In the Christmas tree, despite the unpretentiousness of care, yellowing of needles may appear. Basically, this phenomenon is characteristic of young spruce. The evergreen beauty loses its decorative appearance and in some cases may die. The reasons for the yellowing of spruce needles can be different.
Causes of yellowing fir
- The most common reasons why needles on a Christmas tree may turn yellow are as follows:
- Cold. In winter, due to severe frosts, this phenomenon can be observed, but with the onset of warming, this problem disappears.
- Lack of moisture. Long dry weather and lack of moisture can also trigger this phenomenon.
- Nutrient deficiency. In this case, the necessary top dressing should be done.
- Pests and diseases. It is important to determine what kind of disease or which insects hit the tree, and take appropriate measures to combat them.
- Root neck deepening. Characteristic for recently planted specimens.
- Adaptation period after planting or transplanting.
- Late landing. If the seedling is planted in late autumn, then it will not have time to take root well, the needles will continue to evaporate moisture in the winter and may begin to dry out.
- Chemical elements. So, dog urine negatively affects the tree. If she fell on needles, then this section is better to trim, so it is important to wean pets from such a habit and protect the spruce from their intervention. Several buckets of soapy water poured under a young spruce can destroy the plant. An excess of fertilizers also negatively affects the appearance of conifers.
- Sharp spring warming after frost. The plant begins to vegetate under the influence of heat and the sun, and the root system has not yet woken up. In this case, it is recommended to remove snow from under the spruce paws, sprinkle ash on the soil and feed it. This will attract the sun's rays to the soil, they will heat it, and fertilizers will nourish the plant after hibernation.
- Sunburn. Due to the intense heat in the summer, the needles can dry out. In this case, they should be watered.
- Groundwater Level or stagnation of water at the landing site. Such a plant will need to be transplanted.
Needles can get sunburns in winter and early spring. This is due to the reflection of the sun's rays from the snow. You can protect the spruce from yellowing only by wrapping the branches with a piece of burlap or thick paper.
Yellowing Diseases and Pests
If there is plaque or spots on the needles, the cause is the disease. Most often ate sick shute and rust. Their pathogens are fungi.
Did you know? Spruce needles live 5-7 years. In the autumn period, the spruce drops about 1/7 of all needles from its paws.
Shute can be identified by the appearance of spots and drilling of needles. Usually the disease occurs in the spring. Small black dashes appear on the needles, which gradually grow by summer and turn into pads.
In winter, the shute is not visible under the snow layer, and the disease is detected only in the spring when the snow melts.
Yellow-brown strips on the needles, which will gradually grow, will tell about the appearance of rust. The fact that yellowing caused severe frosts, signals the redness of the needles that die off. In this case, cracks appear on the trunk.
Chlorotic color of needles, a slowdown in the growth and development of a tree will tell about a nitrogen deficiency. Yellow iron needles with a whitish hue speak about the lack of iron. When, during the hot season, the needles begin to turn yellow and fall off, this signals a lack of moisture.
The appearance of insects can be seen by the following signs:
- Aphids can be found by substituting a sheet of light paper and trotting a branch above it.
- Spider mite or leaflet detected by the appearance of a thin web. If these are leafworms, then its caterpillar larvae will be visible.
- Hermes causes deformation and yellowing of needles. In this case, sticky cotton formations of a whitish color are noticeable on it. At the tips of young shoots, galls are observed, which gradually grow and become crimson. Females of this pest can be seen near the kidneys, and brown-green larvae will be visible in the needles. Hermes weaken the tree, which increases the risk of attack by bark beetles and diseases.
- Typographers. These bark beetles in the form of small (4–5 mm) bugs of black-brown color often settle on fir trees. The insect reproduces very actively in warm, dry weather. When they populate a tree in the bark, holes or small flour of brown or light color may be visible. In calm weather, near the spruce, you will hear a quiet noise emitted when gnawing numerous moves. Woodpeckers frequent this place. The affected tree remains green for a long time. When the needles begin to turn pale and crumble, the spruce can no longer be saved.
Yellowing
If your spruce needles began to turn yellow, do not despair. There are methods to eliminate it, and after a while, the Christmas trees in the country will again please with their green needles.
Trimming old lifeless branches
Old spruce should be removed dead dead branches or branches that have already lost their decorative appearance. Such anti-aging pruning is usually done in the fall. With strong yellowing of needles, especially if it is caused by pests or diseases, it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning of branches. A well-sharpened tool should be used for this purpose. Cut branches must be disposed of - burn.
Did you know? The arid summer of 1999–2000 provoked a massive distribution of the printing house. Only in the leskhozes of the Moscow Forest Management the area of affected spruce trees at the beginning of 2001 reached 5134 ha.
