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joe_brose

Green Giant Arborvitae help

6 years ago

We planted 71 6-7’ Green Giant Arborvitae trees 9 days ago. The trees are starting to get brown in a few areas. I did water them every day for 4 days straight, then every 2 days since.

Do you think this could be my problem? Too much water or not enough? They were grown in pots until we planted them.

Comments (10)

  • 6 years ago

    only if you are in clay.. and drowning them ...


    how about a couple pix ...


    whats your soil type.. how did you plant them.. where are you..big city name ... it might be different if you are in the desert ...


    with trees.. we talk in tree time.. which is counted in decades ... nothing happens in a few days ... unless they were severely damaged before you got them ... which makes me wonder where you got them... and what the seller has to say.. if it wasnt bigbox ...


    i doubt 6 to 7 foot GGs were grown in a pot ... so we might have to speculate how the were dug from a field and stuck in those pots ... and this is where a pic might come in handy ...


    this time of year.. i just dont see how soil could dry at root depth.. requiring so much water ... presuming you watered them in properly at planting ...


    ken


    ps: while youre at it.. may as tell us now you water them .... a simple leaf wetting is not sufficient ... but they should still be sodden down at root level ...

  • 6 years ago

    71?!?! Is that a typo?

    tj

  • 6 years ago

    No 71 is not a typo. I have 5 more that we still need to plant.


    Ken, I will post pictures shortly.


    I'm in the eastern panhandle of WV, Charles Town to be specific. The soil does have some clay. The trees came from NC, 4 hour drive. An elderly man grew them as a hobby, he passed and his estate got rid of them. I have no reason to believe they were ever out of the pots, when I received them they were in 7 gallon pots. The roots were well formed around the shape of the planter.


    With so many trees we used a bobcat with an 18' auger to dig the holes. The trees were placed on top of loose soil and backfilled. We ensured the top of the original dirt was slightly, 1" or less above the new soil.


    I water them with an electric water pump attached to a 15 gallon tank that I pull around the 1 acre lot to water them. I normally go through 2 tanks, 30 gallons, per watering cycle.


    I watered them daily for 4 days and pretty much every 2 days after.


    the 5 that are still in the original 7 gallon planters are showing the same signs of browning. I'm not 100% the soil is the problem.


    Any advice you can give would greatly be appreciated.

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  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Were they well covered in transport?

    30 gallons for 71 trees is only .4 gallons each. Trees that size would need 10 times that even at a slow trickle near the trunk, initially anyway. Have you check the rootball soil moisture on any of them?


    tj

  • 6 years ago

    Yes they were covered during transport, enclosed trailer. And were removed from trailer immediately once I arrived home. I have not checked the rootball moisture. It’s raining today so they should get a pretty good drink. I’m thinking they are not getting enough water since both the trees in the ground and those still in pots are showing the same signs.

  • 6 years ago

    Classic signs of over watering. Do you have a pic of the roots before planting?

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    raining is not enough to give any new planting a good drink...roots are not out into soil

    upon planting each should have had 5 gal. of water each

    whether you have any problems long term with hole size ,,who knows ,but

    they say dig a $40 hole for a $20 plant

    some fall browning is normal

    after it stops raining , go dig a hole right next one of your root balls,all the way down

    and check moisture

    ron

    this is first I used this