Golden Dawn Redwood Dying

6 years ago

Hi everyone,

I bought this Golden Dawn Redwood about 2 months ago and it hasn't been doing well.. this tree was bought as a symbolic gesture for my wedding and won't be being planted in the ground for another year or so. It currently has rocks in the bottom along with water holes drilled in the bottom.. I used miracle gro potting mix.

I'm afraid I may have burnt it when I put some miracle grow fertizlier on it I was using for my garden... however, even before that the tree hasn't been doing well.. it is in partial sunlight catching the morning sun up until about 1pm. I am watering it about every 3 days... should I increase how often I'm watering? I water until I see some water drain out of the bottom.

Any help is much appreciated as I really want to keep this tree alive

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Comments (12)

stuartlawrence (7b L.I. NY)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Where are you located? Do you water when the soil is dry or nearly dry? I have some conifers in Miracle potting mix and they may go a week before having to be watered (That's when it's 85 degrees every day and doesn't rain).
Jacob IL Zone 6a
Original Author
6 years ago
I live in Central Illinois.. Once the top feels dry to the touch I water. We have had a very hot and dry summer here which may have something to do with it
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Thanks for the suggestions, I did very little damage to the roots. Rinsed away all the potting soil, and gently untangled any roots I saw that needed straightening out. when I was finished, the majority of fine feeder roots were undamaged and still firmly attached to the thicker main roots which I had untangled. Even after cutting some of the thicker roots at the point of the 45 degree bend in them, there remained, still, plenty of fine feeder roots growing out of that thick root above the cut I made. No, the tree (when originally removed and repotted) was not rootbound. Just prior to this original post, I had at that time shaken off all the new potting soil, which many new roots had grown into, since I first repotted the 3 gallon potted tree into a larger 10 or 15 gallon decorator pot. Then after considering the early responses to this post, I dug the tree up again and rinsed the original 3 gallon amount of potting soil away, also. At that time as mentioned in my above response, some of those roots could be seen circling the trunk just below the first major sized roots growing out of the trunk, but I simply unwound most of them and broke only a few. So earlier, when I said that I bare rooted my tree, I did not mean that I had remove all the fine feeder roots like seen when suppliers ship bare root trees in the spring. True this activity did likely hit the tree and is going to set the tree back, But I could not do such root disturbance before the tree went dormant. As it is, the tree only dropped its leaves last week, due to our extended warmer than normal fall temps that lasted until the 8th of this month when cold rain began and temps flirted around the freezing mark just enough to create major ice damage on the area trees and powerlines. I am sure, now this tree is even more confused, since today our high temps rose to 61 degrees, and another cold front is not forecast to blow through and drop us back to winter temps, until this weekend. Today, no telling how the tree is responding to its roots, yesterday, being totally exposed, rinsed, untangled, spread out and recovered with dirt. Yesterday, I did position the root flare at soil level and filled around the roots with virgin soil. Then I mixed some soil with oak leaves and covered the planting area as a type of mulch. I still plan on covering the planting area even deeper with a shredded cedar mulch just prior to the next cold front; scheduled to arrive in a few days. I probably should install around the tree some "T" stakes and tie them, just loose enough so the tree can still move with the wind; just not enough for its roots to be pulled out of the ground so its fine feeder roots won't end up ripped away. Right now the tree is standing straight and tall, and I am tempted to think that since it has no leaves to catch the wind, it might not need to be staked, but in reality I do not want to be proven wrong once the windy cold front blows through and just in case it causes enough damage for me otherwise to have to be out in the cold, wet winds, staking the tree anyway. I had enough of such emergency staking to do, during last weeks cold weather event, for lots of my just about to become well established trees, which all summer and fall had seemed to not need staking.
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toronado_3800
6 years ago
Neat tree, one of my favorites.

Mine hate hot roots and compacted soil.

Move it into as much shade as you can find and put the pot on cool grass, not concrete.

Stop with the fertilizer. You don't want it out growing that pot any quicker than it will.

As far as watering don't turn your pot into a swampy mess but these are pretty difficult to over water.

BTW, I have seen these drop 90% of their foliage from drought and re-leaf. Yours does not look that bad.

