Dwarf Alberta ( Picea Glauca "Conica")

romanalong

I justed wired a Spruce, ( last Week In Feb.) and the needles are turning brown at the tips, some all brown. there are buds, from last year. Have I Done something wrong?

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mgodbee

I couldn't tell you really. One of the first trees I ever did long ago was an Alberta Spruce and the same thing happened to me. If you still have green, it isn't dead yet, but to the cause, couldn't tell you. I have never attempted another Spruce, but from what I have heard the Alberta Spruce are difficult to work with. I have heard they get a fungus very easily that results in white stuff on the trunk. I have also heard they are impossible to shape also. From what I understand, it take years for them to conform to wiring because they are so "rubbery" and will spring right back to their original form. Basically, i have heard the speices was a nightmare to work with so I never tried it again. Best of luck and check the link below to see if you can spot the problem. Also, you may want to post a little more info or a pic to get better advice. For instance, did you repot the tree? Bareroot it? How much foliage did you cut off, etc....?

http://www.bonsai-bci.com/species/spruce.html

romanalong

Thanks for the reply, The tree has not been repotted and I did not doa major prunig, in fact I had the tree in the pot for 1 yr. and had pre trimmed when I first got the tree about 3 years ago. It's still green and thereare some buds starting. I now have found that they are tempermaental and hard to train. i will try to post a pic.
Thanks

ethanopia

I wouldn't say they are a "nightmare" but its true they don't wire very well. That being said you can shape them well with pruning and generally they bud back really well. My Alberta is the only tree remaining from my original foray into bonsai three years ago. All the other trees I tried to style and pot, in that first year, have since died. That should tell you something right there :-)

All in all they are very cold hardy. Slow growers. But take to pinching very well.

Now if it is just the very tips of the needles turning brown I wouldn't sweat that too much, they kind of do that depending on stresses etc. It will probably be just fine.

If the needles are turning all brown in groups I would remove the wires and make sure it gets the right amount of sun and water. The needles and branches that are brown are probably toast and you will probably ok to remove those branches at the end of the summer because my experience is they won't come back strong enough to do anything of value with.

romanalong

Here's a pic of the Alberta Spruce

Attached Images

Spruced wired.JPG (28.1 KB, 112 views)