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jfcmfc

C deodora prostrate beauty questions

last year

Hello..

I am in zone 7b, i ordered a prostrate beauty from an online nursery in georgia back in april. it suffered some minor to moderate-ish transport damage during the shipping process (some brances were snapped off). but it still looked healthy and seemed to be pushing out some new growth at that time. I put it in the ground around the second week of april. Its been struggling since, over the last six weeks lots of needle dropping. As you can see in the pics, alot of bare branches now.


Is this all transplant shock and trauma from the shipping process? We didnt have any nights below freezing after i planted it, but we did have one night where it dropped down to like 35-36 F. I kind of regret putting it in the ground so fast, felt like that temp drop didnt help its cause.


Also- You can also see in one of the pics that one of the major branches is splinted with a bamboo stick. This branch was snapped (not fully obviously, but about 1/2 the diameter of the branch) in the shipping box. So i tried splinting it to take some of the tension off of it. Was this the right move? That branch has not lost any needles since.

Im still an amateur with conifers and learning everyday. Would appreciate any insight/tips.

Thanks


Comments (8)

  • last year

    To be quite honest, If a plant you ordered came in a damaged condition, I'd have called the seller and asked for a replacement. Probably too late now but you could still call the seller and explain what happened and you might get some sort of store credit for your next purchase if all else fails.


    It's good that no freezing temperature occurred in case the plant wasn't dormant on arrival and frost could've done some damage depending on how long it was exposed. Some springs frosts last only an hour or so and if the temps stay in the 30's, not much damage will be done.


    Any branches that were broken off completely, should have the exposed part cut with a quality set of pruners. A clean, straight cut is better than a raggedy, split etc. And don't use any kind of sealer on the cuts, that is totally a sales pitch and does more harm than good.


    The partially broken branch is not good and probably would only heal if it was wrapped tightly with grafting tape. It might be too late there too but worth a try. Saran wrap or the like might work in a pinch.


    All in all, it's a waiting game. You'll know more in a few weeks.

    Right now, you won't see much growth.

    The plant is in shock and its primary mission will be to form new roots before it put on new growth although you might see a little in the meantime.


    Water when it needs it and if its not used to direct sun, something to reduce the number of hours it gets of direct sun a day will be helpful.


    There's people here that know more than I do about this type of plant so they might chime in also. And feel free to ask more questions as they come up. :-)



  • last year
    last modified: last year

    I have (and have grown) a bunch of Cedrus including Prostrate Beauty, and one thing that took me a few years to realize is that when they decide to drop their oldest needles, they often do so when they are completely green and fairly healthy looking. The first few times this happened I was like "Uh-oh!" -- because with other conifers this is a really bad sign, but not necessarily so with Cedrus. Your plant looks pretty good considering the shipping damage, but feel free to prune off the clearly dead twigs to improve its appearance.

  • last year

    Thank you guys for your responses. I guess its just a waiting game at this point, and i will try the grafting tape for the hell of it.

    I tried hard to find a prostrate beauty at the garden centers by me that i know carry a lot of conifers but i had no luck, so i contacted someone through Iseli Nursey who said they shipped none to my state this year so i was forced to shop online for it. Always felt prostrate beauty was too delicate for online shipping but gave it a shot

  • last year

    Thank you and give us an update when things begin to grow for a while.

    It's always interesting to learn how these kinds of things turn out.

    It helps others that read this that have the same issues.

  • 9 months ago


    Update: one of the main branches that was snapped, i wrapped in grafting tape for about 2 months. I took the tape off today and noticed that the branch has fused together. First time doing this but it seems to look healed? Bill, thanks for the advice and tips. It seemed to have saved the plant at the moment. It hasnt pushed out any new growth lately but also hasnt not lost any more needles and still has its typical blueish green color. So i guess thats a good thing.


    At this point i should leave it untaped and unstaked correct? im assuming to generate strength, the limb thats been supported needs to start mantaining its own weight?

  • 9 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    Hi jfcmfc!

    Wow! Thats great to see the healing. Thanks for posting this.

    The fact that needle drop has ceased and has good color is a positive indication for sure.

    As more roots develop, more topside growth will happen, probably next season.

    That 'graft' will take at least two full seasons to completely heal and even then, any substantial flexing or other strain could break it.

    The wood inside the branch doesn't heal, it's only the new 'ring' of bark each season that adds a layer to the outside of the branch, so your graft is still pretty tender at this point. After it gets a few to several rings will it be a strong branch again.

    Just make sure that it can't flex or bend in a strong wind or have something heavy fall on it and a wrap of grafting tape won't hurt for the rest of this season just to help support it in that way.

  • 9 months ago

    Thanks bill,

    i will rewrap some grafting tape over it. i dont live in an area that gets harsh winters, but we do get the occasional snow storm. Do you think a large enough snow accumulation could snap it?