Ezo spruce looking unwell?

[Mickeyjaytee]

Hi all!

I recently purchased some p. Glehnii yatsubusa. Great little trees and I’m in for the long haul!

I’ve noticed some of the needles yellowing and dying off. I have also noticed as the new growth emerges that some of the new growth is a bit yellow and some is not.

I am a tad panicky due to having zero success growing p. Abies from seed. They would sprout grow out then slowly yellow and die. I was told that was over watering.

Things to note:

The owner said they love full sun, so full sun they have got. I’m leaning towards this being the problem due to the fact I don’t know where he had them prior and when I picked them up from the nursery they were under shade cloth. The healthier new green buds are the ones facing away from the sun also.

The soil they are in is very dense. They weigh almost 3 times as much as any other plant I have in a similar sized pot so, I’m assuming they are no way near as dry as the others when it’s watering time and are perhaps getting over watered.

I had problems with p. Abies and also I did have a Monterey pine which I posted here a while ago that started to yellow. I did treat it with a fungicide and while it’s still alive, it has gotten much worse:

viewtopic.php?f=131&t=30720&p=298894#p298894

I’m worried I may have a fungal disease going around the yard. My pinus mugo seedlings did the same as the p. Abies. They sprouted and looked healthy, started to die back from the tips, kicked the bucket. I’m on round two of pinus mugo seedlings and once again, all have died except one which looks very healthy.

In all I think they possibly were in semi shade and I’ve put them out in full sun and they’ve been burnt. Another part of me is concerned however, there’s a fungal problem in my backyard and I’ll need to deal with it. Otherwise, there could be nothing wrong and I’m hitting the panic button early. I’d rather be early though.

Any advice/tips would be hugely appreciated!

[KIRKY]

Most Pines, conifers tend to prefer being on the dry side. Especially seedlings. Are you able tip the plant out of the pot to see the roots and also examine the potting soil it is in. Note if it’s been recently freshly repotted you won’t be able to do that. If you can’t tip the plant out them have a dig around the top edges to check wetness of the soil under all that pine bark. Once you have done that you should know if you’re over watering. If too dry you will know they are thirsty.
If none of these then you can start looking for other possible culprit.
Fyi all newly acquired plants should never go in direct hot summer sun unless it’s a cactus. Always acclimatise new stock in a semi shade position then introduce to a sunnier position.
Cheers
Kirky

[Mickeyjaytee]

Thanks for the reply Kirky, I appreciate it mate. I’m going to guess it’s going into full sun most likely. The guy I bought them off had got them in for me so they were only at the nursery for the day. After he said full sun I assumed he had them out there but, probably not.

Is it a good idea to put them into semi shade now or is the damage done? It’s been over a week

Thanks again mate!

[treeman]

Fyi all newly acquired plants should never go in direct hot summer sun unless it’s a cactus.

Not even a cactus.

[treeman]

Is it a good idea to put them into semi shade now or is the damage done? It’s been over a week

If they are dwarf ezo spruce (which I very much doubt) they will not like full sun exept for winter maybe. But even then they stay greener in some shade. You need to look at the roots to see if they are healthy (light brown with white tips here and there) If the roots are ok, the plant should recover. If the roots are gone, it will be very difficult.

[Mickeyjaytee]

Thanks treeman, I had a look at the roots and them seem ok. Why do you doubt they are the dwarf variety? I guess the rarity? He assured me they are. He has quite the collection of rare plants which he’s collected over a very long time and each year takes cuttings/air layering’s/seeds etc. even if they aren’t, I’m just happy to have been able to get some ezo spruce!

[Daluke]

The needles look too long for ezo spruce.