Kotobuki has yellow tips...

skjohnson37

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I noticed this morning that my kotobuki pine is yellowing on the tips and in the new bud.

Is this over watering? Too much sun? Or have I hurt it some other way?
 

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Dav4

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That's not yellow... that's brown, which means dead tissue. If the new needles were a healthy dark green this spring, I'd say you've got either sunburn or the tree dried out recently. If the needles were yellow after the spring push, they were likely not healthy to begin with and more prone to damage from other insults... and I start looking at the roots. What kind of soil is the tree in and how much sun does it receive daily?
 

skjohnson37

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That's not yellow... that's brown, which means dead tissue. If the new needles were a healthy dark green this spring, I'd say you've got either sunburn or the tree dried out recently. If the needles were yellow after the spring push, they were likely not healthy to begin with and more prone to damage from other insults... and I start looking at the roots. What kind of soil is the tree in and how much sun does it receive daily?
They were a healthy green two days ago.

It's still in the pot/soil it came in from Brussels.

Is been brutally hot here this week and it's gotten twelve hours or so of full sun at about 100F. I'm moving it to the shade now.
 

Dav4

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They were a healthy green two days ago.

It's still in the pot/soil it came in from Brussels.

Is been brutally hot here this week and it's gotten twelve hours or so of full sun at about 100F. I'm moving it to the shade now.
My understanding is that Brussels soil is heavy in organics- which isn't great for species like pines who prefer drier feet- so the long term plan should be replace haf the soil with an aggregate mix next spring. I suspect if that damage occurred almost overnight, heat/sun scorch would be high on the list. Is it in full sun and did the soil dry out recently?
 

skjohnson37

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It was in full, unprotected sun for the past two days, and on my mostly shaded deck (maybe two hours of sun per day) before that.

The only real change has been the sun and heat. I thought the increased sun would help, but appear to have burned it.

I had planned to repot in the spring, and will take your advice on the mix.

Edit: I've watered when the top inch of soil is dry, and don't think it's dried out at all, even with the heat.
 

Dav4

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It was in full, unprotected sun for the past two days, and on my mostly shaded deck (maybe two hours of sun per day) before that.

The only real change has been the sun and heat. I thought the increased sun would help, but appear to have burned it.

I had planned to repot in the spring, and will take your advice on the mix.
Yeah, keeping a tree... even a sun loving species like pine... mostly shaded before moving it out into full sun in mid summer during a heat wave is asking for sun damage. The new needles acclimate to the sun exposure as they grow and were unable to handle the abrupt increase in sun exposure and heat. Your tree needs lots of sun... 8+ hours a day ideally... but you may want to give it a bit more shade while the heat wave continues then gradually move it back out when the temps drop a bit.
 

skjohnson37

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Roger all. Thank you. Hopefully I've not done any irreversible damage to the tree.
 

skjohnson37

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That branch was in my "chop it off later" section, so no harm done, it appears.
 

micahmcgrath

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I have short leaf pine tip moths real bad this year. Might be worth checking into this to see. Telltale sign is die back on the tips of pines suddenly. In fact, if you pinch a dying tip with your fingers, you should be able to find little orange larva within the stem of the candle.

Very new to me and my garden, so not certain about this one- just my own experience with the look of the tree.
 
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