Tree Planting and Urban Forestry Videos, Subscribe to our Purdue Extension-FNR YouTube Channel, Lindsey Purcell, Urban Forestry Specialist Rhizosphaera needle cast (Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii) is a foliar disease of spruce trees. Extension – Porter County, people are calling to ask why their trees are losing needles or branches are turning brown. It is most common in trees growing outside of their native range. Question: I have a blue spruce that is 40-years old and very tall. Needlecasts. It starts on the inner and lower growth and progresses upward through the tree. Needle cast in Colorado Blue Spruce, Purdue Landscape Report FNR Ask The Expert: Planning and Resources for Conservation Tree Planting, Ask an Expert: Handling Harvested Deer, Processing and Cooking Deer After Harvest, Wildlife Food Plot Establishment and Management Webinar, Wildlife Habitat Hints: Prescribed Fire Techniques – Backing Fire, ID That Tree: Winged Sumac (Fall Color Edition), Video, ID That Tree Fall Color: Sugar Maple, Video, Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment Treatment: Uneven-aged Management, Introduction to Nature of Teaching Sneak Peek Videos, An equal access, equal opportunity university. Ask an Expert Question: Blue Spruce dying, what can I do? The damage I see is, needles turn brown and fall off. Evergreens like spruce lose precious moisture through their needles. Tree Installation: Process and Practices, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center I have read about the Needle Cast problem. These black dots are fungal spores and can easily be seen with a magnifying glass. The cankers are often hard to see however they will produce a white resin that runs down the tree. Some browning and shedding of inner needles is normal in the fall. Close inspection with a hand lens reveals rows of distinct black specks on affected needles. • Top-kill or death of small trees possible. Early identification of Rhizosphaera can prevent major damage to individual trees and prevent the spread to nearby trees. Damaged needles turn brown and the tree starts to die at the top. The tops of tall pine and spruce trees are especially vulnerable, way up high where the wind is even stronger and colder. 1. Cytospora canker and Rhizosphaera needle cast are common causes of inner needle browning in blue spruce. Why Spruce Trees Lose Their Needles, Purdue Extension Rhizosphaera needle cast (Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii) is a foliar disease of spruce trees. Recently, he told WKBN news that his “trees weren’t looking very good. “There are a number of things that can make life hard for blue spruce,” Ploehn said. Rhizosphaera needle cast (Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii) is a foliar disease of spruce trees. During most years, the browning and needle drop is hardly noticeable. • Feeds on branch tips of white, black, and blue spruce shorter than 15 feet tall. I can only spray so high. The key is whether the tree is replacing those lost needles with new healthy growth. “The drought of 2012 was hard on most evergreens, but the damage didn’t show up right away as it did for perennial or annual plants.” Trees planted close together in groups or close together in a tree line tend to especially be affected by this disease. Winter can be hard on all of us — including trees. It starts on the inner and lower growth and progresses upward through the tree. Needles will stay on a spruce tree for 2-3 years before dropping, typically from the inside of the tree and on older branches. If spruce needles are turning yellow and dropping it should also be inspected for spider mites. Trees that were under water during last year’s wet spring/early summer may be exhibiting stress in the form of browning/needle drop for the first time this spring. Answer: Thank you for contacting us regarding your tree issues. Cytospora canker is expressed through dead areas, known as cankers, which form at the base of the branches. Is there a chemical that can be placed on the ground to be absorbed by the tree? For small spider mite infestations, simply spraying the tree with a garden hose may suffice. Read More ››. Resources They do best in soils that drain quickly. • Larvae present in late May through June. More probable would be a borer (break open the dead-looking end buds to see if they are hollow or contain a larvae) or possibly one of the two diseases that impact blue spruce in our county: Cytospora canker: Spruce Diseases; Rhizosphaera: Common Diseases of Blue Spruce; If this doesn't help, then bringing in a sample would be the next step. It is most common in trees growing outside of their native range. If mites are present you will see small black specks moving on the paper. It can take up to 15 months for the needles to show visible symptoms after the initial infection. With needle cast, needles may look yellow by mid to late summer and turn brown or purplish brown by late winter or early spring. Protecting new growth as it emerges is very important. A lot of the needles had dropped off the trees. If needles are browning at the tips of the branches followed by lower branches dying, you may be dealing with a fungal disease known as cytospora canker, which is the most common unnatural cause for needle drop on Colorado blue spruce. I have a blue spruce that is about 40 years old and maybe 30 feet tall. The first symptom appears in late summer when needles are speckled with yellow blotches. Four years ago, Ron Linger of Ohio planted 100 blue spruce trees. Last year it started to die from the top down and now is maybe 1/3 to 1/2 dead looking.I cannot easily get to the effected area. Rhizosphaera needle cast disease can be diagnosed by looking at the discolored needles with a magnifying glass; the fungus pushes through the … Needlecast fungi … Before action is taken on saving the tree, it is important to find out why the needles are dropping as this will determine the necessary course of action, if any. If you have trouble accessing this page because of a disability, please email us at extension@purdue.edu. For best effectiveness, fungicides should be applied when the emerging needles are half elongated (1/2 to 2 inches in length). Also read about Spectro 90 copper based fungus control. The blue spruce tree (Picea pungens), named for its sharp-ended needles, is a coniferous evergreen member of …

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