Part of my Taxus is turning brown?

[Tntthunder]

Basically my Taxus I noticed is turning brown, it's been a pretty cold winter often down to -20c or lower. It's warmed up a little now but still cold (-5 to 5 c.) my tree is on a protected glass balcony and out of the wind with the balcony about 5c warmer than outside.

Any thoughts what it could be? First pic is from about 2 weeks ago, 2nd is just now. It's seems to have gotten worse, the leaves don't feel dry, the soil is quite compacted though could it be a watering issue? winter colour? (I would've thought it would have happened earlier in the winter), sun burn? Fungus? etc. Also, a lot of the foliage turning brown on the inside was recent growth (last growing season)

 

[Eckhoffw]

May I ask where the tree has been kept for the last couple months?

 

[Tntthunder]

May I ask where the tree has been kept for the last couple months?

In a south east facing glazed/closed glass balcony, up against the wall to my apartment for extra warmth and covered in a white cloth. It's out of direct and strong winds and our winters here are very dark, we get very little sun/sunny days and when we do it's not directly on my trees for very long this time of year (also why I have white cloth), when it gets too warm I open up my balcony and it's always below 7 C.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I don't know... but I am wondering if it might be a fungus? The damage looks unusual to me. First, it is in the interior of the plant. Second, it is not uniform - some leaves are brown while a leaf next to it is perfectly green. Additionally the damage on the leaf is not uniform; in some cases the damage appears to be in the middle of the leaf while the tip and base are both green.

Environmental damage (cold, too much sun, wind, etc) tends to be much more uniform - and usually impacts the exterior of the tree before the interior. Root damage - usually from too much / too little water - is also more uniform, because it tends to impact one part (or the entirety) of the tree. This damage looks randomly sprinkled around... which leads me to think fungus.

 

[brentwood]

It's difficult to tell, what's your soil like? Sometimes a heavy soil leads to wet roots, could cause fungus issues, root issues. Does your tree stay wet a long time after watering? That would be a early spring fix, if your soil needs replacing.

B

 

[coachspinks]

Basically my Taxus I noticed is turning brown, it's been a pretty cold winter often down to -20c or lower. It's warmed up a little now but still cold (-5 to 5 c.) my tree is on a protected glass balcony and out of the wind with the balcony about 5c warmer than outside.

Any thoughts what it could be? First pic is from about 2 weeks ago, 2nd is just now. It's seems to have gotten worse, the leaves don't feel dry, the soil is quite compacted though could it be a watering issue? winter colour? (I would've thought it would have happened earlier in the winter), sun burn? Fungus? etc. Also, a lot of the foliage turning brown on the inside was recent growth (last growing seas

Could it have dried out at some point in the last few months? I have one that looked similar to what I see on yours. It dried out badly in the fall. It took weeks for it to show up in the foliage.

 

[sorce]

I am convinced that Taxus don't like sun on their trunk/bark.

Ones amidst a forest can have sparse foliage and bare trunk.
But every landscape one I ever seen get pruned up, sprouts foliage quick on the trunk to shade it again.

If they aren't allowed to naturally shade themselves via our pruning, they will give up.

I'd keep the trunk covered with something until it has more foliage.

Recovering fast enough to not die from exposure can't happen naturally in a pot.

Sorce

 

[Tntthunder]

It's difficult to tell, what's your soil like? Sometimes a heavy soil leads to wet roots, could cause fungus issues, root issues. Does your tree stay wet a long time after watering? That would be a early spring fix, if your soil needs replacing.

B

It is severely compacted nursery soil, currently keep poking holes in the soil with a chopstick to loosen it. I was hoping to repot this spring.

 

[Tntthunder]

Could it have dried out at some point in the last few months? I have one that looked similar to what I see on yours. It dried out badly in the fall. It took weeks for it to show up in the foliage.

Maybe, this was my original thought process as the soil is extremely compacted and it was frozen for quite a while, any time I get the chance after big freezes I have been poking holes in it with a chopstick and then watering repeatedly over a few hours to let it soak in.

 

[Tntthunder]

I am convinced that Taxus don't like sun on their trunk/bark.

Ones amidst a forest can have sparse foliage and bare trunk.
But every landscape one I ever seen get pruned up, sprouts foliage quick on the trunk to shade it again.

If they aren't allowed to naturally shade themselves via our pruning, they will give up.

I'd keep the trunk covered with something until it has more foliage.

Recovering fast enough to not die from exposure can't happen naturally in a pot.

Sorce

I think I have noticed this too, I got this from a nursery last spring and worked on it cutting a lot of the foliage off, it budded absolutely everywhere all on bare branches and trunk, I Think I will cover the trunk this year as I am trying to grow new branches out.