magnific black pine dying -(

Zelda

2 days ago I bought this beautiful dying black pine …

I wonder what can I do to help this magnificent tree to recover?

Here’s the situation:

The tree has not been repotted for the past 4-6 years. The soil was covered with moss and I took it off to allow the root to breath. I watered her with ¼ teaspoon Superthrive in 2 gal of water. I’m planning of repotting her in winter.

Question and concern: as you can see in the pictures, she’s loosing her needle and she has not been pruned for her new shots. Do you have any suggestion/feedback.



Thank you very much in advance,

C-

Attached Images

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hansvanmeer

Hi Zelda.

What kind of soil is it in now?
Those water run trough the draining holes quickly after you water it?
Is there any sign of insects or fungi on your foliage?
And don't give it any more Superthrive, is of no use for Pines.
A lot of questions, I know. But it makes it much easier for us to help you!
Regards,
Hans van Meer.

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Vonsgardens

Zelda,
Hans is asking important questions. You can repot Black Pines in the fall, if you can protect them from wind and freezes. Looks like roots to me, that is the standard answer with sick Black Pines. The key on repotting a tree such as this will be to take very few roots off that are still alive, and then pot into a rapidly draining but moisture retentive soil mix. I have resurrected trees that look much worse, so don't give up hope.

John

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Zelda

Thanks Hans for your reply. Here the answers you requested:
What kind of soil is it in now?
No idea!
Those water run trough the draining holes quickly after you water it?
More or less
Is there any sign of insects or fungi on your foliage?
No.
Question: Should I be worry about pruning new shots or should I let them and just repot in fall in a good draining soil?
I live in California so no freezing winters -)

Cheers,
C-

bonsaikc

Whatever you do, DO NOT PRUNE THE NEW SHOOTS! As weak as this tree is, pruning it could kill it immediately. Candle pruning is for strong healthy vital trees only!

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Brent

This tree is showing signs of 'arrested development'. That is, the candles that formed this spring did not open or only partially opened. This is caused by some sort of stress at the critical period when the candles are expanding. A very common cause is lack of water. It probably was allowed to dry out which damaged the candles. The damage is irreversible, that is why you are only seeing a few needles at the end of the shoots, but the buds look good, and the existing foliage color looks good.

Take BonsaiKC's advice, absolutely do not prune this tree. You should examine the soil and roots to make sure it is not rootbound (unlikely in this time period of 4 to 6 years), and make sure that the soil structure has not collapsed. If it is suspect, then work out as much old soil as you can gently, without damaging the roots. Do not root prune. Replace with good soil. I prefer to do this in late winter, but if your area doesn't freeze, then you can do it after it cools down a bit, around the end of Oct.

Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com
see our blog at http:BonsaiNurseryman.typepad.com

Zelda

Thanks all for your valuable answers.
Do you think this this tree will ever recover and have nice foliage?
C-