you said: planted the tree but instantly noticed

==>>>>

hi

many of us.. bare root conifers.. when its the PROPER PLANTING time ..

so the root ball issue is irrelevant ...

also.. being evergreen.. it would take 3 to 6 months.. to show needle damage ... most likely after the real heat of summer ... or after winter

w/o a pic.. i cant really go any further ...

do you know how to PROPERLY water

ken

I now see talking heads on TV raking the outsides of root-balls with hand shears at planting time to no purpose. What you want to do instead is open the balls up and correct imperfections (kinks, knots, circling etc. due to careless container culture that is apparently pandemic at commercial production facilities), keeping the roots moist the whole time, and retaining as much of the roots as possible.

What your bought was a broken root ball conifer. That results from mis-handling somewhere between grower and the time it reached the seller. It was probably dropped off the truck to the ground by some inexperienced summer time helper or lugged around the nursery by someone carrying it by the trunk.

Since the root ball only contains 10% or less of the original roots compromising it exposes the fine hair like follicles that are important for its survival till it puts on new root growth. When these are severed the plant is doomed.

It was already dead when you planted it.

Always check the integrity of the root ball. It must be intact. If you can wiggle the trunk while holding the root ball firmly it is broken. Always avoid no matter how much you want it.

Take it back with your receipt and go from there.

Good luck,

Dave

So to clarify The amount of the rootball that came off was a small 20% section of the side there was still about 75-80% of the rootball still atached to the trunk of the tree. when I noticed the change in the tree was the next day the new growth was yellowing and several branches where welting and dying. so can i do something to stabalize and help new root growth or is it dead when I planted it as dave had suggested PS the small portion had lots of fine hair follicles in it :( and I believe I know how to properly water but am new to trees so any suggestions is much appreciated

If it were mine I would give it a dose of Superthrive as directed once a week for a month.It is a rootstimulator that I have had great luck with in any stressed plant.

dont quite know what this has to do with the original posting.. but i wouldnt waste my money ...

and new post with pix of your plant.. and some info and history.. will get you some answers ...

ken

Well I broke the root ball when planting an 8ft tall spruce last summer. The tree is getting new buds but it's been losing needles. I wanted to to know how to apply Superthrive to the tree. Do I mix Superthrive with water? I'm confused how this works.

The way SuperThrive works has already happened. What I mean is, the purchaser (you) has already forked over hard-earned cash for a bottle of snake oil, the manufacturer cases the check and deposits the money in a bank account.

Was there something else that was supposed to happen?