whats wrong with my sawtooth

Nebraskaz71

Active Member
I grew several sawtooth oaks last year that I got as acorns from a few qdma members. Rootmaker 18 grown then directly planted in ground in a 5ft combitube, gets afternoon shade but otherwise decent sunlight. Been an extremely wet year, soil ph is generally around 6-6.5, osmocote plus treepaks for fertilizer this spring one time only. In their first year one tree grew 3ft and looked great, the others survived but didnt do a lot. This year the ones that didnt do much are growing better "6-12 inch growth" and the one that grew great is looking really bad. It grew about 6" this year is all, as it flushed the second time the leaves stayed only 1/4" long/wide and have all turned yellow and white with orange rust looking spots. I dont have a pic at the moment but will try to get one. Its been about 8 weeks since that flush and nothing has changed or grown at all. Maybe thats a super alkaline spot wheres its planted? disease? to much water? Any ideas?

thanks
 
Usually not a good idea to fertilize the first year a tree is in the ground because instead of developing a root structure out into the ground you planted in they try to use the fertilizer all for top growth and then the root structure they have won't support everything they put on up top...
 
Kubota is right about fertilizer. In general, trees, especially oaks, don't need that much fertilizer, they don't get it in the wild without human intervention. I don't fertilize any of my trees, and the ones in my yard don't seem to notice the fertilizer for my grass either. That being said a slow release fertilizer like osmocote or dynamite would be your best option, but I still wouldn't fertilize a young tree like that.
 
If the ground dries out enough for it to breathe again it may...never had a problem with ground too wet down here :confused:
 
I had some sawtooths yellow earlier in the year and i am sure it was from wet feet. They have recovered and are growing very well at this point. Mine arent tubed. No idea if that affects anything. We have had a lot of rain in July and they look good right now, but they are actively growing and its hot, vs cooler weather when they yellowed.
Mine have had two rounds of light fert (12-12-12) this year growing in a garden bed.
 
Its been dryer lately but the tree has looked like this for quite some time with no change, guess Ill see what happens next spring and replace it if necessary.
 
It might be severely iron deficient. My first guess would have been too wet, but if it's not that then nutrient deficiency is my second.
 
I have had a concoria oak that looked the same.I put down some aluminum sulfate and its sending out new leaves that look normal.
 
Its a powder used to lower ph to fight iron chlorosis.My tree seems to have got it from Too much rain or over watering.
 
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