dwarf hinoki cypress turning brown

Heidi Stump

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Jul 6, 2003, 12:49:37 PM7/6/03

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ACK!!! My two dwarf hinoki (sp?) cypress which I paid a lot of money
for, are turning brown. I have been spraying them w/ some All Seasons
Oil and water over the past 2 weeks, however more and more of the plant
seems to be turing from green to brown. Can anyone tell me what might
be causing this and what I should do to save my poor plants?

Thanks!
Heidi

Travis

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Jul 6, 2003, 2:07:11 PM7/6/03

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Where are you?

Have you been watering them too little or too much.

The oil (what kind and what for?) maybe the killer.

--
Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5

Heidi Stump

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Jul 6, 2003, 4:18:45 PM7/6/03

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All-Season Oil is a "refined horticultural oil effective for most soft-bodied insects and their eggs such as aphids, whitefly, lacebug, and spider mites. It works by smothering them so you must get the spray on the bugs." I thought I might have spider mites on my cypress and on the advice of a friend, treated it w/ the oil. Do spider mites leave webs? I saw webs on the cypress, but no actual spiders. We have had a good deal of rain and I have not seen the need to water in addition. The areas around the dwarf hinoki cypress are heavily mulched, the mulch touches the bottom of the cypress, and I wonder if this could be a problem? I planted both last year, but maybe I planted them too deep and am just now seeing the effects? Or added too much mulch this spring?

Should I cut the browned areas off?

Thanks!
Heidi
Raleigh, NC
Zone 7a

Travis

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Jul 7, 2003, 12:45:11 AM7/7/03

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Heidi Stump wrote:
> All-Season Oil is a "refined horticultural oil effective for
> most soft-bodied insects and their eggs such as aphids,
> whitefly, lacebug,
> and spider mites. It works by smothering them so you must get
> the spray on the bugs." I thought I might have spider mites on
> my cypress and on the advice of a friend, treated it w/ the
> oil. Do spider mites leave webs? I saw webs on the cypress,
> but no actual spiders. We have had a good deal of rain and I
> have not seen the need to water in addition. The areas around
> the dwarf hinoki cypress are heavily mulched, the
> mulch touches the bottom of the cypress, and I wonder if this
> could be a problem? I planted both last year, but maybe I
> planted them too deep
> and am just now seeing the effects? Or added too much mulch
> this spring?
>
> Should I cut the browned areas off?

I would contact the extension office for your county. Click the
link.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/

--
Travis in Shoreline Washington

Pam

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Jul 7, 2003, 9:48:30 AM7/7/03

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If you have had a pretty wet spring and summer so far, I doubt it is spider mites, which tend to flourish in very dry, low humidity conditions. Hinokis do experience considerable browning of interior foliage because of their tight growth habit and density of foliage. This is pretty normal and can be disposed of simply by knocking off the browned foliage. If the browning is more pervasive and is appearing on the tips as well as the interior, then you most likely have a water problem. Hinokis can tolerate a lot of moisture, but they must have good drainage. And remove some of the mulch, specially if it touches the foliage and is up around the base. If the roots have not been affected, then your chances are good they will recover, but if the roots have started to rot, kiss 'em goodbye.

pam - gardengal