Scotts pine needles yellowing

[Tomoo90]

Hi,

I’ve had this Scott’s pine for 10 months or so and put it into a well draining bonsai soil this spring. All year and especially since putting out it’s new growth the older needles have been turning yellow at the tips then dying and falling off, for the moment I’m the tree still looks ok but if it continues the tree will look very leggy. I think I have been overwatering and under fertilising, could this explain why I’m having this issue? I have attached a photo, any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

There is no photo attached.
Scots pines in distress tend to drop their old foliage in favor of the new. Generally this shouldn't matter a whole lot as long as the new foliage is looking alright.
My personal record for keeping needles on a scots pine is 4 years, but I have other healthy ones that keep them for two years max.

 

[Shibui]

2 things will help with diagnosis. Photo and your location. Different parts of the world have different timing and cultivation requirements.

As @Wires_Guy_wires has mentioned, pine needles don't live forever. At 2-4 years old they die and drop and that's completely normal for pines but it really scares new pine growers when they encounter it first time.
The trick is to maintain shoots along the branches so we can cut back every couple of years as the branches get too long. Pruning pines is a special subject but one you'll need to master to develop and maintain pines with compact growth

Sometimes needles drop from stress. Roots too wet is one frequent cause but too dry can also cause premature needle drop.
Starvation can also stress trees and cause loss of needles.
Most pests and diseases seem to strike newer needles so that's less likely.

With photos there's a file size limit so you may need to compress your photo files to upload here. Try not to reduce size as we still need to see details of needles, etc.

 

[Paradox]

What soil mix did you put it into?
If it's really well draining, it should be near impossible to over water.

Pictures of the tree and needles that are yellowing would help

 

[Colorado]

Hard to say without photo, but agree that overwatering/wrong balance of water and oxygen is a likely culprit.

 

[Tomoo90]

Ah I’m sorry I thought it had uploaded. Thanks to all for the swift feedback. It’s in a mix of kaizen bonsai soil no2 and no3 which should be extremely well draining. Until recently I was living in the south of the UK but have moved to Spain where the tree seems healthier. There was not a ton of new needles this year which is why I don’t want it to lose too many and look too sparse.

 

[Dav4]

The needles with the yellow tips are last year's, yes? The newer needles look very healthy so I'm inclined to tell you that the yellowing is age related +/- some minor insult from last year's growing season. There's not much to do here other than continue to provide good care. That mix looks very open so it would indeed be quite difficult to overwater.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Scott’s pine can be induced to backbud so you should be able to push back any leggy branches over time so be patient and read up on the process.

 

[Paradox]

Yea there is no way you are over watering with that soil.

I agree with Dave's assessment
Feed it and water when it needs it.

 

[Tomoo90]

Thank you all for your advice, I will just continue as I have been and see how things progress.

 

[sorce]

I'd be all the way into thinking it'd be difficult to water appropriately with that soil.

Welcome to Crazy!

When the soil is so large, if it drains as fast, the large voids throughout never get a chance to fill up and wet. It can leave a lot of missed spots.

Then what water is there, is penetrating a large particle from the top, into a mostly dry inside and bottom, using the water before the roots even get it.
It's almost like planting a tree in wet roofs, only getting water as it rains and a bit after.

Risky.

I reckon the general soil size particle pendulum swung way too far to large.

Sorce

 

[Tomoo90]

I agree with you that the soil particle size is probably too big and was planning on downsizing next year! Thanks for letting me know!