I live in USA, Georgia. Over 6 years ago I made several mistakes. To form a screen, I planted 3 6' cryptomeria about 12' -15' apart. Second mistake, I covered the landscape around them with plant matting - that junky stuff that's supposed to keep down weeds but let water thru. (well, it sorta works) But I also didn't realize at the time that it would encourage root growth near the surface, which I have been told recently. The trees have done well, having grown to somewhere between 28' and 35' high and in girth, enough to more than meet. I love these trees. But ... Last year I noticed that some of the limbs seem to be covered in oil. I thought the neighbors were throwing motor oil on my trees since, although it was oily, it didn't seem to have much of a scent or color. The limbs didn't look too bad, maybe slightly yellowing. Third mistake, I ignored the situation. This Spring I noticed limbs dropping, needles yellowing and browning and then dropping. I spoke with the County Extension Agent and took in a sample. The best they could guess was a fungus or stress due to drought since they didn't see any pests under the microscope. Over the summer I applied a fungicide (active ingredient thiopharate methyl) several times and once, just to be on the safe side, malathion. Recently I applied Lesco (active ingredient unknown). I also drip watered at least once a week for several hours per tree, cut away as much plant matting as I could, and cleaned out all the mulch and dead stuff from under them. It is now the beginning of Fall and the problem seems to have escallated. I am going to try to attach a picture. All the research I've done on the web has made me confused. The affected areas started near the bottom of the tree and the problem is slowly climbing upward. Over the summer I think its gone up 4-8' to maybe 16' up. The outer portions of the trees are beautiful. You would never know they have a problem - unless you work your way to the trunks. The problem does not seem to be confined to new or old growth. And it seems to be random. AND there is still the problem with 'oil'. As far as I can tell, the needles go sickly yellow green, then brown. Then they turn almost black and sometimes, but not always, get oily. Sometimes the limbs drop with green and yellow needles, seemingly before death. I am not one to use many chemicals. I know I have mites, some white flies (or similar), snails. I have a crepe myrtle that is holding its own (sprayed it, seems to be ok) and a witch hazel that is snail and caterpillar damaged (but is ok). Can anyone help me? I would really appreciate it. I love these trees, they are just beautiful. I'm sorry this is so long, but I wanted to give as much up front info as possible. Thanks! for your help!
Hi, why did you throw all those chemicals at it - when no pest was visible? Those are strong, and an already stressed tree will have trouble dealing with all that on top of anything else (though I understand your frustration). The oiliness could be a result of whatever is/was in the soil there before you ever planted (was there a service stn. on the site at one time that might have permanently saturated the soil with leaking oil, etc.? Or have you researched the species enough to be sure it isn't a natural thing for that variety to be like that (though the dying part wouldn't be!). You need to get a certified arborist to come out and look at the whole scene in person (not just a sprig that you took in), to see roots, surrounding area, etc. If you get an answer, write back - I'm curious!
I had a similar situation with some white pines at a commercial property our company use to maintain. From afar, it looked like this section of pines were dripping, literally, with oil. There was even "oil" on the turf beneath and around the pines. They are planted close to the building, shopping mall, so I thought they had some roof work done and dumped this oil stuff onto the pines. Upon further and closer inspection, I noticed that they were covered, I mean covered in the larger black aphids. I didn't see them at first since they were not on the needles, but just on the bark so they really blended in well. We did to decide and go ahead and spray for the aphids. After they were under control, the "oil" or now I know is honeydew secretion subsided. Maybe there is a pest there and it hasn't been identified yet?
Dear Rima and Dixie, Thank you both for replying. I am very concerned about these trees! First, I threw the original fungicide at them Spring - most of Summer on the advice of the County Extension Service agent (a volunteer, granted). They didn't get any better, yet no worse (I think). I ran out of that fungicide, therefore, the other one last month. The malathion was a one-shot deal since the agent had said that pests couldn't be ruled out. Although he did scrape the bark. When <<I>> looked under the microscope, I saw teeny bugs, but I assumed he did too and that in his opinion they were not a problem. I examine them at least once a week but I have seen no (unusual) pests. They gather birds, spiders, and frogs. I know that I ought to spring to have an analysis done by Auburn U. Or a costly expert. The problem is, I don't have an income presently and I was hoping not to have to spend money. It never occurred to me that the oiliness on the needles could be coming from the soil. Is that possible? They've been growing for over six years and until last year, had no problems. I was told the area around my house used to be a shoe factory (and baseball field). :-) If it is coming from the soil, then I don't think anything I can do will save these trees. I have seen no pests on them, though, if they're microscopic, I wouldn't. :-) I did try scraping onto a white piece of paper. A few black tiny things dropped but didn't move so I assumed it was part of the bark. I have done alot of research on the web and some books and never seen a reference to oiliness. So maybe it is just specific to these trees. The agent had tentatively diagnosed photo-something with a secondary diag of cercospora. So, I don't know if I did something right during the summer or if it really is a disease that manifests itself as the temperature cools down. So I guess, if no one else has heard of this oiliness problem, I'll have to spring for the analysis. I certainly will let you all know if/when I find the diagnosis and treatment. If you all have any other ideas, I sure would appreciate it. Thanks very much for your support!
Have you researched insect scale? Those little balck things that fell off but didn't move sound like scale. And heavy scale infestation could give all the symptoms you mention if one thought of the honeydew as oily. To identify scale you may have to find an uninfected area or speciman to compare the appearance of spots on the branches because scale look like natural tiny bumps. Ironically, the best treatment for scale is spraying with oil...horticultural oil, of course.
Dear everyone, I've been busy in the past week and don't have much to report. Thank you, GreenGoose for your idea. After having read Rima and Dixie's posts, I got to thinking. I took a dark piece of felt to the trees and shook a branch. I saw small (but they weren't microscopic!) white bits floating in the air. I did some more research and found an Adobe document from an .edu (Illinois?) that talked about the difference between phomopsis and cercospora. It mentioned oily bit to phomopsis. So I rushed right out and bought chlorothalonil and treated. Another article comparing the efficacity of different fungicides said this one was effective at 100 ppm. Now how one converts that to gallons/pints/cups I don't know! But I called Ortho and got their (not so very good) advice. I believe I used 1.5 cups of product for 20 gallons of water on the surrounding area and all 3 trees. So far I have seen no change - for better or worse. I don't know what scale is, but I do have horticultural oil. Would it do any good to treat one or more 'test' branches? And I will research this. I am still too cheap to send a branch in for testing, although that seems like it would be the best solution. I will keep you all apprised. Thank you for your help.
