Is my tree dying?

8 years ago

We have a newly (this January) planted tree. In spring we saw lots
green leaves on the tree. We had lots of rain in north Texas this April
& May. Since than no rain at all. In may be June-July all green
leaves turned yellow and dried out.

I may have missed
watering this tree for few weeks after May as I thought ground is still
very much moist. Anyways, once I saw yellow leaves I started watering
again regularly. I saw some green leaves grew back but majority of
branches still has dried out leaves. I am worried that this tree may not
survive this coming winter. Any suggestion to help this tree?

We have been told to use 'SuperThrive' liquid fertilizer. I am using it for past two months but not much improvement.

I would appreciate you advice.

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

8 years ago

First, 'Super Thrive' is NOT a liquid fertilizer. It has none of the typical ingredients (NPK) one would find in a real fertilizer and is at best a liquid supplement but of very dubious need and value. Most professional horticulturists consider it nothing more than snake oil :-) Read THIS to gain some understanding of what this product is and how it works, if at all. Any application of this stuff is in my opinion a waste of money and effort.

Other than watering as may be necessary, there is nothing you can or should do for this tree right now. It will either make it or not. Missing the watering necessary to help establish a newly planted tree (and January certainly qualifies - even last January!) can have long term repercussions, which you may be seeing here. It's always a risk to think that natural rainfall will suffice when often it does not. OTOH, plants are a lot more adaptable to stressed conditions than we expect, so it could be just fine. Regardless, you will not know for sure until it comes time for the tree to leaf out next spring.

Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
is it warrantied??? .. if so.. talk with your seller immediately ...

if they told you to use the superthrive ... why not .. but i have no faith in that hocus pocus ...

what is your native soil ...

and i doubt missing a watering or two.. during or just after torrential rains.. is an issue here ... just cant see.. how a root mass.. as big as this one could have been.... moist to depth.. and could somehow dry out very fast at all ...

i would be more worried about digging a clay bowl.. and too much rain.. having no where to go.. aka.. too much water ....

ken
leooel14 thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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To all tree peeps-- I'm about to not just speak for myself, but for others with the same predicament: Sometimes, anxiety/frustration/always being in a hurry easily comes accross as rudeness. I'm guilty of this, it's a shortcoming, I suppose. I try to stand up always for the little man. I'm not into bullies/false prophets/people who use their position to get others to "obey". People that know me and who I speak with in person regularly, know that I have a very good heart; they know I have integrity, and can be trusted with their life. I have a very dry sense of humor, also, that works very well in person. People that don't know me, for example friends of friends on facebook, are sometimes, initially, taken aback, by a "just the facts, ma'am" attitude, combined with an ironic/sardonic/devil-may-care humor. (This might be due to being a scientist/geek, or I got it from my beloved German mother, for whom I admire a great deal. She escaped East Germany in the early sixties, with my brother, and had to stand up to the Stazi when caught on the way out-- I love you, Mom). I try to be humorous to allay a tendency in the written form to be too blunt. Forgiveness is divine, and I am much less sensitive to people being blunt with me, in person or in writing, because I simply am not into "hypocrisy". So, sometimes you got to give people a break, particularly when they're not full of it/sloppy with the facts or passionate/simply upset and in need of help. To the OP- Yes, the tree has disease/pest problems. The challenging part is to find out the cause. Disease is almost always caused by some environmental factor, so call an ISA-certified arborist and be done with it. M P.S.- Thankyou all for letting me state my "strong opinion". You gotta know that us full-blooded Krauts simply can't help ourselves, sometimes. Understanding and keeping a loving attitude even with those who we may perceive as our "enemies", goes a long way towards serenity in life. That's what I believe, anyways.
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To answer a few comments and add specifics: I am not sure if it is too deep. I know the root ball was left exposed at the top with a shallow trench dug around it when planted. We added the mulch later. The tree was only $100 or so. Not a big deal and wasn't worth the huge water use fine that would cost way more than that to replace it. We are financially able to replace the tree without it being a burden. I was just curious if I can do anything to help the tree at this point. I would prefer no tree in my yard but it is required by our HOA. The bark is not peeling on the other side of the trunk. I have not considered seeking a replacement bc I was given specific instructions on how to care for the tree and did not follow those directions due to the drought. This is not the sellers fault. I take full responsibility and am not interested in pursuing that option. Like I said, the cost of the tree is not a big deal to us. Just looking for advice on what I could be doing to help care for the tree at this point. I live in Alabama. The drought lasted 61 days and occurred last fall from Sept to Nov (longest on record). We usually get plenty of rain here and the summers get very hot. Cool weather doesn't begin until late November (which in this case is around the time the drought ended) Thank you for all the comments so far!
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gyr_falcon
8 years ago
I still remember, many decades later, our horticulture department instructor saying the reason Super Thrive "worked" was only because applying it cause you to water the plant more often, helping it to become established.
wisconsitom
8 years ago
Haha....the tales of Superthrive are legendary. I keep mine right next to the fertilizer spikes.

+oM
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
8 years ago
Nurseries selling snake oil aside, if small branches are bendy you have a chance, if they are dry and break all you can do is hope there are enough green branches for next year.
gyr_falcon
8 years ago
:-) Since I haven't even thought about SuperThrive in many years, I decided to do a search on the product plus the word research. The first click was to a YouTube Video, that provided an unexpected chuckle for the day. Throughout viewing it, my mind kept wandering to thoughts of "...when these triple digit temperatures go away, I really need to feed my "children"! The plants on the right look so malnourished, they were tugging at my heart.
wisconsitom
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
The strange thing about that stuff is that some otherwise-seemingly intelligent people really swear by it. There was a guy who started what became a major landscape/garden center/nursery up here some decades back who-I'm giving the severely truncated version of this story here-totally believed in Superthrive. So some enormous commercial planting of shrubs or trees-I forget what they were- were doing very poorly. Once the Superthrive came out, these plants flourished. As I was not party to this affair, i don't really have many details but the third-party person who told me about this was an employee of that company at that time, and with only the faintest hint of skepticism, recounted this as if it was an endorsement. My favorite aspect of this product is the exuberance of print advertising on the bottle. even the little plastic strip that seals the cap is completely covered in tiny print, full of glowing testimonials. Guy must have a side business in the ink industry too!

+oM

Is my tree dying?

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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