Anyone on here a plant guru?

[area51drone]

I planted 120  3-4' tall Leyland Cypress trees about a month ago and they're yellowing, from the bottom up about half way.   I tried my best to keep them watered.  I planted them with a mushroom compost mix.   I tested the ph of the soil today and got about 5.5.   Any ideas?

[Mind Flayer Monk]

I planted 120  3-4' tall Leyland Cypress trees about a month ago and they're yellowing, from the bottom up about half way.   I tried my best to keep them watered.  I planted them with a mushroom compost mix.   I tested the ph of the soil today and got about 5.5.   Any ideas?

plant disease?

https://www.google.com/search?q=Seridium+canker&espv=210&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=uXR_UtOwG9TRkQfNw4DwDQ&ved=0CEAQsAQ

http://www.treetec.net.au/cypress-canker-removal.php

maybe: "Cercosporidium Blight is a very aggressive fungi. Spores are airborn and travel very fast. Needles turn yellow and drop, usually starting on lower branches, starting from the inside and progressing outward and upward. Kocide 2000 works well at controling this fungi. "

see further figure 4 in this doc http://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/4611/29436/Cercosporidium%20Blight%20of%20Leyland%20Cypress%20and%20Related%20Conifers.pdf

[area51drone]

Hmm.  Maybe.  I would be surprised if a disease hit these that quickly - within a month?   Also, there are other leylands in the neighborhood which are green as regular.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

Here is a picture. I'm just taking a guess though, not a plant expert.

[eddie dean]

check for piss jugs from Ricky 

[area51drone]

check for piss jugs from Ricky 

Yeah, I looked for those, but only found them at the dump and on top of Mr. Leahy's trailer. LOL

[area51drone]

Here is a picture. I'm just taking a guess though, not a plant expert.

They are a lot smaller than that, so it's hard to say.  I should post a picture, I know I took one.

[PB the Deplorable]

I'm no plant expert, but a lot of the time the answer is it was over-watered

[area51drone]

I really don't think it has been over watered.  I planted them the first week of October hoping for rain and it only rained once all month.  I tried to get out to the property and get it watered as much as I could, but I guarantee it was probably under watered - which could have been it.    We put some miracle grow for shrubs down which has nitrogen and iron in it, and it has rained pretty good the last week or so.  I'm hoping that does the trick.

[Juan]

The ph is on the acid end of the preferred range.  Maybe get the ph up just a little.

Maybe, since they are Leyland Cypress, you should throw some cigarette butts around them.

[basswood]

Maybe, since they are Leyland Cypress, you should throw some cigarette butts around them.

Jim Leyland agrees 

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[BobGrau]

I'm not any kind of expert on this stuff but when you say they're recently planted my first thought is that the roots may have been exposed for too long ie just about any time at all. Not doubting the greeness of your thumbs, it's just really really easy to do.

[Black Celebration]

Greetings, area51drone,

Major props! That's an impressive DIY project.

Caution! Warning! I'm anything but a guru. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I studied landscape management with all its requisite tree courses and whistles. I doubt I could remember how to lay a sprinkler system to save my life, but what I did take away from the experience was a new sense of folks I could call when the going got weird.

A really cool source (well, not as cool as Bellgab, but that's tough competition) is your local Cooperative Extension office. (This is assuming you're in the States) Technically, each county should have one, though recent budget cuts have hit some pretty hard. If you happen to have a land grant university lying around, they're likely to have one as well.

The Cooperative Extension is a free (well, Federally funded) program to give a helping hand to local gardeners, farmers, and home economists of all shapes and sizes. They'll be able to provide you with a more complete soil analysis, and can even check damaged branches for blight/fungus/mites, etc. Because they're local, they'll also have a pretty good beat on problems affecting plants in your area. Wikipedia has a listing of locations although Googling your county might be faster.

If push comes to shove, you may want to hire a Consulting Arborist to come out and have a look at the patients. There are web directories to find one in your area.

It sounds like you are doing so many things right: mulching, ph tests ... and the ph is perfect for Leylands! Just a couple quick questions:

Did the yellowing occur before or after you fertilized the trees?
Was the ph test taken after the fertilizer?
Did the roots seem compacted (bound) when you took them out of their containers?
How would you categorize the soil type? And if clay, do the roots have several feet of mulch below?
Did the yellowing occur before or after the rain?

Mind Flayer Mink makes an excellent point about the blight. It sure has the tale-tale signs. Unfortunately, nurseries are a lot like preschools and cross country flights. It's really easy for plants to pick up a bug and still look perfectly healthy and happy when you take them home.

