Mugho pine dying

[Richard Evans]

A couple of weeks ago I bought a small mugho pine intending to keep it
in a pot on my deck. I potted it with Miracle Gro potting soil, and it
has been steadily turning brown ever since. It's on a south-facing
deck, along with my container garden, and gets plenty of sun and
regular watering. Today I got some Miracle Gro for azaleas and other
acid-loving plants on the hunch that maybe the potting soil wasn't
acidic enough.

Any other ideas?

[pakrat@usenet.pr.neotoma.org]

On Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:25:12 -0400 in > Richard Evans > wrote:
> A couple of weeks ago I bought a small mugho pine intending to keep it
> in a pot on my deck. I potted it with Miracle Gro potting soil, and it
> has been steadily turning brown ever since. It's on a south-facing
> deck, along with my container garden, and gets plenty of sun and
> regular watering. Today I got some Miracle Gro for azaleas and other
> acid-loving plants on the hunch that maybe the potting soil wasn't
> acidic enough.
>
> Any other ideas?

Well you might look at...
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=mugo+pine+soil&l=1

Liz and i will probably kill another mugo pine in our front yard this year.

The spot Liz wanted it was one of the few pockets of clay in the front yard
and it doesn't drain well enough. The other problem is that mugos are hardy
zones 2-7. A lot of NC is zone 7b and itching to be zone 8 the next time
the USDA crunches the numbers. Or in simpler words, too damn hot.

And you're probably over fertilizing the tree.


--
Chris Dukes

[Richard Evans]

wrote:

>And you're probably over fertilizing the tree.

I fertilized it for the first time yesterday and it was well on its
way to dead by then.

[pakrat@usenet.pr.neotoma.org]

On Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:27:57 -0400 in > Richard Evans > wrote:
> wrote:
>
>>And you're probably over fertilizing the tree.
>
> I fertilized it for the first time yesterday and it was well on its
> way to dead by then.

Miracle Grow Potting Soil == Lots of Fertilizer
And don't fertilize (with nitrogen at least) when the plant is
not doing well.
>


--
Chris Dukes

[bullthistle]

It's too hot in NC for some evergreens including Mugo. If it started to decline there is no way you can save it.

[WesD]

On Jul 7, 9:25*pm, Richard Evans > wrote:
> A couple of weeks ago I bought a small mugho pine intending to keep it
> in a pot on my deck. I potted it with Miracle Gro potting soil, and it
> has been steadily turning brown ever since. It's on a south-facing
> deck, along with my container garden, and gets plenty of sun and
> regular watering. Today I got some Miracle Gro for azaleas and other
> acid-loving plants on the hunch that maybe the potting soil wasn't
> acidic enough.
>
> Any other ideas?

Define regular watering? Turning brown can be a sign you are over
watering it, or perhaps the drain holes are plugged and it is
drowning. I killed one Dwarf Alberta Spruce because I did not know
the drain holes were plugged. It took less than a week of heavy rain
a few years ago to kill it.

We have a dwarf Alberta Spruce that I repotted because it was root
bound and it is still struggling. Two we have in the ground are doing
well. I may have to find a sunny place in the yard and get it out of
the pot. The problem is we are running out of sunny places in the
yard to replant such things. I may take it to SC and see how it will
live down there.