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The answer to the question, if the thuja has turned yellow after winter, what to do, will be unambiguous: urgently revive the plant, having first identified the cause. The method of saving it will completely depend on what triggered the appearance of yellowness on the tree. There are many reasons why a green beauty, a favorite of many gardeners and landscape designers, may lose its appearance.
List of natural reasons why thuja turns yellow
The first thing to do if the thuja has turned yellow is to find out the cause of this problem. There may be several of these:
- natural change in the color of needles associated with changes in temperature;
- exposure to pathological organisms;
- influence of pests;
- lack of minerals and vitamins;
- improper planting of thuja and caring for it.
Why does thuja turn yellow after planting?
If immediately after planting the thuja turns yellow and dries out, this may be a temporary problem. Sometimes yellowness is only a consequence of the plant adapting to a new place. If the thuja has taken root but continues to turn yellow, then you should take a closer look at it and remember whether it was planted correctly.
Is the place chosen correctly?
Weakening and even death of the thuja can be caused by improper planting. This coniferous representative is very demanding on the place where it will be planted:
- Poor sandy soil that does not have an automatic watering system can lead to the root system suffering from a lack of moisture. Water in such soil quickly evaporates without being retained.
- Clay soils suffer from excess moisture, which negatively affects the condition of the root collar. Stagnation of water leads to the fact that the roots stop receiving oxygen in the required quantity, and this prevents them from developing. In addition, excess moisture can cause rotting of the thuja root system, which eventually begins to turn yellow.
- Deepening the root collars. In this case, the thuja may begin to turn yellow only a few weeks after planting. The roots first fight for life, trying to resist diseases, but the strength to resist is enough for a month at most.
- The landing site is located in an area where there is a sharp change in illumination and shading. For example, for a month the plant is in the shade created by one or another plant (a bindweed on the wall of a gazebo, tall bushes or trees), then the plant is removed (the bindweed fades and is removed, the bushes or trees are cut down).In this case, the fragile plant can receive serious sunburn, which can not only spoil the appearance of the thuja, but also destroy it.
- Planting combined with other plants, or frequent planting of thuja. If the conifer is cramped, it will begin to suffer from oxygen deficiency and excess moisture at the same time. Therefore, it is not recommended to plant plants close to each other, just as it is not recommended to plant thujas together with other vegetation.
Why did the thuja turn yellow after winter, summer or autumn?
First of all, it is necessary to find out whether problems with yellowing of the conifer are caused by natural causes. For example, a change in the color of the needles may be a feature of the variety before the onset of winter, and it may also be a periodic yellowing of the bottom of the crown (which is natural and does not need to be alarmed). In addition, the needles are sometimes chewed by domestic animals.
Afterwards, other factors influencing the growth of the plant are analyzed.
Sunburn
As already mentioned, thujas should not be planted in areas with direct access to sunlight. Ultraviolet radiation poses a particular danger to plants in the spring, when the snow has not yet melted and the sun begins to scorch. Fighting off the snow, ultraviolet rays hit the needles, burning them. Therefore, in the first year after wintering, the tree needs to be protected in the spring, using simple shelters from the first sun.
Violation of the watering schedule
When the seedlings are just planted in open ground, they need to be properly cared for. This also applies to regular watering. In the first month after planting, thuja is watered every 5 - 7 days (10 - 12 liters of water for each seedling). In addition, it is worth spraying thuja to reduce the likelihood of sunburn.It is important that this procedure is carried out early in the morning or in the evening, after sunset.
Areas characterized by high levels of groundwater differ from others by increased levels of humidity. Therefore, thuja planted there need not be watered even immediately after planting, and it will not turn yellow.
Nutritional deficiencies
Fertilizers are also an important aspect in growing thuja. If it begins to turn yellow, then you should pay special attention to this factor. Thuja responds well to both mineral and organic fertilizers.
Organic matter, usually manure, is diluted in water and the soil is watered with this solution without getting on the tree trunk. Each plant requires about 3 liters of solution, which is prepared in the following proportions: 1 part manure to 4 parts water.
