"killed" a bald cypress by overfeeding?

[Mikee002]

So I got a new bald cypress last week. I went through my regularly scheduled feeding earlier in the week and now the cypress looks dead. All the foliage (once green and lush) is now brown and dry. I used miracle grow liquid at double strength... did I over feed and kill it? All my other trees respond to this feeding schedule very well.

I'm hoping that at least new buds will break and the tree isn't completely dead...

Any thoughts?

 

[stacy allen muse]

I would flush the soil as soon as poss. with as much water as posible, to try and remove the miracle grow... than sit it in the shade and wait, water maybe once a week untill leaves return... good luck with it.
In the future I would baby any new tree, untill it gets used to your feeding schedule.

 

[Mikee002]

I would flush the soil as soon as poss. with as much water as posible, to try and remove the miracle grow... than sit it in the shade and wait, water maybe once a week untill leaves return... good luck with it.
In the future I would baby any new tree, untill it gets used to your feeding schedule.

Cool... flushed it yesterday and it rained all day today, off to the shade now.

 

[mcpesq817]

You said you got it last week. Was it shipped? Was it dry when you got it? I'm a bit skeptical that one dose of double strength feed would kill it.

 

[Mikee002]

You said you got it last week. Was it shipped? Was it dry when you got it? I'm a bit skeptical that one dose of double strength feed would kill it.

I got it in person from a nursery last Saturday. It was healthy, moist and positioned in full sun. Since then it's been in full sun, been watered and has not dried out excessively. We had a hot week... but I don't think that it was without water anywhere near enough to cause damage.

 

[mcpesq817]

Hmm, that's really strange then. Hope it pulls through.

 

[stacy allen muse]

I would agree that it seems funny that one dose of double strength feed would send it into shock, I have a feeling that It might have though... I know it has been hot lately, but cypress, funny enough can be drought tolerant as well, and if you watered it... the only other time usually a plant will go into shock that fast would be if it was in the shade and you brought it out into the full sun, but since it was in the sun... leads me back to the feed, was the only thing new... I would not repot, or any thing drastic, keep it in the shade(like mentioned), and watch the watering... very little water till the leaves return... Of course I think we are going to get more rain in the next week, than we have gotten the whole year, might have to bring it out of the rain...
let us know what happens...

 

[Mike423]

In the future I would get to know our tree before doing any fertilization then starting off with a very diluted solution and slowly over time increase the dosage so that if it starts to react badly it will be apparent and not sudden, so that its dosage can be reduced before the tree goes into shock or gets too stressed out.

 

[Bob O]

If it was repotted or collected this year before you purchased it you probably burned the new rootlets. Flushing the fertilizer out was the best you could do at this point.
Like the others said get to know the tree before you do too much to them.
I am curious though, why do you double the fertilizer dose?

Bob O

 

[rockm]

Are there any animals, like cats or dogs, that are around the plant? A dose of urine or repeated doses of urine, will burn roots pretty easily...

 

[Mikee002]

It's aaaalive.... new buds popping out all over the bottom half of the trunk, it looks like I'll lose the top part though. Hey, better than nothing and another bonsai lesson learned (almost the hard way).

I guess now I'll give it some more time and see where I stop getting new buds, chop it just above the highest bud, then let that grow to be the new leader?

 

[stacy allen muse]

I am glad to hear it... if it was me, even though we have a long growing season here in florida, I would just let it go for the rest of the year, and chop it this winter after the foilage has all fallen. Personally, I find that the best time to do most major work anyways.

 

[radsnell]

In general with bald cypress, you can't over-water or over-fertilize. As long as they are pre-bonsai and in big growing containers, I feed them with Plantone on the soil, Osmocote in the soil, and weekly Miracle Gro liquid feeding. Also foliar feed periodically. I know Guy Guidry regularly feeds them with full strength Miracle Gro. I have had a few brown and lose foliage for whatever reason, but they always pop back with new foliage. In fact, I defoliate them 2 or 3 times a year to re-wire and get a new flush of pretty green foliage. Glad yours popped back.

Boyd

 

[jk_lewis]

Don't be in a hurry to chop. The dead part of the trunk is not sucking any resources from the tree and you may decide tou can add it to the overall design with some artful carving.

 

[rock]

... I know Guy Guidry ...
In fact, I defoliate them 2 or 3 times a year to re-wire and get a new flush of pretty green foliage. Glad yours popped back.

Boyd

2 ,3 times eh, cool
Florida...right??