Young white pine wilting. Environmental or disease?

[smithfieldrifles]

One of three young white pines I planted this September seems to have started to wilt There was a broken branch on the central leader with some white sap but I know woody adelgid leaves a white cottony substance that looks like dried sap. Hoping this is just the product of over-saturated soil from heavy rains or a need for some fertilizer, but waiting for some more experienced folks to chime in before I do anything (hopefully nothing serious). The lean of the tree is unrelated to the problem, it came from the nursery like that, I have to right it with a stake.

 

[Raintree]

I would pull it out of the ground. White pines don't like wet feet. Check for water pooling in the hole. Also check for foul smells in the soil. Did you add organics to the planting medium? Once a pine starts to wilt like yours recovery is slim. It's only been a few months you may have a shot. It needs to come out and replanted in dryer unmended soil.

 

[ATpro]

Then again it could be the first stages of pine wilt disease This is caused by the pine wood nematode. Over watering or under watering can cause the same affect. J-root or shallow planting can result in under watering. Over watering with chlorine tap water can contaminate the soil and plant.

 

[smithfieldrifles]

Thanks guys, I pulled it up, no odd smells but the dirt seemed fairly wet all the way down although no puddles (but we did just have 3 days of rain). I'm in NE Pennsylvania and we get above-average rain, so even something planted shallow gets good water. I dont see any signs of insects that I can tell and my half dozen other pines are doing fine (2 I got from the same nursery at the same time). I originally planted with an organic bumpercrop/topsoil mix. I just got 5 more bags of topsoil and pea gravel to mix in to make sure the soil drains a little better. I built up a mound with soil/gravel and replanted, it elevated the tree about 6-8" higher and I'll see if that was the issue, although I dont expect the needles to perk back up now that its getting below freezing at night. Hopefully this is a remedy and not too late. Thanks for the input!