Question

Norfolk Island Pine   Hi Stephen,
I抳e had a Norfolk Island Pine for just over a year now, which has remained in the same pot since my daughter gave it to me. It抯 sitting out on our decking (facing north) and gets late morning and afternoon sun. This can be quite hot but I have its pot inside another ceramic pot with river stones between the two, so the difference between the temperature of the inside pot is quite cool in comparison with the outside one. We live in Melbourne, Australia. We were told that it was approximately 6-7 years old when my daughter gave it to me. I抳e been very careful to follow instructions and not over-water in winter or over-feed. I抳e given it a small amount of slow release fertiliser last spring.

However, as you抣l see from the photos, the tree is looking pretty sick. It抯 gone from dark green foliage to a lighter colour and there appears to be some disease that started from the bottom of the tree (I think) and spreads from the trunk towards the branch tip, making the stems brown. I抳e noticed some tiny black spiders that cling to the tips of the branches. They also weave webs around the tree. I抳e looked at pictures of spider mites on the internet and they don抰 look like the ones I抳e killed on the tree. They are very very small and are shiny like a beetle. I wondered if there might be scale on the tree, but it doesn抰 appear to be to me.

I抦 so afraid I抦 going to lose my Norfolk Island Pine and I hope you can advise me. I抳e sprayed some eco-friendly mixture onto the tree, going from the top down, but the little creatures come back after a while. I don抰 know if the mixture I bought is strong enough.

We are in autumn now and I wonder if I should feed the tree with something a bit stronger and whether it抯 the right time to do it. The poor thing is stressed, though, and I want to do something to help it recover. I suspect whatever is attacking it is contributing to its demise as well.

Can you please help?
Regards,
Lyn

Answer
Lyn:
I do not suspect there is a disease here. The plant does look pale.  This may be related to a root type stress.  The pot may be too small. Try carfully removing the plant from the pot and looking for a rootbound root system.  The root ball will be very dense and will appear to have filled up the pot.  You may also see that the roots may have a tendency to wrap around.  That is a good sign of root bound situation. In that case, a bit of root pruning to loosen up the root ball then repot in a well drained soil mixture into a slightly larger diameter pot (maybe 2-3 inches larger in dia.) Be sure there is a drain hole in the bottom of the pot. After repotting, add water until it comes out the bottom of the pot.  Give it a good flush out, then don't water until the soil is dry to the feel.  If the critters are spiders, they do not normally cause a problem.  They may be stalking other critters that may be there.  You can carry a small twig w/these thing to your local garden center/nursery to get a positive ID just to be sure.

Regards
Steve