We really do need to see photos. Needle drop in pines is very common in fall - the tree is just shedding old needles that no longer function. Photos would help to clarify if this is just this natural seasonal occurrence or something more sinister.

most pines shed the oldest needles within 3 years ... and those are the interior .. or oldest needles... interior yellowing and eventual browning is NORMAL ... and can fluctuate year to year ...

i cant think of a single pine.. that would need water every other day ... presuming its not a recent transplant ....

shall we presume nevada is your location... and not your name??? .. maybe its different in NV?????

pix please ... we should start with an ID ... to help to define if said plant should be able the thrive in your area .... we would need a needle count of a bundle.. and a pic of the needles with a scale ... how many inches long ...

do you have any idea if they were large transplant????

ken

Pinus ponderosa is very drought tolerant in its native habitat (or reasonable facsimiles thereof). Needle count is tricky with P. p. as different tribes have different numbers of needles in each fascicle.

Thank you everyone. Im really feeling sick about this. Two weeks ago these trees were beautiful. Weve had some cold weather and then it warmed back up again. The only change in what I was doing is I cut way way back on the water. Here is a link. They look so terrible I can't believe it. And yes I am in Nevada in the desert.

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/Wz9r7LkjGPDiD3vJYgP27ZdLvunAW3axHrdS42QF9cD

And I forgot to answer the questing about them being large transplants. I don't think so but I can't say for sure. I have been here for 3 years.

The three year old needles on my Ponderosa yellow and fall this time every year. Normal process but the yellow can appear quite dramatic if it's a vigorously growing tree.

It looks like interior needles to me that are falling off. Normal.

What part of Nevada do you live in? Sparks is a lot different than Henderson or Lake Tahoe.

Mike, I am between Carson City and Fallon in an area called Stagecoach. Way different than Sparks, that's for sure. Never been to Henderson. These needles don't grow back, is that correct? Im glad to hear you say it's normal. Thanks. It just seems like a lot!

I'd never water established Ponderosa pines every other day. Most places they shouldn't need to be watered at all, unless a planting site has summer conditions outside of their natural tolerance range.

Thomas, Been there and have two friends from Fallon. You're not too far from the Ponderosa Ranch in the foothills, except you're out where it's a lot dryer and very few trees.

No, the needles don't grow back. Only on the tips of the branches.

can you do any better with a pic or two ... use the camera/photo icon below the box you type in.. to load them directly into your post ...

it looks entirely normal on the tiny pic you provided ...

trees change as they age .... and if we presume this is normal ... then all that need be done.. is that you change your view and understand it is.. what it is ... they arent going to be the cute little perfect xmas trees you knew ...

but have faith.. you might be surprised how they green up.. after they bud out in spring ....

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pinus+ponderosa&t=ffcm&iax=1&ia=images

I will have some better photos in a couple of days. I need to drive to California and evacuate my mom from those fires going on. Hard to believe that she lives in the city of Santa Rosa and is under evacuation orders. Be back in a few days with better pics. Thanks.

Made it back home and I have some better pics of quite a few trees with a lot of questions. Hope you all don't mind. So here are the two pines that i originally started this thread on.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/W9YrNEG.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/UJmy3AP.jpg[/img]

Here is a little blue pine that is very pretty but I have noticed that there are some dead twigs on it. Not very many but a few and I don't want any of these to get worse.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/RPIoava.jpg[/img]

On this one one side is bad but the rest of the tree is good. It seems to be holding its own.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/SbThE7Y.jpg[/img]

I don't know what these are called but they seem to be doing well but i want to be sure they keep on doing well. We had two in front that were about 5 times larger and although I was not watering them 3 times a week I was watering them and all of a sudden they began to dry out and that was the end of it. This small one I have been watering 3 times a week in the heat and it looks good.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/R6l6wCa.jpg[/img]

So this tree looks pretty good but you can see the drying in the middle. The second shot is a close up of that drying and browning.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/JFmdExh.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/kT19oKV.jpg[/img]

Same this with this blue tree. A full shot and then a shot of the browning inside.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/JxRBqqK.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/OtBeYrR.jpg[/img]

I tried to embed them but I guess I did it wrong. What I want to add is that we have been here 3 years right now and all these were here. This spring was the first year that I gave them tree stake fertilizer and they seemed to do well with it. The box said they should have another stake in the fall which is now. I know some of the opinions are that I am watering too much but Im pretty sure that the small ones would dry up and die if I was not watering every other day during the heat of the summer. I have dug bowls around all of them and I fill up the bowls but I also have deep watering probes and maybe that would be a better way to go? Im really open to all suggestions. Thanks so much.

Well, the pines you thought were Ponderosa are not....they are soft/white pines. Possibly Southewestern White Pine (P. strobiformis) considering your location and climate. Old needles are typically shed this time of year.