have just repotted a pinus sylvestris may have trimmed the roots too much?!

I have just repotted this pine and i think i may have cut back the roots too far!!?? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to give this tree as much chance as possible of survival?? Any suggestion will be very welcome!

Hello Eaton. It's very difficult to tell you if you cut too much root off, without seeing a pic of the roots. Yamadori Sylvestris doesn't have an awful lot of root anyway. The problem with reducing the foliage is it's going to bleed a lot at this time of year. Did you have many white tipped roots when it went into the pot?

[yes it had a few roots with white tips, is that good or bad?

White tips are a good thing. They're the terminals of the roots and will help the tree immediately.

problem is i think i cut them off! the tree is placed in the shade and i mist the needles, i hope this helps abit??any ideas how long it could take till i know its ok or not??

It's difficult to tell. I have a Sylvestris I transplanted from box to pot 3 years ago. There wasn't much root at all and the buds for that year did nothing. Through the summer the buds went hard and very dark but the foliage stayed a good colour. In late August I noticed lots of tiny buds around the bases of the hard candles and now, three years on it is flourishing.

Mostly shade and out of wind is good. Morning sun is good, too. Many folks would say not to fertilize, but I don't believe that. Label strength or maybe a bit lighter is fine.

i have kept this tree in the shade for the past couple of weeks, spraying the needles with water morning and evening!! now the needle have started turning yellow at the tips and appear to be drying out?!! could this be because of over wartering or is this the begining of the end for this tree??any suggestions please

Can you take a close up picture of the candles and needles. I wouldn't keep a Pine in the shade. Morning sun will be fine this time of year.

picture of needles

The buds look as if they're swelling to me, although they are small. Don't know whether the ends of the needles is needle cast?

Hi Eaton,

Try collecting some old decomposed pine needles, some shredded spagnum moss and dried bracken fern and add this to the soil by just working a bit in at the sides of the pot. Pine needle litter introduces good fungal activity; sphagnum moss is an antibiotic agent; bracken fern contains a natural rooting acid.

Do not feed the tree. Do not over-water the tree. Both are bad for recovering roots. Shade the tree but do not spray the leaves. This conserves moisture. If there is needle cast present, wet leaves increase its activity. Try using a fungicidal spray like copper. Zineb is better. Vitamin B1 as a soil drench is bebeficial.

Give it time. Hope this helps.
Regards
Peter Adams

It's been about a week, how does this tree look now?