Mineral fertilizers are used 3 times per season (starting in early spring and ending in late summer). You can use any suitable preparations, for example, Bioud, Epin, Universal Idol, etc. If the thuja has already begun to turn yellow, then urgent application of fertilizers can save the tree.
Pests and diseases
Thujas often turn yellow due to the influence of various pests and diseases on them. The most common are:
- Aphid. This microscopic insect is extremely dangerous for thuja. It sucks the juices out of the plant, as a result of which it begins to turn yellow and crumble.
- Fungal diseases which affect the leaves and twigs of the thuja, as a result the latter begin to turn yellow and die.
How to treat thuja against yellowing
Having found out the reason why the thuja turns yellow, you can decide what needs to be done in a particular case.
- When brown mold forms, the plant must be treated with Kartotsid or Bordeaux mixture. Treatment is carried out twice with an interval of 15 - 20 days.
- Kartotsid or Komandor, as well as a solution of Fundazol, which is used immediately after planting a seedling and then repeated throughout the life of the plant, at least twice a season, will help rid thuja from fungal diseases.
- You can save the plant from the influence of aphids using Actellik or Rogor-S.
The reason for the yellowing of thuja is pets
Many gardeners carefully follow the rules for planting thuja, take a responsible approach to growing the plant, regularly water and fertilize it, but the thuja still turns yellow inside the crown and around the edges. In this case, the cause may be the negative influence of animals. The fact is that this representative of coniferous plants has an extremely negative attitude towards the excrement of dogs and cats. Trivial animal markings can become a serious problem. As a rule, the tree does not turn yellow at first and does not show any signs of disease, but when the roots and trunk of the thuja cease to cope, symptoms of the problem appear on the needles.
It is possible to protect a tree from encroachment by animals only by erecting basal fences. To prevent the thujas from turning yellow inside, it is necessary to protect them with a net.You can take either a metal or rope option, which is used to enclose an area with a diameter of 0.5 meters.
Experienced gardeners use another barrier that acts as protection against animal marks, planting prickly low-growing plants, even cacti, around the thuja bush.
Prevention measures
In order not to think about why the thuja turned yellow after winter, it is best to avoid such a problem. Simple preventative measures will help with this.
- The planted seedling must be shaded until it becomes stronger. Otherwise, it will begin to turn yellow.
- To prevent the thuja from turning yellow, the soil around the bush needs to be mulched. You can use peat, sawdust, compost, pine needles. This will protect the root system from the effects of cold in winter and from rapid evaporation of moisture.
- To prevent the thuja from turning yellow, regular and sufficient watering must also be carried out. Each young tree should receive at least 10 liters of water every week. If the weather is hot and there is no precipitation, the amount of water is doubled, or watering is carried out every 3 days.
- Bathing the thuja will also help protect the tree from yellowing. A morning or evening shower has a good effect on the condition of the needles and helps protect them from sunburn, preventing the thuja from turning yellow.
- To prevent the thuja from turning yellow, it is worth thinking about fertilizing. Fertilizers must be introduced regularly, in the correct proportions. Do not forget that thuja can turn yellow from excess fertilizer, so this procedure should be carried out strictly according to the instructions.
- If the thujas on the site turn yellow in the fall, and this situation happens every year, then this may indicate that the plant does not have enough time to “ripen” in a timely manner. In this case, preventing yellowing of the crop will involve timely application of fertilizers, which will stimulate plant growth from spring to mid-summer.
- If the thuja turns yellow only in the spring, then prevention will involve arranging a winter shelter. Most likely, the plant is simply freezing. To protect it, you simply need to mulch the soil around the trunk with a 5-centimeter layer of sawdust.
Conclusion
To answer the question why the thuja turned yellow after winter, what to do and how to protect the plant from such a problem, it is important to analyze the factors influencing the development of the crop and follow the rules of agricultural technology. Thuja is not one of the most demanding plants; even a beginner in gardening can provide minimal basic care.
