Are my White Pine Trees dying?
Question:I planted 18 white pine trees about 6 weeks ago in my back yard in Milford, DE (sandy soil). All but 2 of the trees are showing various amounts of growth. However, recently the “old” needles on many of the trees are turning yellow and falling off while the new growth has remained a good color of “new growth” green. We have had essentially no rain in the past 2-3 weeks and I have been watering the trees weekly by running water from the hose directly to the root ball for 5 minutes. Am I under-watering? Over-watering? Or something else?
Answers:
It sounds like they might be drying out. usually 6 weeks should be enough to establish the tree but if it has been dry out I would water them every day for about 3-4 days 5-10 min then every other for the next week...they should start to come back. Also check to make sure you didn't plant them to deep. there should only be about an inch of dirt over the root ball at the trunk. good luck.
- sound like it could be Pine Beatles. It didn't really get cold enough this year to kill them off.
Well I would highly doubt it is overwatering if it is sandy soil. I would say it is most likely they are not getting enough water. It could just be a little stress from planting and the trees will be fine. I would try watering more and see if that improves their condition.
You have a couple of possibilities here, one of which is ok, and the other not so ok.. Pines every 2 to 3 years cast off "old" needles which is a normal growing pattern of needled conifer trees. You said that the new growth is doing good, so this may be what is happening and there is nothing to worry about. The not so ok part, is a possibility of a disease called "needle cast" which is common in, once again, conifer trees, mainly the pinus family. Make sure that it's only just a few of the older needles turning yellow and dropping. The symptoms are yellowing halfway up the needles with the tips turning a brown color. Brown spots on the needles are also present. There is a lesion where the color starts to change. If this is in fact what is occurring, you need to treat them with the fungicide made by Ortho called, Multi-Purpose Fungicide (daconil 2787). This is the best fungicide on the market and I have used it for more than 20 yrs.. You can pick up a pint at any Walmart, or Home Depot for under 20 bucks. I don't think this is your problem however, as you say that there is nice green growth on the limbs. Just keep an eye on them. You should be watering them at least twice a week really good, and if the weather is really hot, maybe a third watering is in order. Hope this answers your question.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/foresthealth/ido...
http://www.epinions.com/content_10598977...
...Billy Ray
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