Larix laricina (Tamarack) diagnosis

[Drewski]

I was out on my overcrowded patio earlier this afternoon, having a look at my trees. This immediately caught my eye, and I thought I had better get some help from the knowledgeable folks here. This is a pretty recent development, probably in the last day or two. I didn’t notice this the day before yesterday, and yesterday I wasn’t out on the patio until nighttime. I was watering everything, but could have missed it as the lighting isn’t great. So far, it’s only the one branch. The rest of the foliage looks good, as can be seen in the picture. Does anyone know what may be causing this? Google wasn’t much help so far.

 

[Mike Westervelt]

If you missed watering, the whole tree would be suffering.
Fungus also usually attacks the entire tree.
First guess would be a pest since is so localized, dig around and look for a caterpillar or aphids, or ????
Or possibly physical damage? when were the wire applied?

 

[Drewski]

The wire was applied at the end of February, and the tree was repotted out of the nursery pot into a pond basket in the latter half of March. Just as the buds were starting to push.

I will have a closer look for signs of pests.

 

[PA_Penjing]

I repotted an american larch this spring everything seemed fine for 4o days then out of nowhere i lost a branch. never had that happen before so i'm blaming the repot. Maybe it wasn't that but whatever happened to me seems to be what happened to yours and they do have the repot in common

 

[Drewski]

Checked and found no sign of pests, as far as I could determine. Two Japanese larch and two Siberian larch are fine as well. Hopefully, I can chalk it up to the repot like PA Penjing, but I will keep a eye on it to watch for any signs that it’s not just the one branch.

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Hi,
So this is my experience so far, so take it as you wish.
I repot most of my deciduous trees including my Japanese and European larches prior to bud burst. My climate is mildish (low level frosts), and I have found there to be no problem. Maybe there is the old horticulturist in me that says “repot when dormant or when roots aren’t moving etc.” When I tried up-potting my larches from organic bark mix to larger pot organic mix I had troubles. Probably lost half of my 1-3 year old seedlings. I decided that playing with active larch roots is their death.
Probably not relevant to American larch or your climate, just my experiences.
Charles