@Acerholic hey thought I’d find you here. I have concerns about my weeping blue atlas cedar. It’s needles are starting to yellow. I fear it had a rot of some sort or didn’t tolerate the cold weather well this season. It’s in a large pot I’ve added a picture here but I’ll have to get a better one.
Hi Lisa, they will shed some needles naturally every year. But when under stress they shed more. Being in a pot the soil may be dead. A refreshing of the soil may well give it the boost ot needs.
Thanks @Acerholic i Did add some fertilizer today because I thought it might need it. I didn’t plan on reporting it until next year. I believe it’s been with me for almost 3 years. Got it around the same time as my Rescue Tree. This season I wasn’t able to insulate the pots during winter and our winter this year was unseasonably colder than usual.
Hi Lisa, 3 years is the limit for compost IMHO. A liquid feed might help, but those roots do need some fresh soil.
The other week I repotted this tree. Minor trimming of roots and shaking out some soil, saturated it with transplant liquid and kept it protected for a week. I did have mulch on it previously, I believe probably too much. There does appear to be a lot of new growth but there is also many yellow needles that fall off. Not too sure what to think of this guy, blue atlas cedar that looks yellow. Maybe the winter freeze was a bit hard on it? I think I when I watered it I was too impatient and the pumice floated to the top. New growth clearly visible Can clearly see how far up the trunk the mulch went (cedar nuggets not a fine mulch)
Hi Lisa, it is natural for older needles on an Atlas cedar to turn yellow and drop during Winter. Now as you have repotted it and trimmed roots, it has gone into premature shock. Those yellow needles will drop, but IMO it will recover, but it will be next year that you will see some improvement. Do not over water, these trees prefer a bit on the dry side. So my advice is keep it in a shady area if possible and only water when the soil appears dry. Good luck
Thanks Derek, I think it was too moist. When I removed the mulch nuggets the soil was quite wet. The pot has lots of holes for drainage and Im getting another one of those stands to lift it off the pea gravel. When we get sun I can add a shade to it but for now its pretty much all rain. We have the odd moment of sun its actually quite bizarre the weather cannot stay the same for more than a couple hours, however it is consistent with lack of sun and warmth. I was sitting on my deck the sun was shining for like 5 minutes literally and it was warm then it was light the lights turned off, wind and rain came and I suddenly need a jacket. Then we cycle again about 20 minutes later..
Sounds very bizarre weather Lisa and yes if it's that wet it will react. So it's a watch and wait scenario, but I think it will be fine.
Does look as though it's improving Lisa. They really don't like being too wet, as you know this is difficult to control in a pot that you want to be heavy to keep it stable, so the Summer should see some more improvement.
