Is anyone growing a tsuga sieboldii(southern Japanese hemlock)

6 years ago

I've tried growing tsuga diversifolia(northern Japanese hemlock) but so far I am not very impressed with this tree. I went away to vacation for 6 days and I come back to see them severely burnt and looking almost dead(Pic below). Now I know that it is my fault for keeping them out in full sun in the 90 degree weather we got this week while I was away but I would rather have something that can take more sun and less moisture. (The 5-1-1 mix dries out way too fast) So I'm looking at tsuga sieboldii now, which apparently is better at taking sun and hot temperatures. However my main question for this post is how hardy it is. Some sites say zone 6 and some say zone 5. Which one is it? Can I successfully grow this tree long term in my zone 6b location? (Snowy winters)

Also can someone tell whether this tree is worth saving or should I just throw it away

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Comments (5)

Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
Original Author
6 years ago
Oh also, does anyone know if they are resistant to wooly adelgids?
bengz6westmd
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I see enough green that it's still worth caring for (tho the browned stems are dead). And yes, certainly keep it in shade for now.

From what I've read, tsuga sieboldii has good to excellent resistance to the HWA.
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Thanks for advice tj. I suspect my biggest difference will be the hot humid days of July and August versus the normally cool dry days it would get in its native environment. I've attached the URL of a pic of what it currently looks like in case anyone's interested. Anyone else out there growing this plant that has any advice? I suspect this normally grows in full sun; hence, I'm a bit concerned about putting it in too much shade. I'd also like to keep it compact in growth and not let it get too leggy. I guess if nothing else, I just make a leap of faith and try it where I want to grow it and see how it does. By the way, I tried to include a picture inline here, but it seems the limit is 61K for a picture size, which is really low resolution. How do you all get such good looking pictures included inline and still meet the 61K size? I looked for advice, but the best I came up with was to use something like photobucket (which is what I did here). Thanks! Here is a link that might be useful:
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How much hours of sun does it get during the hottest time of the year(July/August)? ==>>> you learn that zone is low winter temp tolerance.. then go right back to sun having some impact ... vigor is sun dependent ... the more sun .. the more vigorous ... as tom notes ... there arent many shade 'dependent' plants.. its all about 'tolerance' ... sun in the heat of the day.. is more.. to me.. a water issue ... how much water does the plant need.. and can it pump it in the heat of the day .. my best example is hosta ... grow like freakin weeds in sun .. but start getting real ugly in july/august.. because they .. you.. cant provide enough water to offset the onslaught ... they actually sweat ..... transpire .... lose water .... in sun .... the clump will often be bigger the following year ... take that plant.. and put it in shade.. during the heat of the day ... and it wont get as ugly. as early .... and the deeper the shade.. the longer it takes.. to grow real big ... vigor goes down somewhat ... put one in a dark grotto and good luck with that ... so with trees.. conifers ... they are all full sun plants ... some can tolerate less than direct ... except for the yellow ones. which tend to green up in too deep of a shade ... which is when you learn.. what is not enough sun.. lol ... defining shade in words.. across the WWW is near impossible ... so all you are left with.. is planting the darn things ... and finding out.. in your sun micro climate ... i defer to anyone with more direct experience in z7 ... i am speaking in generalities .... regarding the variables .... ken
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
the pot itself.. should NEVER be in sun, especially during the heat of the day ...... period ...let alone a newly planted one ... i would have put it on the north side of my house.. in bright shade.. forever ....

to repeat.. no pots in sun .. [unless the pot gets so big.. that it doesnt heat up]...... but if you can shade the pot.. then the plant in sun is fine ... say behind a rock ... anything ...

whats to lose.. see what happens ...

but if it will bug you to look at it all the time.. get rid of it ... lifes to short ...

ken
Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
Original Author
6 years ago
So then if its a full sun loving conifer, I should probably cover up only the pot itself and expose the conifer to full sun? Or are you saying to keep the whole thing(pot+plant) in shade regardless of whether they like sun or not?

I don't want to get rid of it so easily since tsuga diversifolia is so rare and hard to obtain and the nursery that I bought it from doesn't have them anymore in stock! But they do have tsuga sieboldii so thats why I'm wondering if I should switch to that instead. So does anyone know about tsuga sieboldii? Can I successfully grow this in zone 6b?
sc77 (6b MA)
6 years ago
Starting your collection in pots is a steep learning curve. You would have such a higher success rate by putting them in the ground. Sieboldii is inferior to diversifolia and chinensis in terms of HWA immunity. Your failure wasn't the result of diversifolia's intolerance to sun/heat, but rather the fact that you had a recently transplanted tree in the fast draining 5-1-1 mix in full sun. Sieboldii would have failed here too. 5-1-1 needs to be watered every 2-3 days when in full sun. New transplants should be giving filtered sun/shade for a year.

I'd recommend a drip line on timer for the 5-1-1, too easy to underwater this mix, and almost impossible to over water.

Is anyone growing a tsuga sieboldii(southern Japanese hemlock)

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Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
Original Author

bengz6westmd

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Is anyone growing a tsuga sieboldii(southern Japanese hemlock)

Comments (5)

Heruga (7a Northern NJ)Original Author

bengz6westmd

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Heruga (7a Northern NJ)Original Author

sc77 (6b MA)

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Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
Original Author

Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
Original Author