It will be happier once its in the ground.
Jacob IL Zone 6a
Original Author
6 years ago
Awesome, thank you very much.. makes me feel much better, kinda an important tree!
Ali Mercer 6b W. Pennsylvania
6 years ago
I always, always let the tree do what it does best on it's own. Not a fan of pre-fertilized soil for trees. If it was me I'd repot in porous unfertilized mix. Only water once a week and watch. Lots of trees like a dry period, not bone dry, but dry in first 4 inches of soil. if it starts looking droopy, Then saturate it. -wait another week...see what you think.
User
6 years ago

You can grow these (at least temporarily) in containers but you need to correct the following.

1.) Move it out of any direct, mid day sun. Dark pots get really hot in the sun and roots get baked. (I forget this every year and in June my containerized ones were burning like yours. I have since moved it to the north side of a shed under and they have since recuperated.)

2.) "...dry as a bone." MG potting soil is mostly PEAT MOSS and in a container it bakes in the sun and can become extremely 'HYDROPHOBIC' (resistant to moistening once it gets dry). I noticed this several years ago when my containerized, outdoor plants seemed to be dying of dehydration despite a period of HEAVY RAIN on a daily basis! I have been correcting this error for a past several years by repotting, adding to the existing MG soil: humus, perlite, vermiculite, coarse sand..., (everything helped in eventually making the soil more H2O friendly). I still buy MG soil..., I just use it in place of peat moss in a my own mixes. Insert your finger into the container to see if the soil feels moist to a depth of two inches or so. If it feels moist, soil may not be the problem. One more thing regarding moisture, Metasequoia are water-loving so that it's difficult to overwater a healthy, growing one in the Summer. (Waiting for the top 4 inches of soil to dry out on a containerized specimen is too dry in my opinion.)

3.) Stop feeding it in mid Summer.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
transplant shock ..

improper media ... not many peeps in any forum like MG media .. and you should have mixed in some mini bark chunks to increase drainage ...

improper watering ...

i think the leaf loss is related to transplant shock .. and you are improperly watering it.. thinking its a water issue ...

rocks are not relevant ... skip that next time ...

why did you have to drill holes in the pot???

never fert it again ... its stressed.. not hungry ... was there fert in the mg media ..

whatever you try to do.. those leaves are not going to look good again this year ... then they will fall off ... and then releaf in spring .. accept that.. and learn to water it properly ... and ignore it until spring..

but in the mean time ... figure out how you are going to deal with it for winter

ken
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
oh.. btw .... per your title..

its not dying.. but you are trying to love it to death ... ken
User
6 years ago
The only thing I would add to Ken's, is that although those burned leaves won't come back, you will be surprised at the amount of new growth you will see in the current season from this tree.
Jacob IL Zone 6a
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you to everyone that has replied... I'm going to list what corrective measures I'm taking and feel free to add anything else you may have thought of!

1) Move to shade on cool grass

2) Don't fertilize again

3) Repot in porous unfertilized mix OR humus, perlite, vermiculite, coarse sand in addition to my MG( any opinions on which those two options is better suited)

4. Plug holes

5. Get rid of rocks when I change medium

6) Water once a week, if first two inches are dry water again...

7) Chill out and let it do the rest!

Thank you again for everyone's replies.. Sincerely appreciated. As I mentioned above, this tree is very important to me. If anyone else wants to give their thoughts on winter proofing this as well that would be awesome.. I live in Illinois zone 6a
Sara Malone (Zone 9b)
6 years ago
Sometimes when I water container plants that are improperly planted (usually have come from the retailer and I'm holding them for 'proper planting time' (fn: Ken), I just pick up the pot and stick it in a large tub of water so that it is completely or mostly submerged. Then I walk away and do something else for a while, come back when the soil is completely saturated and then pull it out and let it drain. Generally way easier and saves water. With a newly transplanted one, you have to make sure that the top of the pot isn't submerged or you'll lose all of that loose media.
plantkiller_il_5
6 years ago
and don't plug the holes

Golden Dawn Redwood Dying

Comments (12)

stuartlawrence (7b L.I. NY)

Jacob IL Zone 6a
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Golden Dawn Redwood Dying

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Jacob IL Zone 6aOriginal Author

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