Bald cypress dying branches

[Mauricio Gonzalez]

Hi, I'm new to the page. I live in south Florida and bought this BC from a nursery last winter while it was dormant. It was like 8' tall before I cut it down. It came back from dormancy perfectly but a month ago the oldest and strongest brach suddenly died and two other follow. I noticed a very pale green color on the leaflets too. I never re pot and was watering the tree twice a day. I added some organic mulch on top and cover with pine to conserve some moisture.
Any advice?

Thanks

 

[johng]

I find when the leaves are brown on the tips it's typically a lack of water problem....but it's always difficult to diagnose from a distance. grey leaf discoloration can often indicate root aphids as well...just lift it from the container and see if there is any cotton like growth in the root...looks like mychroriza(sp) on pines if you are familiar with how that looks....treat with Orthene ant killer if you see cotton....just sprinkle on surface and water in...

Has the new green growth all sprouted since the branches died? If so, I would guess it was a water issue...

 

[GGB]

I lost a few branches on one of mine this year. It sounds like you were watering yours a lot and I thought I was watering mine a lot. When it started happeing I assumed there was no way it could be too dry so I didn't correct the problem until the branch was half dead then I watered the crap out of it and it stabilized. Im in PA which is a way different climate but they certainly love water. What is the soil comprised of?

 

[Mauricio Gonzalez]

I find when the leaves are brown on the tips it's typically a lack of water problem....but it's always difficult to diagnose from a distance. grey leaf discoloration can often indicate root aphids as well...just lift it from the container and see if there is any cotton like growth in the root...looks like mychroriza(sp) on pines if you are familiar with how that looks....treat with Orthene ant killer if you see cotton....just sprinkle on surface and water in...

Has the new green growth all sprouted since the branches died? If so, I would guess it was a water issue...

Thanks for the replay! yeah, after coming back from dormancy the tree is always shooting sprouts like crazy but suddenly one of the branches dies.
I use regular tap water to irrigate my BC. Do you think the water quality here might have something to do with this? Miami has really hard water.

 

[Mauricio Gonzalez]

I lost a few branches on one of mine this year. It sounds like you were watering yours a lot and I thought I was watering mine a lot. When it started happeing I assumed there was no way it could be too dry so I didn't correct the problem until the branch was half dead then I watered the crap out of it and it stabilized. Im in PA which is a way different climate but they certainly love water. What is the soil comprosed of?

That might be the case. I don't know in what type of soils it is on. I can see some sand on it. Can you more or less tell me what was the water regime you put yours in?

 

[Mauricio Gonzalez]

This is another juvenile BC I have but this one I collected from the wild the past winter. I have it under the same water regime as the other BC and it is doing OK so far.

 

[GGB]

Well if there's sand (play sand, sand) in it I can't imagine it's draining to fast. It could be drying out in that Florida sun but... As far as how I water mine, it doesn't really matter because I'm in a way different climate with a way different soil mix. For what its worth I water mine around 6 days a week. Perhaps it's a different issue all together. I'm just telling you what happened to me.
There's a guy on here @choppychoppy who lives in Florida and has tons of BC. maybe he'll chime in and give you a suggestion

 

[GGB]

Also just noticed the sprinkler in the photo. Are you watering by hand or letting that thing do it for you? If so, it could be a mechanical issue

 

[Mauricio Gonzalez]

Also just noticed the sprinkler in the photo. Are you watering by hand or letting that thing do it for you? If so, it could be a mechanical issue

Was doing sprinkler before I spotted the issue. I checked regularly to see if it was working properly and it was.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Mine sits in a shallow tray of water as well as being watered. I wonder...how long do you let your system water?

