In most residential areas, where the soil has lower quality, you will most likely need to incorporate some type of fertilizer. Specific fungal diseases and infections can also cause blue spruces to lose their iconic color. Maintaining high light exposure and proper soil conditions also causes the needles to be shorter because they have to cover less area for the same amount of sun. This wax acts to insulate and protect the needle from outside stimuli, such as poor weather conditions. This can help the health of the soil and your other plants. There are a multitude of reasons your blue spruce might lose its iconic blue color. To prevent or treat your blue spruce, identify the certain problem on your tree, if theres any clear bark, needle, or nearby grass issues. You might use compost, organic granules, or a pre-mixed liquid. This might help to give your tree its blue color back because we see many forms of iron as a blue color, and iron is a component of many waxed spruce needles. Kangas, M. (2004).
In most cases, new needles have an incredibly high concentration of this wax on them, making them appear extra blue. Another reason people recommend iron is because it combats things such as chlorosis, which causes yellowing or whitening of leaves and needles. Light allows spruces to create sugars and energy, which it then uses to carry out functions like creating and maintaining the waxy coating of needles. van HavVan Haverbeke, D. F. (1984). Just to add when you shop using links from Tree Journey, we may earn affiliate commissions if you make a purchase. This fertilizer releases nutrients straight into the root zone of your tree, promoting good health all season long! Therefore, blue spruce needles are often thick, waxy, and leathery on the outside. Overall, while keeping your spruce blue may be important, it is always good to remember to have fun while out in your garden, and to connect to your trees! While we have mentioned this before, the best way to have your blue spruce get a blue color is simply to find a correct care technique and stick to it. Mangroves grow along intertidal and coastal waterways as you may have seen them sticking out of the water along the coast. We can look at some simple steps to making your spruce appear bluer. Most people have selected fertilizer options that they claim will help maintain your spruces blue color. Research or call an expert, and apply the proper fungicide or recommended tactic. Blue spruces, are in the evergreen family of trees. Periodically checking if your spruce has dulling needles, algal spots, or falling needles, can help you assess and maintain its health. Along with adding things to your tree, assess the physical health of your tree. Spruces also prefer very fertile soil. So, the question of the day. Some trees look bluer than others which is the result of primarily tree maintenance and fertilizer. Fertilizers could help restore some blue color by giving plants the nutrients used to make the wax coating. Did you know that blue spruce trees are one of the trees that keep their leaves year round? I grew up on 50+ acres of pastures, woodlands, and a freshwater bass pond surrounded by apple orchards where I worked back in the day. One great example of an iron agent you can add is this 4-lb Iron Sulfate. To preface, these steps arent in any chronological order. Many diseases can affect your spruce tree, each with its causes and appearances. Many claims in favor of using some sort of fertilizer rich in iron have been made. You may simply want to give your spruce more time to see if it can bounce back to its blue color on its own. More sun allows for more photosynthesis to occur, making the blue spruce pigments more concentrated. Very heavy and consistent rains can wear down this wax over time, and reduce the wax on the blue spruce tree, which protects it and causes its blue color. Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture. They are magnificent and can add the perfect whimsical pop of blue to your garden all year long. If they are not met, it can lead them to change or lose their color. Spruce Diseases In North Dakota [E-book]. What steps can you take to make your blue spruce look more vibrant and blue? These methods act to keep it healthy, allowing it to create and maintain its wonderful blue color. To start, blue spruces like to have moist soil. Now you know what blue spruces are like, what causes them to have a blue color, and what can affect this blue color. Additives like fertilizers can also increase the hue of your blue spruce. Banana Tree Timeline: How Long Does It Take Bananas To Grow? Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture. In the end, while this isnt the only disease that can affect your blue spruce, it is a good example of how diseases show on trees, what they do, and some ways to treat them. 9 Amazing Differences Between Eucalyptus And Gum Trees, reason why your pine tree (blue spruce) isnt growing, Scotts Evergreen Flowering Tree & Shrub Fertilizer, 9 Best Maple Trees To Plant Pros And Cons Of Major Types. If your tree is being improperly watered or cared for, this can also cause the needles to yellow or fall off, which certainly affects how blue your spruce appears. 