Virginia Pine

Taylor Brown

Sapling
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Shady Side, Maryland
USDA Zone
7
Can some one please look at these pictures of my virgina pine and tell me what is wrong with the needles on my tree. The tree has put out candles which I pinched but there are only a few buds coming from them. The needles are really yeloow with brown blotches on them. The other virgina pines I see all have tons of buds opening all over. I know something is wrong.:confused:
 

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Hi Taylor, Anna says hi as well.

Have you been overwatering this nice little tree?


Will
 

JasonG

Chumono
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Hi Taylor,

THis is a nice little tree!!!
Based on your picture and my experience if the needle is browning (dark brown like yours) on the tip then that is not enough water. If they are yellowing like the ones in the back of the photo then that is something different all together. Typically you would see the whole tree doing one thing or another unless it is isolated to a single branch that could be dying.
If the needle has a yellow or brown spot in the middle of it then that very well could be needle cast and is treatable.

If this were my tree I would put it in full sun (pines love sun), feed it well and spray the foliage every day, and water the roots as needed, every day or everyother day depending on the weather.

If the buds that are coming out look healthy and are opening then I wouldn't worry too much about the overall health of the tree. If they are weak though then I would feed the tree with fish fert. on the soil and miracle grow it every 2 weeks. Fish fert on the soil will give the plant nutrients every time you water..... That is what we do here in Oregon and it works very well.

Let us know how the health of this little tree progress's over the summer.

Best of luck, Jason
 

Graydon

Chumono
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Hi Taylor

Jason covered everything well so all I can say is that sure is a nice pot you have your tree planted in. What kind of pot is that?
 

tom tynan

Mame
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Hey Taylor....I like the way you compared the health of this tree to some of the other Virginia pines you are working with; I do that too with my trees..I am guessing that the soil is a good in-organic mix from your Father; so over-watering shouldn't be a problem. My own guess is that there is a root problem. Has this tree ever been bare rooted or had the original soil removed? If the tree's roots are healthy shouldn't the tree be pushing new growth and new candles ? I am wondering what my friend JasonG thinks about this theory?

Good luck with your pines

Tom
 
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rlist

Shohin
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Portland, OR
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8a
Taylor-

I am with Tom on this and would ask you to tell us the history of the roots with this tree. I would guess it has been recently (this year) repotted and had root work done - and it is having issues regrowing the roots to support the foliage.
 

Taylor Brown

Sapling
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Shady Side, Maryland
USDA Zone
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Hi Mr. Will ! Tell Anna I say hello. No I don't think so my dads virginia pine looks really good and it gets the same amount of water.

Based on your picture and my experience if the needle is browning (dark brown like yours) on the tip then that is not enough water. If they are yellowing like the ones in the back of the photo then that is something different all together. Typically you would see the whole tree doing one thing or another unless it is isolated to a single branch that could be dying.
If the needle has a yellow or brown spot in the middle of it then that very well could be needle cast and is treatable.
Hi Mr Jason I'm confused. Is my tree have to types of diseses? The candles all came out on each branch. They didn't look very healthy though. Not like a japanese black pine. I'm upset because while dad's tree has open buds all over it mine only has about 3 or 4. I have put a fungis medicine on it that dad gave me. Liquid copper it was blue. I thought copper was a different color.

Hi Mr. Graydon I love this pot to. the pot is one dad ordered for me special from the guy he sells pots for somewhere over seas

Hey Taylor....I like the way you compared the health of this tree to some of the other Virginia pines you are working with; I do that too with my trees..I am guessing that the soil is a good in-organic mix from your Father; so over-watering shouldn't be a problem. My own guess is that there is a root problem. Has this tree ever been bare rooted or had the original soil removed? If the tree's roots are healthy shouldn't the tree be pushing new growth and new candles ? I am wondering what my friend JasonG thinks about this theory?

