Is This The End Of My Monkey Puzzle Tree?

Discussion in 'Araucariaceae' started by imarket247, Jul 13, 2005.

  1. imarket247

    imarket247 Member

    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    U.K.
    Hi,

    Damage started at lower level. All three or four dead branches were cut off by me. Brownness has now spread to next level. MP was planted last year in November 2004. Seemed to do alright until 4-6 weeks ago when lower branches went brown. Used to water quite a lot. Have stopped now. MP was planted by professionals in top soil/fertiliser. Main soil is clay. One other point.....in certain cases the smaller branches sprouting off the main branches went brown before the main branches.

    Please can anyone advise if there is a problem with my Monkey Puzzle - apart from the fact that the tree itself is so unusual, it was also very expensive, so I would very much like to see it recover.:-)

    Any advice/assistance would be much appreciated. By the way, I live in the UK and we have had one of the driest winters on record and there hasn't been much rain this year either, but I have regularly watered as the weather has got warmer.

    It seems to be incredibly difficult to find informed information on the MP. I have asked Arborists here.....some say I should water more, others say I should water less, one says it's dying and there's nothing I can do, another says spray it with fungicide....but the explanation I liked the most was: "that's the way they grow". :-)

    Pictures of the tree can be seen at:

    http://www.internetmarketing247.com/monkey_puzzle_problems.htm

    Best wishes

    Peter
     
  2. jimmyq

    jimmyq Well-Known Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    2,345
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Metro Vancouver, BC, Canada.
    Hi Peter, a couple things regarding the monkey puzzle (aka Chilean pine). They dont like wet feet (you mentioned clay on your photo site), get it up out of the clay in to a free draining soil. I would also suggest to consider getting rid of the rocks at the base, they can reflect and retain a lot of warmth which can raise the root zone temperature and may cause some burning of lower foliage.

    http://www.floridata.com/ref/a/arau_ara.cfm
     
  3. imarket247

    imarket247 Member

    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    U.K.
    Hi Paul,

    Thanks a lot for your rapid response.

    Out of interest, can you explain why/how it survived and grew all those months during winter/spring and suddenly when we get some sun, it goes brown at the lower level?

    Would it help if I put it in a large container and grew it there? All the soil in my garden is clay and I have several other shrubs/plants such as dicksonian, bamboo and palms happily growing in this clay soil environment. They were all planted in deep holes surounded with top soil and compost and everything has thrived apart from the Monkey Tree.

    I do take your point about the gravel.....but Paul this is England and sun is a rarity.:-)) Or is it a case of one day is enough to do the damage. One point I will make, though....the browning process has definitely slowed up since I stopped watering it so frequently. It could well be that I watered too much, given the overall clay soil conditions.

    Finally, I am led to believe that some types of MP's do grow in this way.....ie shedding lower branches.....and to be fair the top three levels of branches do look very healthy and appear to be growing.

    Any further comments would be very welcome.

    Thanks and best wishes

    Peter
     
  4. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

    Messages:
    11,417
    Likes Received:
    501
    Location:
    Britain zone 8/9
    It looks fine to me. It is normal for the bottom branches to die off. Time to get worried is if the top branches die.
     
  5. imarket247

    imarket247 Member

    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    U.K.
    Hi Michael,

    If that's the case, I am delighted!

    Thanks very much for your advice. The top branches do indeed look healthy.

    Best wishes

    Peter
     
  6. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

    Messages:
    21,251
    Likes Received:
    786
    Location:
    WA USA (Z8)
    Kinda small to be shedding lower branches much. But, maybe that is it. Time will tell.
     

Share This Page