How do you treat blue spruce disease?
Currently the only chemical treatment for Cytospora canker on blue spruce in the landscape is an injected fungicide that must be applied by a certified applicator. Yearly fungicide treatments can help with needlecast but appropriate timing and good coverage are essential to reduce needle loss.
How do I know if my Colorado Blue Spruce is dying?
Here’s what to look out for:
- Needles Turn Yellow or Brown and Drop Off. It’s easy to tell whether your blue spruce trees are healthy or not.
- Drying and Dying of Lower Branches. When you see lower branches of a blue spruce drying and dying, you should expect the worst.
- Dying of New and Emerging Shoots.
What diseases do Colorado Blue Spruce get?
There are three principle types of diseases that affect blue spruce trees: needlecasts, tip blights and canker diseases….All of these diseases are caused by fungal pathogens and each produce specific symptoms that can be useful in diagnosing the problem.
- Needlecasts.
- Tip blights.
- Canker diseases.
When Should I spray my blue spruce for fungus?
Early identification of Rhizosphaera can prevent major damage to individual trees and prevent the spread to nearby trees. Protecting new growth as it emerges is very important. For best effectiveness, fungicides should be applied when the emerging needles are half elongated (1/2 to 2 inches in length).
What does blue spruce fungus look like?
Small black spots (fruiting structures of the fungus) appear in rows in the infected needles. The fungus is actually emerging from the stomata (natural pore-like openings) that occur in lines on all sides of a spruce needle. Green needles may show these small black fruiting structures.
Will a blue spruce recover?
Yes, an infected Blue Spruce can recover from needle cast disease if proper care is given. The tree will take a long time to recover. Infected Blue Spruce takes up to 2 years to recover from needle cast disease.
How is Diplodia tip blight treated?
Diplodia tip blight does respond to fungicide treatments, which should start at bud break in the spring for effective control. If these treatments aren’t used, then cones should also be removed during pruning because they hold many fungal spores.
How do you save a dying blue spruce tree?
Prune away dead branches, twigs, and infected areas of the tree. Remove fallen foliage and destroy it (burn it). Do not add to compost piles. Apply a fungicide to the tree after removing signs of the infection.
What is the lifespan of a Colorado Blue Spruce?
Growth and Yield- Blue spruce is apparently a long-lived tree, surviving up to 600 years or more. Diameter growth is slow; trees 10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 in) in d.b.h. may be 125 to 135 years old; at 46 to 56 cm (18 to 22 in), they may be 275 to 350 years of age (84).
Why does my blue spruce have brown needles?
Spruce trees can show brown needles starting from the lower limbs and progressing up the tree. One common needle disease in Minnesota, Rhizosphaera needle cast, is caused by the fungus Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii. Blue spruce varieties are very susceptible to Rhizosphaera.
Why is my blue spruce dying from the bottom up?
The Blue Spruce tree dies from the bottom up when it’s infected by Cytospera canker disease. This is a fungal disease. Cytospora canker can be fatal to your Blue Spruce. Cytospora canker disease is most commonly seen on Colorado Blue Spruce.
What does tip blight look like?
Symptoms include: Brown, stunted new shoots with short, brown needles. Needles on infected shoots turn tan to dark brown. Cose inspection of the dead needles’ base reveals fungal fruiting bodies in the form of resin drops and black specks.
How do you stop diplodia?
If trees are stressed, resin soaked cankers form on branches and kill them. Use good cultural practices to minimize stress on pine trees to reduce the damage caused by Diplodia blight. Fungicides can be used to protect young needles and shoots from infection but cannot prevent branch cankers.
How do you treat fungus on a spruce tree?
Fungicides with the active ingredient chlorothalonil, copper hydroxide or mancozeb will protect new spruce needles from infection by Rhizosphaera.
- Make one application in spring or early summer when the new needles have grown to half their mature length.
- Make a second application 3 to 4 weeks later.
Can you save a dying spruce tree?
Prune back all dead or affected areas of the tree to avoid secondary infestations and disease. Provide the tree with one deep watering per week, allowing water to reach down 12 to 15 inches. Several light waterings will encourage roots to grow near the surface (augmenting the problem), stick to deep watering.
Can a blue spruce recover from needle cast?
Rhizosphaera and Stigmina, the two most common needle cast diseases of spruce trees, are treatable. You can have your tree looking lush and beautiful again within a few years by following a program of needle cast treatment.
Why are my spruce trees turning brown and dying?
Rhizosphaera needle cast damage in spruce. Spruce and coniferous trees are susceptible to environmental, insect and disease problems that can cause the trees to discolor, lose needles and possibly die. Spruce in both urban and rural landscapes can be affected.
Will blue spruce needles grow back?
These voracious eaters strip needles from spruce, and those needles will NEVER grow back. In less than three years, they can kill a tree.
How do you treat blue spruce Cytospora canker?
How to manage Cytospora canker in spruce trees
- Plant spruce trees on sites with moist, well-drained soil in full sun.
- Plant Norway or white spruce instead of Colorado blue spruce.
- Reduce stress on spruce trees by providing water during periods of drought.
- Mulch the soil beneath the tree.
How to treat blue spruce disease?
Plant selection: Purchase pest and pathogen-free stock from reputable sources.
Why is my Blue Spruce dying?
Alternative conifers for Michigan landscapes for suggested alternatives to blue spruce trees from MSU Extension
What are the different spruce diseases?
Sargent’s spruce ( Picea brachytyla)
How to care for a diseased blue spruce tree?
Buy only quality plants.