Question
We have a deodora in our pool area for 4-5 years now and it has always been beautiful, until now.  This is the first time I have ever seen it dropping brown needles EVERYWHERE.  You even brush it and it drops them.  Semi green with large patches of brown from top down.  Is it dying?  What can I do and is there any hope.  We water it frequently in summer, but I have never given it fertilizer or any plant/tree food.  Thank you for helping.

Answer
It could be a couple of things.
Conifers do drop needles naturally. Most every two years but some up to every four years. This needle drop is the older needles on the inner part of the tree or limb. There will be green needles on the ends on the branches and these needles on the tips will not be dropping.

Also spider mites can infest cedars and these will cause needle drop. Close inspection of the needles will reveal tiny white flecks and speckles where the mites have fed. Prolonged feeding causes yellowing, browning, and premature needle drop, often originating from the canopy interior. Infested foliage may also display webbing, eggs and cast skins. Heavy attacks can cause branch dieback or death of the plant.

 Inspect stippled and distorted leaves to determine if mites are present. Similar symptoms can be caused by pests other than mites, including thrips, leafhoppers and lace bugs. Many spider mites prefer to feed on the lower leaf surface, so examine the undersides of leaves first. A 10 ‑ 20 power hand lens or microscope is essential for clearly seeing the mites. The tiny mites will appear yellow, green, orange, purple, black or nearly transparent. Also visible on the leaf surface may be pale‑colored cast Askins@ shed by developing mites, and the spherical, often translucent eggs.



An efficient way to sample vegetation for mites is to hold a sheet of white paper or foam board under a branch and tap the foliage sharply. If mites are present, they will be dislodged and appear as slow‑ moving, dark specks on the paper.

There are several miticides that will control spider mites but most insecticides will not. Check with your local nursery for a miticide to use. Here is a web site that lists miticides to use and further information on spider mites.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef438.asp