What's Wrong with my Chestnut?

[H20fwler]

I have seven Dunstan's that I have in pots from this past spring that I was waiting to put out until this fall. I have tried to baby them and am not sure if I watered them to much or not enough or what I've done?
After looking great all summer, a couple weeks ago a few of them started getting yellow leaves and looking sick. A few leaves fell off and I thought I was going to loose a couple of the trees, they almost look like they could be coming out of it now? It has been a very dry hot summer, trees are in full sunlight about eight hours a day then partially shaded, I was moderately watering the chestnuts every 4-5 days but not near as much as I have the apple trees that are heeled in right next to them that are doing fantastic.

By the pics can anyone tell me what is going on or what I can do different with them?


Last month;



Last night;

 

[wbpdeer]

How long have they been in the containers they are in now? What I see is due to a lack of water during heat wave. During the heat wave with them in a container, I would be watering everyday or at a minimum every two days.

I would water the containers plenty and I would be spraying the leaves and limbs 100% too. Hydrate those puppies!

Just look at the trees - they are loaded with leaves. They need moisture. If they were in the ground they would manage better - guess the containers are probably black in color. Black will be hotter due to physics.

Put some (not total) vertical shade on them and water them every day. I would want to reduce the 8 hours sun to 4 or 5 hours of sun while I was trying to rehab them.

I have some experience rehab trees that were put in the same situation. Reduce the direct sunlight hours and water daily. In two weeks or so you will see them responds.

Close your eyes and put the green leaves between your thumb and fingers, feel them with your eyes closed. Do that on some of the brown leaves that are in good shape and do that on some brown leaves that are in bad shape. The feel test will give you an idea of their status. Also, some trees will be in different status levels.

The feel test will illustrate to you what a healthy tree leave feels like.

I am guessing these signs of stress show up at the end of a long hot spell. The tree started stressing then it began to show evidence of it when it has piled up.

Trees look good overall - just rehab them. They will be good. Don't just water the containers - baptize the limbs and leaves as well.

Wish those trees belonged to me. ;)

Note: Re-position the brown leaves trees so they may be shaded by the more healthy trees.

 

[H20fwler]

How long have they been in the containers they are in now? What I see is due to a lack of water during heat wave. During the heat wave with them in a container, I would be watering everyday or at a minimum every two days.

I would water the containers plenty and I would be spraying the leaves and limbs 100% too. Hydrate those puppies!

Just look at the trees - they are loaded with leaves. They need moisture. If they were in the ground they would manage better - guess the containers are probably black in color. Black will be hotter due to physics.

Put some (not total) vertical shade on them and water them every day. I would want to reduce the 8 hours sun to 4 or 5 hours of sun while I was trying to rehab them.

I have some experience rehab trees that were put in the same situation. Reduce the direct sunlight hours and water daily. In two weeks or so you will see them responds.

Close your eyes and put the green leaves between your thumb and fingers, feel them with your eyes closed. Do that on some of the brown leaves that are in good shape and do that on some brown leaves that are in bad shape. The feel test will give you an idea of their status. Also, some trees will be in different status levels.

The feel test will illustrate to you what a healthy tree leave feels like.

I am guessing these signs of stress show up at the end of a long hot spell. The tree started stressing then it began to show evidence of it when it has piled up.

Trees look good overall - just rehab them. They will be good. Don't just water the containers - baptize the limbs and leaves as well.

Wish those trees belonged to me. ;)

Note: Re-position the brown leaves trees so they may be shaded by the more healthy trees.

Thanks for the quick reply!
They are in the plastic pots that they came in, pots have good drain holes. I let the grass grow up around them to try and help shade containers.
I never even thought about watering the whole trees, will take your advice and really appreciate the response.

 

[wbpdeer]

I am the world's worst for leaving trees/seedlings in a container too long. Professional writings say to upsize early / sooner as opposed to leaving them too long. Depends on your planting time, you might gain an advantage by putting them in larger containers.

You are right to have good drain holes. I have drilled holes in some containers to guarantee we drain well. Hard plastic types containers can hold heat while a thin plastic container holds less heat.

I am a morning person - glad to help. Had some of the same situations to sort thru.

Like I said - wish those trees belonged to me. You will have 7 good ones I do believe. Good luck.

 

[kabic]

How big are those containers? I would be nervous having trees that tall in a 2 or 3 gallon container, but I'm not an expert.

 

[H20fwler]

I think they are three gallon. I should be able to plant them in their permanent location in a couple months, I was just waiting for them to start to go dormant.
The reason I didn't put them out yet was I had a couple ponds dug this summer in the field I'm planting them at along the woods and there would have been to much traffic during construction and chance of them being hurt.
The ponds are all done now, would it be OK to plant them this time of year? Or would it shock them too much? Where they are going I could water them easily.

 

[yoderjac]

Given those are smooth sided typical nursery containers (not air pruning) you really need to look for and prune any circling or j-hooking roots. Given that, the root ball is going to be significantly disturbed. That means they will act more like bare root trees and experience transplant shock. In order to minimize that I'd wait till they go dormant.

Another thing to consider is that those black containers really get hot in the sun. I noticed when transplanting some of my 1 gal RB2s to 3 gal RB2s just how warm the soil was to the touch when I removed the container. In my case, I'm setup so I only get morning sun and afternoon shade. The RB2 protrusions shade each other and have less heat transfer to the medium than the smooth nursery pots.

The combination of transpiration, container heating, wind, and accelerated growth in the summer can use lots of water. If you plan to keep them in those pots, I would consider digging holes the size of the post and placing the pots in the ground. This would help with cooling.

If you can easily water at the final location, you might want to dig the holes there and set the pots in them for now. Then when the trees go dormant plant them.

just a thought....


Jack

 

[Bc4abc]

i had the exact same thing happen to some of my Chinese recently ..i believe it is scorch from too much sun / dry soil.....i moved mine back in the shade and they bounced right back

 

[H20fwler]

I really appreciate the advice from you all, they are doing much better now and I'm looking forward to getting them in the ground in a couple months.
I have eight that I planted in late spring that I have watered a few times that still look fine, they are planted in partial shade and have added a little wood but nothing to brag about.