Hi Mr Tom I have to compare to other things I haven't been doing this for more than 6 years. I don't know enough yet so if some thing looks good and healthy then I know if I'm doing it right or wrong. Thats one reason Dad said to come here to Bonsainut. He said that I would learn a lot because there are some smart people here. Yes my tree is in a rock mix lava and granit chips and turface also some thing else from japan

Hi Mr Rlist cool name :). This tree was collected from new jersey 3 years ago. It has never looked really healthy. Dad says that it is a yellow pine so to expect yellowish needles, but his are nice and green. That doesn't make sense. Dad said that this year we should repot it since it was in a plastic container for so long and get a look at the roots. They grew a lttle from when we collected it but not that much.

Thank you all for answering. I'm not sure if I understand what to do but will try and figure this out on my own with out Dads help. That is why I posted this here, I want to show him that I can handle sick trees. Maybe that way I can get some nicer material :)
 

rlist

Shohin
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Portland, OR
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Ok Taylor. I would guess that the tree was collected a short time ago, was never very strong after collection, was styled and repotted with root work before it was ready. All things that everyone here has gone through with at least one tree...

The good news is that I think with care the tree will recover. Go back to what Jason indicated - it is what I would do. First, I would make your pops get you some granular fish fertilizer - get the deodorized (not so stinky) 7-7-2. Here is a link to a good brand and one that should be easy to find in stores or on the internet. If he complains, email me and I will mail you some myself:

http://www.lillymiller.com/alaska.html

Apply this at a rate of 1 tablespoon per 3 to 4 square inches of pot surface. So for your pot I would guess 3-4 tablespoons. Mix it down with the very top layer of soil so it stays put and your dog doesn't lick it out of the pot. Note, you can't put too much of this on - Jason just put 6 full cups of this onto one tree! It will turn into a thick, black pile that looks like an old cow pie - which is perfect for this stuff. I prefer a little less, applied more often. I would apply it the first of every month until October. Start again 1 month before your last freeze and your trees will get a great early start.

Second, I would fertlize with Miracle Grow or Peters at full strength every two weeks. Start on July 1st and go every other weekend. Easy to remember. I would do this until the end of October. Lots of fert in the fall and the tree will have good buds set for the spring and plenty of reserves for fall growth.

Third, at this stage of development you want this to grow at full bore. No more pinching of buds, needle plucking or shoot/branch pruning for two years. Two years! Let it recover, and then start pinching terminal buds (at the end of the branches), plucking needles, etc. Also, if the wire has set and the branches will stay, you may want to remove it to let the branches free. I like to do this during periods of rest and fast growth - no biting in of the wire.

Make sure it gets as much sun as possible - but when you get your super hot days in August, you might want to protect it for a couple hours in the heat of the day. Like from 3 - 6 pm. Under 90 degrees, 100% sun is great. Also, make sure that it is not near the side of your house or a fence! Reflected heat could dry it out too much.

Watering will be crucial. You want the soil (which you are using the perfect mix) to stay damp but not wet. So, only water when the soil starts to dry out. That could be from never in the winter to every day in the summer. You have to keep an eye on it. Also, during the summer, mist the foliage & bark every day. If you are at home, do it at lunch time. This will help the tree stay moist but not make the roots too wet. Understand?

I think with some TLC this will recover. If you are extra concerned, ask your dad for a drop of Superthrive and add it to the water every time you fertilize. If he says no, tell him that some guy name Nick Lenz told you to do it.

Good luck with this tree! I think you will have a great one once you nurse it back to health.

Rich

p.s. If you can't wait 2 years to work on this, you need more trees. You and your dad should come out and visit. Remember, Jason offered you a tree for free if you come out!
 
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Taylor Brown

Sapling
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Shady Side, Maryland
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Thank you Mr. Rich, I can do this and will follow your plan. I think the syinky fertilizer would be better that way Dad knows that it is MY fertilizer.
p.s. If you can't wait 2 years to work on this, you need more trees. You and your dad should come out and visit. Remember, Jason offered you a tree for free if you come out!

I ask him everyday, sooner or later he will crumble and I'll win :)
 

Jay Wilson

Shohin
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Hello Miss Taylor,
I think you have a wonderful little tree here. I think Rich's advice is about the best I've heard for caring for a sick pine so you can't go wrong by following it.

Good luck with it and keep us posted on it's progress.

Jay
 
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