Podocarpus - over watered what should I do?

[Shannon 70]

Hi All,

I bought a Podocarpuslast year, protected for the winter and it seemed to be fine, but recently the leaves have been turning brown in different areas, I pruned it and it seemed to be making a recovery and new leaves began to grow, another month in and one entire branch is now beginning to go brown but the rest is green.
I think it’s because of overwatering and maybe bad drainage.
I am thinking of taking it out and trying to dry the root and repot it Would anyone recommend this??

I am a big novice, it really want it to survive.
Many thanks


pictures attached.

 

[LemonBonsai]

Could be. What soil is it in? Also the "grayish" green foliage reminds me of a spidermite infestation. Always good to check and be safe rather then brush it off

To check for spider mites put a blank piece of white paper under that branch and with your hand, tap, and shake that branch onto the piece of paper, then lay the paper on a table and wipe your hand across it. If you see little red streaks on the paper, those are spider mites. Sometimes you can see them on the piece of paper crawling around as well before you wipe your hand across it

 

[Shannon 70]

Hi,

thank you so much for replying. Interesting what you said as we have thousands of spiders in our garden and this tree is always covered in webs, but when I did what you said, only a real spider fell out, looked like a small money spider, no other red streaks. I have attached a picture of the spider.

I’m not sure what soil it is in as we bought it already potted and the nursery advised to just keep it in that pot (we just put in a bigger one for decoration)

I dug a bit deeper today and the soil feels moist and my water measurer tool said the root area was dry/moist (were as previously it had been very wet) so now I’m not sure if it’s over watered or under watered .

it’s very heavy so to repot it would take some effort so only really want to do that if it will heal it.

Should I pluck all the brown leaves off the branch? I’m worried they won’t grow back as they haven’t on some of the other branches.

Thank you again for your help.

 

[LemonBonsai]

Hi,

thank you so much for replying. Interesting what you said as we have thousands of spiders in our garden and this tree is always covered in webs, but when I did what you said, only a real spider fell out, looked like a small money spider, no other red streaks. I have attached a picture of the spider.

I’m not sure what soil it is in as we bought it already potted and the nursery advised to just keep it in that pot (we just put in a bigger one for decoration)

I dug a bit deeper today and the soil feels moist and my water measurer tool said the root area was dry/moist (were as previously it had been very wet) so now I’m not sure if it’s over watered or under watered .

it’s very heavy so to repot it would take some effort so only really want to do that if it will heal it.

Should I pluck all the brown leaves off the branch? I’m worried they won’t grow back as they haven’t on some of the other branches.

Thank you again for your help.

On the bright side spiders are our friends so its good you got alot, they helped me get rid of an infestation I had this year

From what I can see your soil has perlite? On the top of it, if you could dig maybe an inch down on the soil with your finger and attach a picture of that, it would help to know what soil its planted in.

The brown leaves are dead for sure so you can brush those off. You will also want to find out if that branch is dead or alive still. You can use your finger nail or a knife to lightly scratch the bark away on that branch. If you see green = its alive no green, = its a-dead

 

[Shannon 70]

Hello,

I have attached a picture of the soil, what you saw in the first picture I think are just white stones I used to decorate the top with. I watered last night and it’s still very wet today.

I have scratched the brown branch and it looks brown underneath but when I scratch a green branch it is also brown, I have attached some pictures for reference.

Thanks again for your help.
Claire

 

[LemonBonsai]

Hello,

I have attached a picture of the soil, what you saw in the first picture I think are just white stones I used to decorate the top with. I watered last night and it’s still very wet today.

I have scratched the brown branch and it looks brown underneath but when I scratch a green branch it is also brown, I have attached some pictures for reference.

Thanks again for your help.
Claire

I see yes that soil looks to dense. The problem with dense soil is it holds to much water and doesnt let the roots of the tree get any oxygen to them. Another problem with some dense soils is if you let them get to dry, they can easily become hydrophobic which means the water would rather flow around the soil them be absorbed by the soil. This can cause dry spots within the soil while over watering other spots.

I would put the tree in a bucket or large bowl, and then put water in the bucket or bowl and let the tree sit inside for a good 20 minutes. That should evenly moisten the entire root ball. After this I would very carefully water this guy, I would be checking everyday with your moisture meter and watering when the entire pot (check in multiple locations) is to the lower end of the "moist" section. If the whole pot gets to the "dry" section then you will need to do the bucket thing again.