 

[Mauricio Gonzalez]

Well if there's sand (play sand, sand) in it I can't imagine it's draining to fast. It could be drying out in that Florida sun but... As far as how I water mine, it doesn't really matter because I'm in a way different climate with a way different soil mix. For what its worth I water mine around 6 days a week. Perhaps it's a different issue all together. I'm just telling you what happened to me.
There's a guy on here @choppychoppy who lives in Florida and has tons of BC. maybe he'll chime in and give you a suggestion

Thanks! I will let him know

Mine sits in a shallow tray of water as well as being watered. I wonder...how long do you let your system water?

10 minutes, twice a day ,7 days a week.

 

[choppychoppy]

Well for me I always try to work out some of the rootball whenever I do a large top reduction. This way I can get a look at the root system to for problems. What I would check first are the roots. Pull the thing out of the pot and see what's up. If it smells like rotting vegetation you may have some rotting roots. Get the roots handled if needed. Also you look like you have a pretty tree laden yard so is it getting enough sun? Also they need fertilizing especially if you are running a ton of water through it daily. I use cakes so the liquids don't just wash out. They can also get bugs so when I notice a lush tree getting a little wan I also hit it with the Ortho. It should be growing stronger than that for sure.

 

[Mauricio Gonzalez]

Well for me I always try to work out some of the rootball whenever I do a large top reduction. This way I can get a look at the root system to for problems. What I would check first are the roots. Pull the thing out of the pot and see what's up. If it smells like rotting vegetation you may have some rotting roots. Get the roots handled if needed. Also you look like you have a pretty tree laden yard so is it getting enough sun? Also they need fertilizing especially if you are running a ton of water through it daily. I use cakes so the liquids don't just wash out. They can also get bugs so when I notice a lush tree getting a little wan I also hit it with the Ortho. It should be growing stronger than that for sure.

Thanks! I just send a private message. Just forget it. This sounds helpful. Will check the roots and go with the cakes. The tree gets at least 7h of sun daily.

 

[choppychoppy]

I'm not really a fan of the large pine bark on top. That stuff grows fungus like wild in a wet climate. I just mix some potting soil in my reg soil mix for these always. You can also see a lot of my trees on my instagram page - @pottedtreegarden

 

[Mauricio Gonzalez]

This is the root ball. It looks pretty fine i think

 

[Cadillactaste]

I think it is a water issue possibly. Mine sits in water. Especially during the hot seasons.

Sorry for a bad background...I've not set them back on their benches from when i came back from Honduras yet. The hubs treated with fungicide last night so I left them together on back patio so easier to treat.

 

[Cadillactaste]

These things grow in swamps...I can't feel it's a soil issue. I don't know if it might not be something else...but...I surely feel lack of water contributed to a degree.

 

[choppychoppy]

This is the root ball. It looks pretty fine i thinkView attachment 153512

Yeah NO. While these do grow in swamps remember a swamp is a living organism with thousands of tons of decaying organic material all around and circulating moving water to move oxygen, nitrogen and other things the plant needs. I don't like that rootball at all. That soil is too dense and is preventing any circulation or air and water inside. If it were my tree I would hose out every scrap of the old soil and replace it. And yes even tho it is summer I would still do this - there are a lot of growing months left in fl. That rootball is also way too large for what the upper section needs. BC need balance for the top and the bottom. Look at the pic below. That tree went from a 30 gallon pot into this 16" in one shot and is growing like a weed a year later. Any roots that are heavy and have no feeders cut off. Get it in a good soil and keep it watered well.

 

[choppychoppy]

So here are some shots of a big one that had some bugs this year. It ain't no thing just gotta do what's needed. First off its a big tree and you can see the big lush crown. Sorry about the tough photos but this one isnt against the fence so it's hard to see. It's about 4ft tall and if you look at the closeups you can see the brown growth that was bugged and the new growth all green and fresh again. Lots of water and the bug treatment and all good again. If you catch it almost anything can be fixed especially on these. Also sometimes a branch can look dead and still come back. The other shots are of a tree tree that had a branch 'die' because of a branch break during heavy work but it didn't really. You can see the new buds popping even tho the old leaves dried up and died off.