pin oak

[AxeTree]

I looked at a few pin oaks today and there looked to be very iron deficient, the trees have been injected with arbor jets iron supplement once every few years and they still look pretty bad, the home owner said they seemed to get better for a while after the injections but wouldn't stay that way. wondering what other options are, is there any long term solutions? or should I just inject iron supplement? thanks!

 

[flyingsquirrel25]

Test the soil, test the soil, test the soil. Iron clorisis in Pin oak can be caused by a couple things. 1. no iron in the soil. 2. Iron in the soil but the PH is off. From what I understand more often then not it is a PH problem. I dont know the chemistry behind it but when the PH gets out of range (high or low) the iron gets tied up in the soil and is unavailable for use by the tree.
Nutrient availability chart
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/hort/news/hortmatt/2006/20hrt06a3.htm

In the short term injections are your best bet to keep the tree looking good and healthy. But long term you need to find out where the iron (if any) is and adjust the soil chemistry to make it available to the tree. Remember some times it takes a lot of effort to change the PH if it is way out of wack, may take some time. hope this helps

 

[Steve Baker]

If your looking for the long term air excavate those suckers...Blast in some organic matter and your good to go...Might not be possible due to customer's justifying cost or not having the equipment...But if you can do it do it...There is nothing your gonna put in those trees that will be more beneficial...

 

[jomoco]

I'm of the opinion that a 25 lb bag of high quality worm castings would solve your customer's problems shortly after sprinkling it atop the tree's root system and watering it in.


http://www.redwormproducts.com/application%20chart.pdf



No chance of fertilizer burn, but a high chance of looking very knowledgeable in your customer's eyes.

jomoco

 

[AxeTree]

Jomoco, have you had good results with the castings in trees in the 16 DBH range that are declining thanks, also where can you purchase the castings?

 

[jomoco]

You can buy worm castings at just about any nursery. But remember that when transporting the bags they have to be kept cool. High temps inside your vehicle will kill all the beneficial micro-organisms in the castings quickly, and your results will suck.

Look for worm casting farms in your area. They are all the rage right now at the plant society meetings I've attended recently.

You can even grow your own worms in do it yourself container kits, they thrive on coffee grounds, fruit rinds etc, but no meat products.

They became very popular when it was discovered how effective they were at controlling white fly infestations on hibiscus plants many years ago.

I'm kinda new at this attending plant society meetings packed with senior citizens thing. But am very impressed by the wealth of plant knowledge folks at them have and their willingness to share that knowledge with others new to that field.

IMO the tree industry is far too fixated on chemical applications these days.

As far as my firsthand knowledge bout using worm castings successfully on trees? It's worked great for me personally here at home on Jacaranda, S African Cape Chestnuts, Koelreuteria and Crape Myrtles.

jomoco

 

[PUClimber]

If the customer isn't up for having their whole are excavated or if you're equipment is limited on doing so, there is always the option of vertical mulching and deep root fertilization.

 

[TreeLogic]

I like the soil amendment route as well. So many times the needed nutrients are there, but are trapped and the roots can't use them due to compaction. Vertical mulching with some worm castings I think would do some great things for the tree. Just make sure there are no grade changes made.

 

[marlinspiker]

Are you sure its not Bacterial Leaf Scorch? BLS has no cure although a good preservation technique after soil remediation can be oxytetracyline injections. I use Trilogy Biostimulant/Arborject Iron Manganese as a root feeding regime and OTC injections. Growth regulators can also increase the cell wall resilience to the spread.

 

[AxeTree]

Thanks guys I'm going to send in some soil Ns try and figure out what's going on, how can I tell if its bacterial leaf scorch? Thanks

 

[treegazer]

Unfortunately you have to wait until late summer. If the tree has BLS it will start to shed infected leaves much earlier than typical fall leaf drop. Collect the leaves as they are falling and take or send to a Plant Pathology Diagnostic Lab where they will run and ELISA test and verify BLS or not.
The symptoms expressed in the leaf are rather distinct but not diffinitive.
BLS is very prevalent here in Lexington. I watch about 5 pin oaks per year succumb to it annually on the street I live on.

 

[Daniel]

BLS is fairly easy to see... starts as a small asymmetrical early browning of the leaves. The effected area grows every year, and again its an asymmetrical pattern. Early leaf drop in late summer and early fall, with leaves showing browning around the margins, mimicking drouth conditions.

 

[sul]

Sodium treatment of the soil can change the ph. I recently treated pin oak soil with iorn. It lasts form a few years.

 

[willbranch]

Amending the soil with organics will be a great start to treatment, the soil results will determine the next steps though. If results show low iron in the soil then you could throw in some blood meal and call it a day. If the results show a ph issue is keeping the iron bound up the plan becomes more complicated. Soil ph can be adjusted but results will only be temporary if there is something causing the high ph and the cause of the high ph is not dealt with. Is the lawn irrigated? Check the ph of the water. Is there hard surface near the tree? Limestone base rock could be messing things up. You might find that this tree is not suitable or sustainable and need to be replaced. Hope this helps, keep us posted