Hi…wondering if anyone would have a thought on what could be causing the tips of a few spruce trees I have to be turning brown. One is a Colorado Spruce and one is a Black Hills Spruce. In some cases the tips are not brown but a light lime green. The brown needles eventually fall off.
Any thoughts or help on treatment would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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hi @dscott,
Could be a lot of things (fungal, sun scorch, root rot, insects…)
Cut off the dead and dying bits and make sure you have drainage in your pot. Looks like you have lots of buds for spring, so fingers crossed.
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Hi @dscott,
Perhaps you water too much. Sometimes it’s hard to transfer correctly from summer to fall in matter of how much water the trees need.
But i can only agree with @AndyK : can be nearly everything.
Do the needles dry out before they fall off?
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Thanks for reply and thoughts guys!
I was almost certain responses would say fungal. But now I am thinking possibly soil, root and/or watering issues. These are both collected trees collected in 2016. After reading your responses I starting digging down into the soil. The top layer of pumice, lava etc. seemed fine but digging deeper I hit some muddy dirt for lack of better description. I think when I have been watering, the soil seems to drain nicely on the top layer but is not draining thoroughly leading to to much moisture and a lack of balance of water and O2. Its possible this has led to fungal issues too but I think this could be the root(no pun intended)of the issue. Obviously this is not repotting season for spruce, but should an emergency repotting ever be considered or just reduce water and hope for the best and repot in spring. Any advice/thoughts is much appreciated. Thanks!
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If you see the first signs of fungal at the roots/soil i would repot immediately. I think if you repot now the tree should have enough time to recover for winter. The growth next year will not be great, of course, but if your soil is already too wet i think it will get even worse during fall and winter. Hard to predict. Hope it will work out for you.
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I have had problems with water and O2 on collected trees as well, I try to use a skinny bamboo chopstick and make VERY SMALL tunnels through the field soil, being careful to minimize damage to roots, and fill the tunnel carefully with pumice. My belief is the drainage that you acquire outweigh the small damage to existing roots. Better to lose a few and save the rest!!The swiss cheese field soil drains better and hopefully reduces fungal root diseases. Always open to constructive criticism if I am thinking wrong. 
I have gained this knowledge from autopsy on the pines and junipers and one blue spruce I lost this summer, 