Liquid Ambers problem

[messmate]

I have a stand of Liquid Ambers that are about 20 years old.
These trees are all stunted in there growth.
Can someone tell me if they are susceptible to disease and what is the best fertilizer that I should be feeding them?

They are growing in a cool clement of southern Australia at 300 meters above sea level and growing in full sun.

messate

 

[Lumberjack]

Howdy, double post, BTW. Try posting in the homeowners.

Welcome to AS!

 

[Stumper]

How is the leaf color? Nice even green or are the veins deeper green than the rest of the leaf?

 

[Ekka]

Hey Messmate

Any chance of posting some pics?

And could you be a little more specific with where you live, like big difference between Melbourne and Hobart.

Now before you post back can you take a bit of a look around near where this tree is and get some of these answers for me ...

1/ What is the soil, clay, loam, sand, gravelly rock etc?

2/ About 1m away from the trunk how hard is it to stick a long screw driver into the ground?

3/ What is growing beneath the tree? (lawn, weeds, garden, just mulch etc)

4/ Is the spot flat, on a hill etc?

5/ Explain briefly the micro-climate, you know, is it windy, exposed, frost, wet summers like up here or dry summers?

6/ What other trees nearby are growing really good?

Have fun ...

 

[messmate]

liquid ambers

The liquid ambers are located in a natural bush setting at Gembrook in Victoria.
The stands of tree’s run east west and get full sun.
The earth around the trees is slightly compacted with a lawn on fairly flat ground.
The earth is red clay.
We have a wet and forest like climate.
Other trees that grow well are emendate area are Stringy-bark Messmate,
Maintain Grey Ash, Silver Banksia and the Peppermint Gum.
I have other liquid Ambers growing on my property that are doing very well in similar environment.



Messmate.

 

[Ekka]

Without pics it's not easy but here we go.

If you dig a hole 200mm deep and fill it with water, how long does it take to disappear?

Is there any cambium damage from whipper snipper (ringbarking effect)

Can you test the soil PH, take samples from 100mm deep?

Have you been spraying any weed & feed type products on the lawn?

--------------------------------------------------

My hunch is that if they are all suffering then it's something to do with the soil in that particular area or they were all planted wrong.

With winter and the dormant period coming along it's a good time to get the fundamentals right.

If the soil is clay and there's compaction then the feeder roots will have difficulty doing their job. They'll work best closer to the surface but the greedy lawn is taking away the nutrient and water. Can you mulch around these trees?

When you dig that hole did you see any worms?

What tree roots need is air, water and nutrients. Worms help aerate the soil and take organic matter down under the surface. So fertilize with a blood/bone & dynamic lifter to try and get the right microbes happening, they'll produce humus, and thats what trees eat. Get worms in there too.

Gypsum applied at the rate of 1kg/m2 will help in decompaction, salinity and sodicity without altering soil PH.

Sometimes the addition of some course sand will help the soil structure, perhaps top dress with some sand, only thin though say no more than 10mm thick.

Stunted growth is usually an absense of Phosphorous and Potassium, yellowing is usually a lack of Nitrogen. Now don't go buying and pouring any of that stuff on.

The other species that are doing fine are far more tolerant of crappy soils, they'll grow in shale, rock etc and the case of Banksias they have proteoid roots, which gives them the ability to harvest phosphorous very efficiently ... that's why the old saying ... don't fertilize natives came about because they have evolved to put up with our poor soils. And most lawn fertilizer etc can burn them.

Anyway, Liquid Ambers are usually pretty vigorous, work on getting the soil/PH etc right, eliminate the competition from lawn, get the soil microbe system working and all will be OK.

From my experience Liquid Ambers don't do as well when they're exposed and on their own, like a solitaire tree on a hill. Let us know how you go.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

i'll get bet on compaction as the problem

 

[treeseer]

You guys are talking about Liquidambar styraciflua, the sweetgum or gumball tree, right? They are despised here; a pioneer species along with pines, and the last to die from construction damage. Very compaction-resistant here, but here is very different from there I guess.

 

[Ekka]

Treeseer

That's the one, tough as nails but this guys trees in a particular stand are dwarfed. He reckons others around the property are doing well.

So I can only figure that there's something going on in that stand, going back to basics and eliminating possibilities is my approach .... as no pics, we are going into winter and they probably have coloured leaves now ready to drop so even if he does give us some pics it will be a tough task.

My gut feeling on this one is soil conditions, nutrients, water, PH etc ... there's something going on ... or they're on the brow of a hill copping SO2 from the factory next door!

Good quiz hey?

 

[Jim1NZ]

Two rite its a good quiz.
This is the sort of thing everyone can learn from, but its a bit of a mission with no pics alright

 

[Ekka]

Pics arrived

Here's 2 pics, before I put my 2 bobs worth in all give you guys a chance.

 

[a_lopa]

most L/Ambers around that area and most of victoria havnt grown alot in the last year it been too dry.is it red dirt like most of gembrook?most of the trees have only started dropping there leaves in the last week,the trees have been looking droopy due to no rain.

 

[Ekka]

I can't fatham those little trees being 20 years old!

The problem is worse now that they are competing for light too. It appears that the dwarfed ones also happen to be closest to the path/road.

Probably a number of things

A/ Compaction for sure, roots need air as well as water and nutrients, so aerating the soil will help. In the commercial world they actually get a compressor with a spear and pump air into the soil profile. Gysum applied at the rate of 1kg per m2 helps too.

B/ Run off from the path can bring with it toxins from whatever travels on the path, chemicals from the construction of the path. Do a PH test and see if it's around the magic 6.5 area.

C/ Water will run off down hill so likely that the trees at the bottom are drinking more, mulch will help retain moisture.

D/ Soil may be hydrophobic, apply a wetting agent, can't hurt.

E/ Get rid of competing grasses/lawns around trees, just spray it with zero etc.

So, in conculsion, if the PH is right the trees can take up nutrients.

First of all do your aeration stuff. Then apply a wetting agent. Apply gypsum at the rate of 1kg per m2 (it helps with clay soils and compaction/ drainage)Fertilize with something organic like blood n bone or dynamic lifter, water well. Mulch on top. On top of the mulch you may apply some chemical fertilizer with trace elements ... I just use one from the supermarket that's used on vegie patches.

See how you go, start now and you should see a marked improvement this spring. It takes a while do get the soil working right so don't wait till spring.