Yellowing Spruce

muddslinger

I purchased a couple of one gal. Dwarf Alberta Spruce at a nursery clearance sale. The foliage is pretty lush but it's kind of yellow. I don't think they're root bound and hadn't planned on repotting or doing anything with them till spring. I had hoped they would recover with a little regular watering, but there doesn’t seem to be any change. There appears to be some sort of encapsulated fertilizer in the soil, so I haven’t added anything but Superthrive. We’re at the end of the growing season here.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Kevin

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TreeBay

Yellow foliage can be caused by iron deficiency (chlorosis) which is usually a result of a pH problem, but is often treated with chelated iron. Yellowing can also be caused by overwatering. Alberta pruce like to be a just a little moist but not soggy, so you might check your watering habits.

Posting a photo would be helpful so we can get some more information about the general health of the tree and whether the yellowing is occurring all over, only on the new growth or just in places.

Regards,

Matt

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muddslinger

Hi Matt,
Thanks for your quick reply!
Here's one of the little guys. As you can see, it's just kind of an overall pale "yellowishness". The dwarf Alberta is a popular landscape tree around here and all the ones I see in yards are a nice deep, dark green.
Thanks again!
Kevin

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TreeBay

That's a nice graduated backdrop you have there. This plant doesn't look as bad as I thought. I'm not sure now that it is chlorosis. Is it getting adequate sun (usually just slightly filtered light is appreciated by Alberta Spruce, but they can take full sun into summer, when they may need some overhead protection where I live) and is the watering sufficient but not overdone? When you water you need to be sure the entire rootball gets saturated, and then don't water again until it has begun to dry some.

This can be harder in nursery pots, because they sometimes don't drain as well as our bonsai pots, despite having the advantage of depth.

Regards,

Matt

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Treebeard

Hi Muddslinger,

your alberta spruce looks pretty typical to me. I have 5 dwarf alberta spruce, and have seen dozens in garden centres recently during a search for bonsai material. They all varied slightly in depth of green colouring. One place in particular had trees different (yellower) to the rest, but all the trees there were still very lush and healthy. So much so that I bought one.

I would venture to suggest that your tree is just showing natural colour variation. Of course I can't see the tree for real, so I can't be sure, but like I said it looks no different to some I have and lots I've seen recently. Hope this helps.

Regards,

TB

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TreeBay

Of course a little color balancing could improve things, too.

Virtual health!

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muddslinger

Hi Matt & Tree Beard,
As I was posting the pic, I thought, "that doesn't look too bad". It was taken over a week ago. I compared it to the trees now, and it seems to be getting worse and there are some brown tips now. It's not horrible, and maybe I'm being paranoid....?
It's getting plenty of sun with no overhead shade. It doesn't get above 80 very often here, so I didn't think it would be necessary. I'm pretty sure the watering is sufficient, but not overdone. I don't let the soil dry completely on top, but it's never soggy. The soil in the nursery pot seems to drain well, water comes out pretty quickly when I water, but it doesn't dry out very quickly.
I bought a little PH test kit and some iron. I'll check that tomorrow. I also took a close-up of the foliage so maybe you can tell if I am being paranoid.
Matt, you ought to bottle that virtual health stuff!
Many thanks to both of you for sharing your time and knowledge.
Best,
Kevin

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jeremy_norbury

How's it doing now?

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muddslinger

Hi Jerry,
They're both hanging in there, despite my abuse. I did some major pruning on both. They were such tight little cones; I just had to see what was inside. I probably over did it, but I think they'll pull through. I tested the PH of the soil and it came up pretty neutral, so I haven't done anything with the soil. I have decreased the water a little. There doesn't seem to be any change in the foliage. They still look a little yellow to me and some of the needles have brown tips. They're still in the nursery pots I bought them in, I plan to put them into grow boxes come spring.
If anyone is interested (and promise not to report me for tree abuse), I'll post some current pics. It would be nice to have some input on where to go with these little guys, assuming they survive my butchery.
Best,
Kevin

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