Help with my new Montezuma Cypress tree

bpollard

Hello,
I am not much of a green thumb, butI decided to try and plant a couple of these trees.
I live in Austin, Texas (decent amount of limestone in the soil). at the end of May I planted two one gallon Montezuma Cypress trees (pretty far apart from each other). I dug a pretty large hold for them, put some soil in there that was meant for trees (so said the guy at Lowe's) and put mulch on top. I give it a good watering about 3 days a week, and that doesn't account for the sprinklers (twice a week). It has been very hot here this summer (100+ F). I only water after the sun has gone down.
One tree is diong really well. The other has leaves that are turning brown, and the leaves are turning a lime-green. The person at Lowe's suggested (seaweed? - something like that) to help with the "shock" of planting a new tree. perhaps I should have bought that? I hope to save this tree before it is too late!
Any ideas/help would be very much appreciated!!
PS - the tree (even with daily deep watering - for about 4 days now) has got every more brown! I'm worried...

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Eric Frei

Take an overall pic and post that.

Usually a pH issue with yellowing. That species likes slightly acidic soils.

Seaweed extract solutions do help. Do not fertilise though.

I'd like you to carefully dig a small hole and check soil moisture and composition. Do it within the root ball but far as you can away from the trunk. A small hole, like dig it with a hand trowel and eating fork etc.

Tell me sort of soil/potting mix you have, how damp it is and test the pH.

When the hole is dug and you have finished your other tasks then pour a little water down it until you get a pool (like fill it) and see how fast it drains, best to calibrate this test. Like pour down the hole (depending on size) x litres to fill it, and it took x minutes to drain away.

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Brent Ferris

I like Eric's advice. When you water, how much do you water, and for how long?
I wonder if spider mites could be a problem. Put a white sheet under the brown needle areas and tap the branch. If you see a lot of little read dots moving along the page, probably have spider mites.

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Eric Frei

I doubt spider mites give it that yellowy look though. That thing is sick.

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bpollard

Hello,
thank you so much for your help.
To answer some of your questions.
Here is the type of soil I used when planting the trees.
I went to the store today, and bought this seaweed mix. Before I open it, does this look like it might help?
I also bought this pH meter - it was $10 US Dollars - do you think it is worth it? do these type of pH meters work well?

I posted a short video on so you could see my tree situation better. Once you dig below the mulch, the soil seems to be pretty damp/wet.
I have not fertilised.
When I water - which used to be 2 or 3 times per week, but since this problem I have been water with a small sprinkler right over the plant for about 20 minutes per day. Again, it is very hot and dry right now in Texas, USA.

Let me know what you think. thanks!!
Brad

Eric Frei

The soil mix .... did you mix it 50/50 with native soil? Says so on label, mix with 1 part native soil.

But I know you did same for both trees.

The potting mix style stuff plants come in drains fast, it's a growing medium that allows root development quickly. Thing is it does get hydrophobic too, in fact some studies showed that even using wetting agents it only help for under 2 weeks.

I'd suggest you also incorporate a soil wetting agent.

Get us some pH readings too.

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bpollard

may I ask what a soil wetting agent is?
Also, when getting a pH reading, shall I do so from that soil where the tree is, or some other "natural" soil that does not have the Miracle gro in it?
I should have read the directions... I did not mix the soil in....

bpollard

Eric,
Thank you for your help.
I used my Mosser Lee Soil Master tester and found that my pH level was a 5.5 (right in the middle of Alkaline and Acidic) and that the wetness was a 8/10.

Do you have any suggestions of where I go from here?
Regards,
Brad

Eric Frei

Mix the stuff you have and try to judge watering so the soil moisture is around 50% to 60%.

80% is pretty wet, 100% is water like in a bucket so could be too wet.

Pull mulch back from around the stem by at least 2".

You haven't been using any lawn weeder products have you?

You can also spray it with Imidacloprid in case there is mites. It wont hurt even if there is none.

Not getting hot drying winds is it or excessive shade etc?

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