AusBonsai

hi to all

noted in a thread that melaquin stated a friend had used tomato dust on Japanese black pine i have found mel that using confidor followed by pest oil 2 to 3 weeks later hasn,t helped my problem.seeming to have very weak and poorley looking needles on lower branch.tried tom dusting tonight wondering if any rules to follow i mainley dusted affected branch leaving dust around top area of pot not to much on other parts of bonasi.any suggestions /advice greatley apppreciated.

kind regards michael

any ideas anyone

HI Michael,

what exactly is the problem with your JBP? Pests or just dying needles?

Can you post a picture?

Tech

evening techpetal

needles seem to be dying of approx half way up tends to look like they are being bitten or drained some how from this area all other branches seem to look okay at this time. tips of affected needles very whitish that have not died of yet sure will be soon.hoping to avoid to other areas will post pic asap trying to learn resizing and posting.will try w/end thanks for any help at this stage.


regards mick

if "dying" needles have a brown ring right next to the green and then yellow, you have needlecast, get it away from other pines and treat immediately, it will kill your tree...

that is if it has needlecast

how goes all

after some research think prob maybe fungal disease dothistroma being needle blight have treated with copper oxychloride ensured to cover root system used gladwrap first then some rags as i found after research important to not upset the natural fungal growth in around root system of pines did have name off but doesnt come to mind now.will keep all posted as this seem to becoming prob in oz once again after research.


rregards mick

the fungus you are refering to is called 'mycorrhizae' and it is very beneficial to pines, however a lot of people unnecessarily worry when repotting and try to completely remove the bacteria thinking that ist is some kind of fungal disease, which is actually quite detrimental to the tree. when repotting keep this in mind and try and keep as much of the mycorrhizae on the root mass as possible, it might even pay to collect some from the discarded portion of roots and to put that in your new soil

I would suggest the problem with your pine is Dothistroma known as red tip or red band disease. It is a serious and rapidly increasing problem in Australia. Treatment is with a copper based spray, the best being Kocide Blue or the like. Initial application repeated at 3 monthly intervals.
Mick B

G'day Mick B - good advice mate!