I really wish you all the best. You're being proactive, and it sure sounds like you'll be able to get this turned around in time.

[basswood]

Greetings, area51drone,

Major props! That's an impressive DIY project.

Caution! Warning! I'm anything but a guru. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I studied landscape management with all its requisite tree courses and whistles. I doubt I could remember how to lay a sprinkler system to save my life, but what I did take away from the experience was a new sense of folks I could call when the going got weird.

A really cool source (well, not as cool as Bellgab, but that's tough competition) is your local Cooperative Extension office. (This is assuming you're in the States) Technically, each county should have one, though recent budget cuts have hit some pretty hard. If you happen to have a land grant university lying around, they're likely to have one as well.

The Cooperative Extension is a free (well, Federally funded) program to give a helping hand to local gardeners, farmers, and home economists of all shapes and sizes. They'll be able to provide you with a more complete soil analysis, and can even check damaged branches for blight/fungus/mites, etc. Because they're local, they'll also have a pretty good beat on problems affecting plants in your area. Wikipedia has a listing of locations although Googling your county might be faster.

If push comes to shove, you may want to hire a Consulting Arborist to come out and have a look at the patients. There are web directories to find one in your area.

It sounds like you are doing so many things right: mulching, ph tests ... and the ph is perfect for Leylands! Just a couple quick questions:

Did the yellowing occur before or after you fertilized the trees?
Was the ph test taken after the fertilizer?
Did the roots seem compacted (bound) when you took them out of their containers?
How would you categorize the soil type? And if clay, do the roots have several feet of mulch below?
Did the yellowing occur before or after the rain?

Mind Flayer Mink makes an excellent point about the blight. It sure has the tale-tale signs. Unfortunately, nurseries are a lot like preschools and cross country flights. It's really easy for plants to pick up a bug and still look perfectly healthy and happy when you take them home.

I really wish you all the best. You're being proactive, and it sure sounds like you'll be able to get this turned around in time.

What a courteous and helpful post, very cool. 

[Black Celebration]

Why thank you, basswood. That puts a skip in my step. I've long been an admirer of your posts.

I wanted to take a moment to apologize to Mind Flayer Monk for the mink. Cheers all!

[area51drone]

Yes, thanks for the post!  I really appreciate all of your guys' responses.  I'll answer the questions below.

Major props! That's an impressive DIY project.

Well, my dad helped with a backhoe to loosen the soil, because it was pretty hard to dig in and covered in tall grass.   He used a 2' scoop, and these trees were in 3 gallon buckets so I think they should be good as far as not having to dig their roots into tough soil.   I hired a couple of guys to help me plant them but yeah it has been an undertaking to say the least.

A really cool source (well, not as cool as Bellgab, but that's tough competition) is your local Cooperative Extension office. The Cooperative Extension is a free (well, Federally funded) program to give a helping hand to local gardeners, farmers, and home economists of all shapes and sizes.

Definitely going to check into this!  Thanks for the tip.

Did the yellowing occur before or after you fertilized the trees?

Yellowing occured after I planted them, before I fertilized.   I did plant them with a mix of mulch/compost and surrounding dirt.

Was the ph test taken after the fertilizer?

I took the pH on Saturday, after the fertilizer, but a ways away from where I fertilized, so I think it's a fair assessment of the surrounding soil.

Did the roots seem compacted (bound) when you took them out of their containers?

Yes, they were, and we made sure to break them up before we put them in the ground.

How would you categorize the soil type? And if clay, do the roots have several feet of mulch below?

Honestly, I don't know.   There are some areas that have a fair amount of clay in it, but I would not call it clay, maybe like 10% clay.   It does like to stick to stuff so there has to be some clay in there.  It's not sandy.   Just dirty.  LOL   I tested the moisture with a moisture meter and it said that the soil was all the way to the top of the scale in terms of moisture, but it had just rained like 48 hours prior.

Did the yellowing occur before or after the rain?

Hmm..  I would say it was just before the rain when I started to notice it, and it got worse.   I did go out to the property yesterday and it seems like maybe there was a bit of green on the tips of the affected branches, but it's so hard to say because I'm looking for any sign of them to get better.  That's one thing I'd like to know though - how long should I expect them to stay yellow, assuming I'm on the right path towards healing them?

