japanese black pine wilting?

[nover18]

Just saw this morning as I was watering. I have never seen before. Any ideas what might have caused this? I have not done a lot to this pine. I applied Daconil a few days ago and back in Mid june did some decandling. We did have a really bad storm with high winds a night or two ago. Could this be from wind damaging the needles? I have a pine on the bench right next to it and it's completely fine (see pic 2). All of my other pines were also looking fine after storm and Daconil application. It has some nice potential and the buds that are down low appear healthy. Soil is a bit slower to drain than earlier in the year. Could this be a root issue?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Looks like physical damage...like something bumped it, or it got knocked into something else. It appears to be a sacrifice branch(?), so unless the problem is on the lower "final branches" too, it's probably a non-issue.

 

[Adair M]

I agree with Brian.

 

[Smoke]

I would check around the benches for foot prints. This looks like the work of "Big Foot".

 

[nover18]

thanks guys. yes it is a sacrifice branch.

 

[bonsaibp]

To be safe I would check for spider mites.