Cypresses are evergreen conifers that are often kept as a privacy screen or as a single tree in the garden or in a container. If the trees are missing something, the needles turn brown and sometimes yellow. What causes the cypress tree to turn brown?
What are the causes of brown cypress and how can I treat it?
If a cypress tree turns brown, there may be causes such as a location that is too dry or moist, a lack of nutrients, fungal diseases or a magnesium deficiency. Adequate watering, drainage, fungicides and Epsom s alt can help.
Causes of Brown Needles of Cypress
If the cypress inside the tree gets brown needles, this is usually a completely normal process. Here there is not enough light reaching the trunk, so the needles dry out and fall off.
If the tips of the cypress turn brown or the whole tree slowly turns brown, care errors are usually responsible. Causes can be:
- location too wet or too dry
- Nutrient Deficiency
- Fungal diseases
- Magnesium deficiency
Location too dry or too moist
Cypresses cannot tolerate absolute dryness, but neither can they tolerate waterlogging. Dryness can be a problem, especially in winter. The conifers also need to be watered in the cold season so that they get enough moisture. Water them with slightly warmed water on frost-free days.
Waterlogging is also harmful. It brings the roots into the rot. Especially on heavy soils, you should create drainage before planting the cypresses.
Cut off brown branches.
Fungal diseases turn shoot tips brown
A brown coloring of the shoot tips that is not caused by dryness or wetness often indicates a fungal disease.
Cut off the shoot tips and dispose of them in household waste. Treat the trees with commercial fungicides.
You can prevent fungal diseases by only using very clean tools for cutting. Unclean cutting leaves transfer fungal spores from other plants to the cypress.
Needle tan due to magnesium deficiency
Coniferous browning is noticeable on older cypress trees because the plants lack magnesium. This occurs more often in loamy, heavy soils.
As a remedy, sprinkle Epsom s alts under the trees. This is best done before budding in spring. Depending on the size of the cypress trees, you will need 150 to 250 grams of Epsom s alt per tree.
Tip
If the cypress shows brown tips after winter rest, it is rarely frost damage, even if cypresses are only partially hardy. The brown spots are usually caused by a lack of water in winter.
