Blue cedar help

[Frogman777]

Hi All

Not sure if this is the appropriate method of posting, but wondering if anyone can assist with what’s wrong with my blue cedar?

It looks a bit sad and has browning and withering on the top few bunches of new growth. One of the lower branches, receiving definitely the least amount of sun, has dried up a bit recently.

I am thinking it might be too little sun, but not sure.

I’m in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Thanks

 

[Applicative]

water and roots. too little sun makes.leggy new growth,.the needles are not turgid.

did you mess with roots?.these love water.

 

[Frogman777]

hi mate, thanks so much for your response. No, I haven’t done anything with the roots. I did recently wire (4/5 weeks ago) and gave a trim of approximately 30% of the new growth 3 weeks ago.

I’ve since moved it into a spot with much more sun so hopefully this will help.

Do you think she’ll be ok with time and watering?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

With too little sun I wouldn't expect cedars to go floppy and wilty.
They tend to do that when the roots have been messed with, which is a possibility; you wired it, did it shift in the pot perhaps? A little too much strain on the root system can snap roots, and since the wire is not really tight, I suspect you had some trouble handling it. That's perfectly normal for the first fourty or so wirings, we all did this (or still do sometimes!) but it can cause the wire that you jammed in the pot to shear off a bundle of roots.
If you grab onto the wind and hold it, before you do the next wind, it should turn out better. You're perfectly allowed to use pliers for this.

If it's not mechanical damage, I'd check the pot holes and see if there's any white roots growing out. Or if they maybe went black, which means the root system is probably suffocating. If you want to control your watering and see if you're not over- or under watering, use a wooden probe like a chopstick or a meat skewer and jam that in the soil; if it's damp or wet, don't water yet.

Will it be OK with time and watering? I really can't say. I've had cedars bounce back from being bare rooted in summer, and I've seen them die from repotting in spring.

 

[Frogman777]

Hi mate, thanks so much for your reply.

I’m sure I struggled a lot more with the wiring on this one as it was one of my first major wirings than the more recent ones - definitely will take the winding advice on board, thank you. I don’t believe it shifted in its pot, however I could be wrong.

I can’t see any white roots coming out of the pot holes - all look to be black. Are their roots meant to be white? If so, looks like I’m definitely overwatering… I normally check by sticking my finger into the soil until the first band and if the dirt clings to the tip of my finger, then no watering required. Chopstick method will probably be better by the sounds of it?

Thank you so much for all your help. I’m hoping that since I’ve moved it into more direct sun, and am a bit more conscious that she is a bit fragile, she’ll recover.