Question about Podocarpus bark

[MindMint]

Hello guys!

I have been recently trying to restyle my podocarpus and started to cut off the branches that I didn't want and what struck me was that I didn't find any green layer at the location where I cut off the branches. I then realized that the tree might be in not such a good shape because some leaves had brown edges. I then decided to scratch the trunk a bit and I also didn't find anything green there. Now I am kind of worried about the tree and fear that it may be dying. This is my first podocarpus so I am not really familiar with it. I live in northern Germany and have kept it outside since the start of June and have been watering it as soon as the upper layer dries out. I also fertilize the tree every two weeks with a 6 4 6 chemical fertilizer. Does anyone have any idea how to figure out if the tree is dying? I have read that these trees only show signs of dying when it is way too late. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Shibui]

No need to look for problems where there are none.
It is much harder to see the cambium in some species. The tree looks fine and podocarpus are generally hardy though really slow to grow and develop in my experience.

I take it you are keeping this one outdoors? Conifers definitely don't like to be indoors.

Where in the world are you? Adding a location to your profile helps others work out advice better suited to your location.

 

[MindMint]

No need to look for problems where there are none.
It is much harder to see the cambium in some species. The tree looks fine and podocarpus are generally hardy though really slow to grow and develop in my experience.

I take it you are keeping this one outdoors? Conifers definitely don't like to be indoors.

Where in the world are you? Adding a location to your profile helps others work out advice better suited to your location.

Hi! thank you for the quick reply! I am keeping it outdoors during the sommer and I will bring it inside in the winter. I live in Germany and winters can very rough with temperature reaching way below freezing point. I will update my profile in a second. Have you ever owned a Podocarpus? What are the telltale signs that the tree isn't healthy? I was planning on repotting it next spring since the soil is not very good.

 

[Shibui]

I have grown several podocarpus species.
I think the first may have been P. macrophyllus aka Buddhist pine, many years ago. It is long gone.
Currently growing a number of an Australian native podocarpus - P. lawrencii AKA Mountain plum pine but they are very slow to grow, thicken and develop branching so I still don't have any good podocarpus bonsai.

 

[choppychoppy]

Look at the tips and in between leaves for new buds. If all tips are growing and new buds are swelling then the tree is fine. These have more of a reddish then white underbark and cambium layer. Its not really green except the new growth.

 

[MindMint]

Look at the tips and in between leaves for new buds. If all tips are growing and new buds are swelling then the tree is fine. These have more of a reddish then white underbark and cambium layer. Its not really green except the new growth.

Thank you for your reply! do you think I could repot it at this time of the year? the soil looks very bad to me. If I repot it, how do I go about removing the soil between the roots? I heard that pines are generally very sensitive to the soil between the roots getting touched

 

[choppychoppy]

Its

Thank you for your reply! do you think I could repot it at this time of the year? the soil looks very bad to me. If I repot it, how do I go about removing the soil between the roots? I heard that pines are generally very sensitive to the soil between the roots getting touched

Its not a pine. It's a subtropical evergreen. You can repot it pretty much anytime spring thru the growing season.

 

[SU2]

Its



Its not a pine. It's a subtropical evergreen. You can repot it pretty much anytime spring thru the growing season.

Was surprised when I learned it was coniferous (1st thought- "Yayy, now I have 3 coniferous species in my collection", IE my BC's and the Juniper you gave me- thanks again BTW )

Hoping that as a fellow floridian - one who I've actually seen in-possession of a similar-enough Podo to my new/only one - I'm hoping you could help with some tips for quickly growing/building the skeleton or structure ("Development") of this specie. I've read in >1 place "100% full sun is not preferable", but I see Podo's in the landscape getting full or near-full all the time and they look great!

Its trunk-line was finally chosen & created about 1mo ago (had to let it recover & grow a bit after collection, of course!), and after removing a few badly-placed branches & then wiring the remaining branches/primaries, I realized I didn't know if (for rapid growth) if this species responds better to:
#1 - "Let the branches run, get fat branch-collars, then hard-prune wayyy back; Repeat for a few years til you have your skeleton", like BC's, or:
#2 - "Once branches extend to 2'+, prune them back about 1/4th, or 1/2, to a new viable growing-tip" (IE 'reduction cuts' like silhouette/hedge pruning, like you'd do with a Bougainvillea)

Thanks a ton for any insight,. can still remember the rough shape of that big Podo you had in your trunk/vehicle when I met you (and can still remember thinking "How is it going to grow/develop structure in such a small box?" ;D ) so would be eager to hear anything you can tell me about Developing podo's quickly in FL!! Gotta love species that are vigorous with their adventitious budding, rare for conifers but I know from experience that even un-touched, healthy in-ground mature Podo's will still pop buds out of their main trunk so am expecting that, if/when you cut a 3' branch down to its lowest node, that you can be confident you'll get budding on that branch *below* its lowest node once adventitious buds break

[PS- Mine's been getting higher & higher Nitro and responding well; today I'll be slip-potting it into a root-maker container (currently in an oversized tub, will be risking problematic roots if they grow that way much longer!) Removed about 1-in-5 of its branches last month when setting its trunk-line, it didn't seem to flinch - how quick are Podo's to showing visible symptoms of distress? Will say the "delayed-response" of Juniper has made me incredibly hesitant to do anything fun..]