I have had a cryptomeria in a container on my patio for almost 2 years. When I bought it there were a few brown branches present in the middle of the tree but these have increased substantially in the last year or so mostly on the back part of the tree that is closest to the window. The top part of the tree is healthy and growing but on the bottom back half most of the branches are brown and dried up and look dead. There doesn't seem to be any pest problem, I have it in a north facing sheltered area and it is watered regularly. It was transplanted into a large cedar container in April. Does anyone have any possible solutions to this problem? Should I prune that section back heavily in the fall? Should I turn the container around so the brown section is facing outward from the window?
Hi Jules: I would need to know what form of Cryptomeria you have such as 'Elegans', 'Elegans nana', 'Bandai-sugi', Sekkan-sugi' or Cryptomeria japonica. I would also want to know your growing location. If you can provide some pictures of your plant I can be of more help to you. From what you wrote it seems you might have a needle rust disease which is quite common on many forms of the Sugis. The rust is generally not fatal to the tree but it will weaken the tree which can provide an invading insect to come in and then possibly kill the tree. There are measures you can take to help but I need to know what form of Cryptomeria you have and see or better learn of some of the damage to better help you. Jim
More about the Cryptomeria Hi, Thanks for your post. The tree is a Cryptomeria japonica "Elegans Auera." We bought it in March 2003 and at that time it had a few yellow leaves on it but we were told that that is its normal winter conditon. We are in Vancouver BC and it has been dry and hot here for the last two summers so we have watered it approx every two days. It is on a north facing ground floor patio (no direct sun or wind) in a cedar container and gets lots of rain in the winter. We looked for root rot and for brown rings in the branches but neither is present. I'll try to post a picture altho I'm not sure how to do it. Jules
Picture of ailing cryptomerica japonica Here is the picture of the Cryptomeria japonica Elegans Aurea attached.
Hi Jules: What I am seeing is more of a leaf blight than Mite damage. If the plant were mine I would cut out as much of the brown colored areas as possible. I would cut the brown branches all the way back to the trunk. You can snip off the brown ends if most of the branch is green but you have to be careful with your cuts as you can infect other parts of the tree unless you use a disinfectant such as Clorox. After you have cleared out most of the dead or dying areas I would spray the tree with a fungicide of some sort such as a lime-sulfur spray or Copper sulfate and do it soon. You may want to contact an ISA arborist such as Paul and ask where you can purchase a fungicide if your nursery supplier does not carry any but you will want to use a fungicide to act as a preventative and a protectant. If you do nothing to treat your tree you will lose it in time. One thing to remember about growing Cryptomerias is that they do not like their needles and branches to become wet. Place the plant in a protected location away from moisture from fog, mist and rainfall if you can. Cryptomerias like being in a sunny, warm and dry location the best. Jim
Cryptomeria Hi Jim, Thanks for your advice. It's interesting that these trees need to be in the sun away from moisture - that is the opposite advice we received from the nursery we bought it from. They said that this was a tree that liked shade and would do well in a northern exposure and that is why we bought it! I'm not sure how any tree located outside in Vancouver can be protected from rain, fog or moisture. I can relocate it so it has an awning overtop of it but there is no sun on our patio. Maybe I should give it to a friend with a sunny backyard. In the meantime I will take your advice and do what i can to save it. One question, will the branches grow back if we are successful in rehabilitating the tree? Or will it be barren except for the uninfected growth? Thanks again, Jules
Hi Jules: Cryptomerias can handle moisture on the needles if they are planted or grown in a container with enough sun to dry the needles. As long as there isn't prolonged moisture on the needles and branches then you should be okay, especially true when you start using a fungicide regimen. The key for you is give this plant as much sun as you can. We watered our Cryptomerias with overhead sprinklers but with our heat there was no worry for us that the needles would dry out or not. For Elegans Aurea you want to have some cooling for you to see the color change to the golden appearance. You will see it color up better than we would here. Actually, you should be in an ideal spot for that Cryptomeria but what people do not tell others is that every form of Elegans that I know of either has leaf blight or mite problems depending on where they are. You get to have the leaf blight and we get to endure the mites. Yes, after cutting the branches back to the base of the trunk you can get new growth to come out again but it may take a long while for it to do so. I do know that on some forms of Cryptomeria we grew that came in to us from a few Pacific Northwest nurseries with the leaf blight, that we did get some new growth on the trees to grow back in after we pruned out the dead and brown growth but it took us a while to see the new growth. Jim