Pest treatment
To combat insects, folk remedies are used - a solution of potassium soap, infusion of garlic, wormwood and other herbs. From the nun butterfly and its larvae, spraying with Decis and Karate preparations helps. When a leaf moth or spider mite appears, the affected areas are treated with a solution of liquid soap.
In case of severe damage, the spruce paws are carefully cut and insecticides are applied (“Karate”). To combat hermes, they clear all shoots of galls. In severe cases, spraying is done with systemic insecticides, such as Aktara and Komandor.
When a printer appears, the trunks of spruce trees are thoroughly treated with the Arrivo chemical product, and in April they carry out preventive spraying with the trunk circle. Instead, cypermethrin-based injections can be given.
Watering
Especially often young seedlings suffer from a lack of wateringtherefore, when planting them in open ground, they should be moistened regularly. In dry weather, spruce need not only to be watered, but also to loosen the soil around them to a depth of 6-8 cm.
Important! Watering below 12 ° C negatively affects the trees, as it inhibits the vital activity of beneficial microorganisms in the soil.
This contributes to a better flow of moisture and nutrients to the root system of trees, and also is the prevention of the appearance of a printing press. In the summer you can arrange sprinkling from the hose. But it is worth noting that watering should be carried out only with warm water.
The area around the crown for better moisture retention and from drying out the soil is better to mulch. As a mulch, compost, peat, humus, sawdust or crushed bark are well suited. It should be noted that excessive moisture is unacceptable.
Recovery treatment
When identifying fungal diseases (shute, rust), fungicidal preparations such as copper sulfate, Bordeaux mixture should be used. Also good in this case. "Carcocide", Fundazole, HOM, Oksikhom, The Ordan or "Commander".
Check out
To increase immunity ate for diseases or pest attacks, as well as for adverse factors such as sunburn, the plant should be sprayed Epinom Extra or Zircon.
These treatments are carried out at positive temperatures, when the soil has already warmed up to + 6 ° C.
First, “Epin-Extra” is sprayed (2 ml / 10 l), and after a decade, “Zircon” (1 ml / 10 l) is used. Then, 3-4 repeated treatments with Zircon should be carried out once a week.
Rooters will also be good during this period. "Kornevin" or Novofertand also feed fertilizers for conifers.
During repeated sprayings with Zircon, a photosynthesis stimulator can be added to it. Ferrovit and chelated microfertilizer Tsitovit or "Oracle"containing, in addition to the basic elements (nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus), a wide range of essential trace elements.
Zircon can be replaced with other stimulants with a more complex composition: "Domotvet", "Megafol", "El-1." If the seedling of the spruce did not take well after transplants, the rooting agents can help (“Heteroauxin”, "Kornevin" and others).
Video: conifer recovery after winter
Top dressing
To strengthen the tree and strengthen the immune system, it is advisable to fertilize with complex fertilizers in the spring at the end of May. Experts recommend not using organics for this. Top dressing should also be appropriate for the season. In spring and in the first half of summer, fertilizers are applied in the spring - summer direction, and in July - autumn, for example "Agrecol" for conifers.
Important! Do not neglect foliar top dressing. Needles assimilate them by 80%, and when fertilizing under the root - only by 20%.
During the warm period, it will not be amiss to add nitrogen fertilizers twice with an interval of 15–20 days. For this, granules are scattered around the trees and irrigated. Around the trunk, it is recommended to mulch the soil.
The most effective spraying with chelate fertilizers for conifers of the type "Aminomax-N", Tsitovit. Such top dressing can be carried out from May to August every 14 days. In this case, root dressing is done only once in spring and autumn.
Video: spring feeding of spruce
Disease prevention
To avoid yellowing needles in the tree, first of all, you need to follow the cultivation agricultural technique.
Did you know? Spruce live 200-300 years, but some individual specimens are about 600 years old. Old spruce tree can grow up to 100 m high.
- The main preventive measures are as follows:
- choose the right places and plant seedlings;
- organize proper care - watering, feeding;
- avoid excessive thickening and shading;
- in order to prevent winter shute, you can scatter peat crumb or ash around branches of fir and on top of snow;
- protect the crown from severe frosts;
- make regular inspections and carry out the necessary control measures at the first sign of the appearance of diseases or pests;
- carry out preventive treatments with folk remedies, fungicidal and insecticidal drugs.
Video: how to grow spruce at home
Yellowing needles in spruce usually indicates problems, so you should find the cause of this phenomenon and take measures to eliminate it. In adverse situations, this coniferous beauty needs stimulant support and careful care.