Mind Flayer Mink makes an excellent point about the blight. It sure has the tale-tale signs. Unfortunately, nurseries are a lot like preschools and cross country flights. It's really easy for plants to pick up a bug and still look perfectly healthy and happy when you take them home.

That's definitely possible, but I did see them about a month before I bought them, and obviously when I planted them, and they were healthy looking both times.

I really wish you all the best. You're being proactive, and it sure sounds like you'll be able to get this turned around in time.

Thanks.  Yes, we're trying to.  I don't want to lose the investment.   The trees are in lieu of putting up a fence, which would probably cost on the order of $15,000 or more.   The trees cost me $1,000, the help labor and mulch cost me $600 and my dad just let me pay for the backhoe gas.     It's been a learning experience for certain.    I also bought some fruit, nut and berry trees/shrubs which are supposed to be delivered next spring.   I'm looking forward to putting them in and having a miniature orchard of Honey Crisp apple trees (+pears, cross pollinating plants, pecan, walnuts and blueberries).

[Black Celebration]

Wow, that's the backyard stuff of dreams! Maybe you could set up a produce box subscription service for we urban Bellgabbers in the upcoming harvest? :-)

If I were a bettin' person, I'd put my money on blight. It's consistent with the color and location of the afflicted needles (usually signs of stess and malnutrition start at the top and outer leaves) and the real clue came in the rapid increase of yellowing after the rain. Blight is a fungus and spreads like wildfire when there's a storm. The good news is that it is treatable, and usually just requires an application of a fungicide. Before getting out the respirator, however, it's worth having the branches examined to make sure it isn't something like root rot or an early canker masquerading in fungal attire.

The drainage sounds good, and your soil is naturally a perfect ph match for these guys. You may want to have a soil analysis to make sure you have the necessary nutrients, but barring any glowing omissions you probably won't need to fertilize often. Personally, I'd hold back on any additional fertilizer until spring. Young trees are really susceptible to nitrogen burn.

This article gives a helpful overview of the potential culprits: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/problems-growing-leyland-cypress-47071.html

I read in another post that you're thinking about getting some chickens. What an idyllic space you're creating!

[grano salis]

I planted 120  3-4' tall Leyland Cypress trees about a month ago and they're yellowing, from the bottom up about half way.   I tried my best to keep them watered.  I planted them with a mushroom compost mix.   I tested the ph of the soil today and got about 5.5.   Any ideas?

overwatering + clay soil = wet roots.  Back off on the water.  Let the roots absorb the nutrients from the compost.

[area51drone]

I was definitely not over watering them.   If anything I was underwatering.  The nursery we bought them from said to do the nitrogen and iron treatment and they should come back.   The fertilizer we put down was miracle grow for shrubs that has iodine in it, so I think we'll be good.   I am certainly going to worry about them until I see some changes though.

[area51drone]

Wow, that's the backyard stuff of dreams! Maybe you could set up a produce box subscription service for we urban Bellgabbers in the upcoming harvest? :-)

LOL, I don't know if we're going to go that crazy.   We subscribe to someone else's service now

If I were a bettin' person, I'd put my money on blight. It's consistent with the color and location of the afflicted needles (usually signs of stess and malnutrition start at the top and outer leaves) and the real clue came in the rapid increase of yellowing after the rain. Blight is a fungus and spreads like wildfire when there's a storm. The good news is that it is treatable, and usually just requires an application of a fungicide. Before getting out the respirator, however, it's worth having the branches examined to make sure it isn't something like root rot or an early canker masquerading in fungal attire.

Maybe it's blight.  I guess I have to take a sample in.

I read in another post that you're thinking about getting some chickens. What an idyllic space you're creating!

Yep, getting chickens, we're all in!   I think we'll stay away from everything else though.  So maybe only one toe in.  LOL.   Anyway, thanks for the advice on the trees.

[Unquenchable Angst]

Take a piece of white paper or cardboard and shake out some of the foliage on the paper and look at it to see if anything moves. If little specks and I do mean little, move about you have spider mites.
If so , use an oil spray. I hope that is not the problem. I usually use some cooking oil, dawn detergent and about 3 tablespoons of pipe or cigarette tobacco ,strain out the tobacco the next day and spray. HollyTone fertilizer for evergreens would be better longer term feed than any water soluble like miracle gro or Miracid . Holly tone has some beneficial organisms in it .Your pH is probably ok for acidic loving plants but most things like it about 6 pH

[George Drooly]

http://youtu.be/d4nbfPZa9Ws

[Up All Night]

Plant Guru ?

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