Douglas fir seedling needles yellowing??

cat320

Please can anyone tell me why my douglas fir seedling needles are yellowing? Drought? We had terrible north wind down here for a couple of days, could this be the reason? If its drought, which I dont think it is, as some are in soft areas, would they recover when rain comes? The needles are turning a foxy colour. I need advice please, and Im worried they might die...............

blue5000

Are they new shoots just out? It could be frost.

cat320

No they are only starting to bud, some have new shoots appearing, on some trees the needles are appearing foxy, Should I be worried?

cat320

Is there anyone on here can help?????????????????????????????????????????

Oldtree

Its a bit difficult to diagnose a problem without a lot of detail.

exactly how old are seedlings?
did you buy them?
did you grow them yourself?
did you apply herbaside or pesticides or fertiliser?
is the site near a road with deicing salt?
what was on site brfore planting?
did you plant them yourself?
were they planted at the right level on the trunk?
how much of the area is wet?
did the site become waterlogged at any stage?
photo of needle?
photo of site?
what is "foxy color"?
is the site a frost hollow?
Wind blown salt spray if a few miles from sea?
Are the effected needles older needles?
effecting all plants, plants in blocks????? shape of damage?

it sounds like clorosis/necrosis but these are general terms with many causes.

I would tend towards chemical damage at the moment.

this from diagnosis of ill health in trees gives an idea of the problem



but after all that:

Douglas fir is a frost tender species and can often suffer from late spring frost damage, it may/may not recover

cat320

We bought them,
we planted them ourselves to the correct level,
We put phosphate 0-16-0 around them in spring,
They were about a foot high when we planted them in december,
No Herbicides,
It isnt a frost pocket,
How much frost can they take before completely dying?
The needles are turning a foxy/brown colour on some trees only, worried about the rest now..
I will try and post a picture if I can,
There was just scrub growing there before, I cleaned the site down to bare earth with a digger first,
Will they get worse or will they improve?
Thanks, John.

greenfingers89

id guess frost or possible urea deficiency but as oldtree says it could be anything. if your so concerned then get a horticulurist out to look at them

Oldtree

forgot about that one, the digger could have compacted the soil to add to your woes!!

radiata

This might be of benefit to you

http://blog.pennlive.com/gardening/2010/03/yellowing_douglas_firs.html