Next spring I would repot it ASAP into better soil. I personally use 1:1 ratio of sifted Oil Dri / Safety Sorb (diatomaceous earth) and sifted perlite and then add some orchid bark mixture and some earth worm castings. There are many soil mixtures that people use. As long as its well draining it will be better then what you have now.

If the tree starts going down hill quick, after changing your watering routine, an emergancy repot may be in order. I would get materials for repotting now so your ready if you need to.

Hope he bounces back!


Edit: as for the branch, I would leave it and only cut it off when your sure its dead

 

[Srt8madness]

Repotting probably won't help an already weak tree, it might hasten its demise.

What zone are you in? Is the tree getting full sun? Full shade? Going from too dry - to wet can stress a tree.

You can knock off the dead needles or let them fall on their own, doesn't matter

 

[Srt8madness]

A chopstick (wooden) stuck in the soil and checked once a day will give you a better idea of moisture then the gimmicky meters (I've got one too).

 

[Shannon 70]

I see yes that soil looks to dense. The problem with dense soil is it holds to much water and doesnt let the roots of the tree get any oxygen to them. Another problem with some dense soils is if you let them get to dry, they can easily become hydrophobic which means the water would rather flow around the soil them be absorbed by the soil. This can cause dry spots within the soil while over watering other spots.

I would put the tree in a bucket or large bowl, and then put water in the bucket or bowl and let the tree sit inside for a good 20 minutes. That should evenly moisten the entire root ball. After this I would very carefully water this guy, I would be checking everyday with your moisture meter and watering when the entire pot (check in multiple locations) is to the lower end of the "moist" section. If the whole pot gets to the "dry" section then you will need to do the bucket thing again.

Next spring I would repot it ASAP into better soil. I personally use 1:1 ratio of sifted Oil Dri / Safety Sorb (diatomaceous earth) and sifted perlite and then add some orchid bark mixture and some earth worm castings. There are many soil mixtures that people use. As long as its well draining it will be better then what you have now.

If the tree starts going down hill quick, after changing your watering routine, an emergancy repot may be in order. I would get materials for repotting now so your ready if you need to.

Hope he bounces back!


Edit: as for the branch, I would leave it and only cut it off when your sure its dead

Thank you so much for all the advice, I will give it ago and fingers crossed he comes back.

 

[Shannon 70]

Repotting probably won't help an already weak tree, it might hasten its demise.

What zone are you in? Is the tree getting full sun? Full shade? Going from too dry - to wet can stress a tree.

You can knock off the dead needles or let them fall on their own, doesn't matter

I live in Hertfordshire, we have a south facing garden, it was previously in the sun but I moved it about a month ago to the shade, where it gets a little bit of sun in the morning then shade rest of the day.
It is very moist today after watering it yesterday, will try the chopstick tomorrow.
Thank you for the tip

 

[Shannon 70]

Hi there,

We managed to lift the bonsai out, on doing that it accidentally came out of its pot and I took some pictures of the root. I was very surprised it wasn’t wet or mushy, it was dry but looked ok.
I have attached a couple of pictures, for more experienced eyes.
We bathed the bottom of the root for 20 mins, filling the bucket about a quarter of the way and then put back in it pot.

Any further tips are always welcome.

Many Thanks

Claire

 

[LemonBonsai]

Hi there,

We managed to lift the bonsai out, on doing that it accidentally came out of its pot and I took some pictures of the root. I was very surprised it wasn’t wet or mushy, it was dry but looked ok.
I have attached a couple of pictures, for more experienced eyes.
We bathed the bottom of the root for 20 mins, filling the bucket about a quarter of the way and then put back in it pot.

Any further tips are always welcome.

Many Thanks

Claire

You will need to soak that entire root ball for 20 minutes not just the bottom. Put it back in the pot and leave it in the pot and then fill it up until the water is just above the surface of the soil. If your bucket isnt large enough fill it with as much water as possible and leave it in there until the top of the soil is moist. Dont leave it in the water for more than 30 minutes.

 

[Shannon 70]

Ok great will do that tomorrow, shall I expose the root again and put that in the water or leave it in its pot and put the pot in the water and cover with water?

Many Thanks