Pine needle problem

Hi All,

Japanese Black Pine. Tips of needles - 1mm from tip brown, and then the next 3 or 4 mm light green and then the rest of the needle is a normal colour. Is it needle blight? Any ideas what it could be and how to "fix it"?

Cheers, and thanks,

Andrew

Andrew, I'm not familiar with pathogens in you area and not many people in the world can "diagnose" without a photo. But, usually fungal or insect damage is not consistent and uniform at the tips. Most common is environmental or usually drought or root-zone problem.
Wood
http://thingsofwood-gary.blogspot.com/

Thanks Gary - I'll try to get a photo up, but will have to take one first!

Andrew - Your problem sure sounds like needle cast. I have a Japanese White Pine with the same problem. I've been treating it for about a year with Deconyl and Benomyl (which is no longer available). Both treatments have yielded little visible results, save to slightly slow down the progress of the infection. I'm goning to keep trying with higher dosages every 7 - 10 days, even this Winter. Its a pain to take this tree in and out of storage but I don't think I have much choice.

Andrew - PS - some of my needles look like Zebras!

You might actually appreciate the wood tiny sharp needles if not for the fresh mushrooms that are growing up in it. I individually like the look and the fragrance of wood tiny sharp needles when I walk on them. I wish I had your wood plants. My sis has several large wood plants n her garden and I regularly go over and " rake " the tiny sharp needles for her to use on my increased bed frames as compost.

Hi Guys,

Sounds like needle cast. Treatment consists of removing and burning any discolored needles, spraying with daconyl and copper fungicides alternating on a three week basis from when temperatures any part of the day reach 50 degrees F, and improving ventilation and keeping excess moisture off the needles. Providing you are vigilant, you can stop or lower the incidence of fresh attacks if you interrupt the cycle in this way. The trick is to try and stop the fungus infecting new growth.

Hope this works for you.

Peter Adams

Yeah, needlecast. Very hard if not impossible to eliminate in climates like mine where we get a fair amount of rain. I had to treat every 2-3 wks last yr with Daconil and Cooper as well. If I stopped, it came back. So for me, I think of it as a chronic disease, treatable...kinda like hypertension lol

Try living where I do north of Seattle! Like I said, be persistent and it is controllable.

Peter Adams

Andrew Legg wrote:Hi All,

Japanese Black Pine. Tips of needles - 1mm from tip brown, and then the next 3 or 4 mm light green and then the rest of the needle is a normal colour. Is it needle blight? Any ideas what it could be and how to "fix it"?

Cheers, and thanks,

Andrew

These symptoms are not Needle Cast. It' an old post ans a pic was never posted. Two points to bring up. Recognising the many needle cast and difference between it and mechanical damage (broken needles) or drought.
Wood
http://thingsofwood-gary.blogspot.com/

Hi,

If you have "zebra" needles -- without a pic -- sounds like you have needle cast given your damp conditions. Look for older needles which are brown and spotted with tiny black spots, this is the next stage of needle cast.

Peter adams

Peter Adams wrote:Try living where I do north of Seattle! Like I said, be persistent and it is controllable.

Peter Adams

It's where I've always wanted to live, Seattle area that is! And I can only imagine!

GaryWood wrote:

Andrew Legg wrote:Hi All,

Japanese Black Pine. Tips of needles - 1mm from tip brown, and then the next 3 or 4 mm light green and then the rest of the needle is a normal colour. Is it needle blight? Any ideas what it could be and how to "fix it"?

Cheers, and thanks,

Andrew

These symptoms are not Needle Cast. It' an old post ans a pic was never posted. Two points to bring up. Recognising the many needle cast and difference between it and mechanical damage (broken needles) or drought.
Wood
http://thingsofwood-gary.blogspot.com/

Read the original post
Wood