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dying norway spruce seedlings

12 years ago

i havew 25 norway spruce trees that i bought as 12" seedlings and i planted them roughly 3 weeeks ago and half of them are starting to die. All of the needles have started falling off of them and the bottom branches are curling. so want can i do to save the other trees?

thanks bill

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Comments (5)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
pictures??

how did you plant them

what is your soil type ...

did you fert?? did you amend????

what has been your watering protocol???

and what has been the weather since planting ...

and any other facts besides they are browning would help us.. help you ...

best question would be.. why didnt you plant them in early april .. when they should have been planted ... why didnt your seller suggest you were a bit late ????

at worst... you will be replanting at the next good planting time .. which would be late sept/early oct ... depending where you are in IL ....

ken
wisconsitom
12 years ago
Agree with Ken......more info is needed. I will say though that while an April planting would have been better for these seedlings, three weeks ago is still not too bad, and would not alone account for your difficulties.

So yeah, give us a broader picture of things.

+oM
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Joe1980
12 years ago
The biggest thing you must do with ANY new planting, trees, shrubs, perennials, whatever, is not allow them to dry up. Seedlings especially have small root systems, and MUST be watered at a minimum of an inch per week, more when it's hot. I hear the same complaints from my parents about how their tree seedling die every year, but yet they don't take my adice, and just plant them out, and walk away.

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weeper_11
12 years ago
I planted a bunch of colorado spruce shelterbelt seedlings(about 6 inch) about 3-4 weeks ago as well..they came bare root and had to be planted in the middle of a heat wave. My initial impression a week after planting was "3/4 of them are going to die!" because they turned whiteish-brown and the needles were falling off. But I continued watering them every week, and now all of them are budding out and look like they'll pull through. Is there any chance (if it is simply a transplant shock/too hot/not enough water situation) that the same situation will happen for you?

I would also say that my limited experience with planting little seedlings has taught me that for the first month or so twice weekly watering is better than once if it is warm. And obviously it isn't really important to water deeply when they are new in the ground because their roots won't be getting any of that extra water. When I keep the first 8 inch of soil moist but not wet, I've had good luck with them surviving. You can and should water deeply later.
willbe
Original Author
12 years ago
i dug a hole about 12 wide and about 6-8 deep with a shovel. no i did not fertilize them or amend. we have had rain about an inch a week since planting. i have regular black dirt. the weather has been in the mid 80s with a couple of days in the 90s. about half of the trees that are still looking good actually have new growth starting on them. they were all planted the exact same way. i wasnt able to plant them cause it took almost a month and a half to get them.

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