RED OAK TREE HELP

[ajv1128]

I have Red Oak that was planted in September of last year. After the winter the leaves came out and looked good. About a month later the front of the tree started to get curling inward leaves and brown tips. I am giving it about 12 gallons of water 2 times a week. It has an 8 inch caliper. Any ideas about the brown and curling leaves ? thank you

 

[ATH]

8" caliper? As in the diameter of the trunk 6" above ground level is 8"?

How much rain have you been getting? That will need WAY more than 24 gallons per week. I'd say more like at least 30 gallons 3x per week. Skip a watering if you get half an inch of rain. Skip all of you get an inch over the week.

Spots...maybe some Anthracnose. Possibly Tubakia leaf spot, but doesn't quite look right. There is also a lead Blotch miner, but doesn't quite look like that either. Looks like there is good growth this year so based on 2 pics with limited info, I'm not worried...but certainly a good idea to keep an eye on it. If you want confirmation of those diseases the land grant university in your state can probably test samples.

 

[Brando CalPankian]

Everything ATH said, with the addendum of what source of water are you using? If you have well water, and you happen to have an outside line that is putting out softened water, salt is a no no with plants.

 

[ajv1128]

Hello and thank you for the responses. The trunk is 8 inch diameter. and at the time I noticed the leaves, was in late March and we were getting a lot of rain here in Houston Tx. at the time. Couple weeks ago I had 6 root wells installed that are attached to a separate zone in my sprinkler system. It takes 6 minutes for each well to fill up and I let them all fill up once then let them drain for 5 minutes. Then I will fill it up a second time. I figured its about 2 gallons each well after this method. Doing this 2 times a week. Front and back of tree pics, the back looks very green and healthy. The front side the leaves look curled with the brown tips.

 

[Stumpsprouts]

Is it just lower limbs?
Have there been any chemicals sprayed on the lawn (roundup, etc)?

 

[Matias]

I assume that the lawn gets watered regularly? That trees roots go way out past that well, which seems to be holding too much mulch up against the trunk. You wanna be able to see the flare where the trunk meets the top of the root crown. I wouldn't water at all in the well, and put that water out through the lawn irrigation. I always start with high quality compost sprinkled around the dripline during a watering.

 

[ATH]

You probably aren't going to like this...but what's best for the tree?

Get rid of the pavers.

Then, pull mulch away from the trunk until you see where the trunk flares out. Never pile soil or mulch against that flare. Make the mulch ring larger. Rather than filling the "wells" (I assume those are just perforated pipes in the ground...how deep???) slow watering on the surface. If you want to use automatic irrigation, I'd put (6) 5 gallon per hour emitters evenly spaced about 2' from the trunk - under the mulch is fine. Run those for 60 minutes 3x per week. That's 30 gallons each time.

 

[Matias]

You probably aren't going to like this...but what's best for the tree?

Get rid of the pavers.

Then, pull mulch away from the trunk until you see where the trunk flares out. Never pile soil or mulch against that flare. Make the mulch ring larger. Rather than filling the "wells" (I assume those are just perforated pipes in the ground...how deep???) slow watering on the surface. If you want to use automatic irrigation, I'd put (6) 5 gallon per hour emitters evenly spaced about 2' from the trunk - under the mulch is fine. Run those for 60 minutes 3x per week. That's 30 gallons each time.

I prefer the brown drip tubing with the 0.9gph emittors spaced every 12". More even spread, and you can bury it. I would also add a ring at the outer edge of the current dripline.

Also, at least in my soil, I find deeper, less frequent waterings to promote a deeper, larger overall root zone.

Edit to add: I would only bury it about 3"- 4" deep, and only to keep it out of the way of the lawnmower. Having it all under mulch at the soil surface is ideal.

 

[Neill]

If the damage is on just one side of the tree that makes me suspect some herbicide drift. Brown and curling also fit that cause

 

[flushcut]

How big was the root ball?

 

[Basswood]

Oaks seem to be pretty herbicide sensitive in my experience. Usually a good indicator species of drift or volatilization.