Urgent assistance required Pine.

[Stevegg]

Thanks bud. Cheers Steve

[Stevegg]

Hello everyone, I’ve made a growing box for this JBP. I have noticed it seems to have an issue with the needles, with mottled yellow and brown spots and bands. I read on the other topics Kocide Blue spray for this problem. I have read the package it doesn’t mention pines?? Ok could someone please tell me what ratio to water I should mix it at? how often and how many applications I should apply. Next should I apply before putting pine into growing pot? Many thanks Steve

[TimS]

Can’t say I’ve used Kocide Blue on a pine before, but we use it on 450+ crops at work and never had any toxicity issues with it, it seems pretty gentle. It may increase the copper levels in the foliage but it hasn’t been a particular concern for us.

[shibui]

Looks like the recommended rate for leaf problems is 150g/100litres. Assuming you don't have a whole forest to treat that would equate to 1.5g in 1 litre of water.
Need to realise that the damage is already done to the affected needles. They will not miraculously turn green again. Treatment will help protect the new needles from infection. You will need to spray several times through spring and summer to stop the new spring growth from being infected.

[Stevegg]

Thank you Shibui, are you saying spray now and again in spring or start spraying in spring? I also read I should cover the soil when spraying as to not kill the white fungus. Also do you think it would be ok to repot the Pine into growing box now? Your help is greatly appreciated thank you.
Cheers Steve

[shibui]

It is probably worth spraying now just in case there is any active fungus left from this season but start serious spray program when the new needles open in spring. I have not had to deal with dothostroma here but I believe it affects the young needles through spring and early summer so that's when you need to spray for prevention.
Not sure about covering the soil. Pine mychorriza is pretty tough stuff. So many people treat it very carefully and religiously transfer some from the old pot at repotting but it just turns up naturally here in all new pine seedling trays and every pot. I'm not sure I could kill it if I tried. Maybe better safe than sorry. It won't take much to cover the surface of the pot but if a small amount gets o the soil it won't be catastrophic.

I can't advise on transfer to a grow box as I cannot assess the health of the tree. I would probably make the change but I don't know your location or level of care.

[Stevegg]

Thanks again Shibui, Im in Perth. I don’t want to lose it as I’ve had it a long time. The photos at the start of the threat is the tree I’m talking about. Cheers

[shibui]

Many experienced growers are reluctant to transplant pines that are weak because they are generally slow to produce new roots and weaker pines are even slower to produce new roots. The difficulty is determining how weak is too weak to respond well to the transplant. While I can see the photo and it actually looks fine that's not really enough to get a proper feel for the tree's health. You are on site and in a far better position to make that judgement.
Much depends on the definition of repot. Just transferring a tree from one pot to another does not constitute repotting in my book and can probably be done in all except the most extreme cases. Even moving from a deep pot to a shallow tray should be safe if you are removing very few roots. If the tree does not have to grow new roots to survive there is very little trauma and little chance of problems.
Based on the photos I assume you are just planning to move the entire root ball into a grow box so there should be no problems doing that. It will do far better if you rake out the roots round the edges and, while that will put a little more stress on the tree I think it would end up much better for it. If it were here I would probably do a proper root prune before putting it in the grow box and still expect it to do far better next season. There would be some low level risk with that approach but more to gain than to lose I think. Your tree so your decision.

My experiences with pines have nearly all been positive. Not knowing it was bad practice I have pruned and repotted pines in a single session without any problem. The ones that come out of the grow beds all get a haircut and root prune and all survive the experience so my feeling is that the touchiness of pines is just a little overstated.

[Stevegg]

Thanks you so much. I’m going for it. I guess either way, l will learn from the experience. Cheers

[tinto]

how is it looking?

[Stevegg]

Sorry Tinto for the late reply. I haven't been on for a while.
I will get a photo up soon.
cheers

[Stevegg]

Well I put it into its growing box today. The old soil was quite dry and tight really. It didn’t seem to have a lot of finer roots mainly matchstick thickness with some finer ones. I only pruned it a little at the start of this thread. It’s now in a mix of Akadama, lava rock, pumice and a little bonsai potting mix. Also added some of the white fungus that was growing inside the pot. I also watered in with a little seasol. I hope it survives. I now have it in a semi shaded spot for about 4 weeks I’ve read . I hope this is right. Time will tell l guess. Thanks for all the assistance. Cheers