal with. What steps should I take in this situation?

Thanks in advance.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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Most of the times, problems can be fixed by adjusting your own techniques without digging around in the soil.
Yellow needles could very well mean you've been watering too much, or the pH is off, for instance. Disturbing the roots isn't going to fix that. Watering less will.

Adding insult to injury is a bad practice.

The most logical process is to first zone in on the issue and find out what causes it. Rule out all other possibilities after that.
Do this thoroughly, with great care and attention.
Then you'll find that it can most likely be fixed without disturbance, as with many plant related issues.
Then fix the issue.
Get it back to health.
Then think about what techniques to apply to a healthy tree.

Skip any part of that process, and you're deliberately putting your trees at risk.

Digging around in the soil, to what purpose? You can't find pH issues like that, and if you've been watering too much the foliage will tell you all you need to know.
Lets say you change the soil, but you continue watering too much and too often (root cause of the issue) then it's not going to do much good.

I've been helping gardeners for 10+ years now. Most issues can be brought back to them doing a little too much of something. Then the issue worsens because they love skipping diagnostics. It's a very human thing to do, but not in the plants best interest, although they mean well.
 
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