253). They look like thick-leaved, Read More Mangrove Trees: How And What They Actually EatContinue, Evergreens keep our lawns interesting in the winter when their deciduous neighbors have dropped their leaves for the season. Pollutants and other natural causes in the air can make the wax coating deteriorate, causing spruces to lose their color. Hanover, J. W. (1975). Simply keeping these factors stable and consistently in the range that your spruce likes could be all you need! One small thing to mention about your spruces color is protection. In truth, the blue color of blue spruce needles is mainly attributed to epicuticular waxes found on the outside of the needles. One common disease among spruces is a needle disease brought on by the fungus Rhizopheara. This is often referred to as Rhizosphaera Needle Cast. These will act to make your soil more workable for the roots of the spruce and create a natural water control system. Confused yet? As with most plants, improper care can cause your blue spruce to lose its luster. This wax reflects sunlight in certain wavelengths that appear to us as a frosty blue. Next, were going to talk about just why your blue spruce may have lost its color, and then get into how you can make it more blue again! From flowers, Read More Tree Moss in Florida: Why it Happens and What To DoContinue, Lets face it, most of us have at one time or another burned pallets, leftover construction materials, or other suspect wood that contained nails and, Read More 9 Reasons Why You Shouldnt Burn Wood With NailsContinue, Banana trees are quick to establish and produce heaps of fruit. As with most things, it takes time to grow new needles and create new wax. This can be beneficial, as sometimes we can hurt our plants and trees by doing too much for them. Instead, they are separate tips you can pair and use together to help your specific tree. If you've got a question about trees, we've got the answer. If youre thinking of planting a banana tree but dont know what timeline to, Read More Banana Tree Timeline: How Long Does It Take Bananas To Grow?Continue, Some gum trees are eucalyptus trees, and some eucalyptus trees are gum trees, but not all gum trees are eucalyptus trees. This site is owned and operated by Pest Pointers LLC | treejourney.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. In terms of watering, spruces want around an inch per week. While these are important, they have less of an impact on spruce color as compared to sunlight. However, if you are in a dryer area, you may need to hand water, or set up an irrigation system. Blue spruce trees are beautiful evergreen trees with a tint of blue to their needles. Areas with less rain in the summer can allow it to maintain its blue color for longer. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. This can help them get rid of old or dead growth, and make space and energy for fresh growth to come in. This color is caused by a wax coating they create, meaning you can specifically try to increase its production to make your tree bluer! Some spruces benefit from occasional pruning. Besides meeting your trees needs, it is important to maintain its health. There are a few necessities your blue spruces need to grow full and healthy. According to Nebraska Extension, this disease normally stays on living or recently dead needles and can cause your trees needles to darken, turn brown, or even fall off. Mangrove Trees: How And What They Actually Eat, 7 Most Effective Evergreen Fertilizers (And How They Work), Tree Moss in Florida: Why it Happens and What To Do, 9 Reasons Why You Shouldnt Burn Wood With Nails. 28). It also means finding out if it is healthy, or if it has a certain infection or fungal disease. This means figuring out if you are meeting its required water and sunlight needs. Some of these include having moist, well-drained, and fertilized soil. While some of these diseases affect the needles themselves, a lot is actually in the rhizosphere (root zone) of your tree, so you should target remedies towards your roots. This can vary to a certain extent, but it is important to know that your spruce would prefer occasional heavy watering compared to small, frequent waterings. Pigments within the needles, chlorophyll for example, also make a blue spruce more blue. A few of the methods you can use to make your spruce bluer are to add iron fertilizers, monitor its health, and have it in a location with full sun exposure. To begin, one of the best ways to boost the color of your blue spruce is to make sure that it has the right conditions, such as light, temperature, and moisture levels. In the end, blue spruces can be very rewarding to grow.
This means that you want to find soil that has larger, looser components, such as sand, compost, and organic matter. Along with watering and maintaining spruce needs, you should also maintain spruce health by monitoring its outward appearance. Other conditions, such as wind and animal activity, can also remove the wax, so look into things such as repellents or planting wind barriers to protect the coating! If you allow your tree to grow new blue needles, you may have more luck in caring for them so that they retain their color for as long as possible. Certain fungal diseases or improper care can also cause a loss of blue spruce color.
This means that maintaining proper sun exposure can help your spruce in creating and maintaining a blue color in your blue spruce. To explain this in more depth, the plant cells in blue spruce needles create exudate (wax) that coats the needles, leaving a waxy exterior. Behind me? Blue spruces want more well-drained soil as compared to other plants and trees. If your tree needs an all-around nutrient boost, look into specialty all-purpose fertilizers, such as Scotts Evergreen Flowering Tree & Shrub Fertilizer. Spruce health is strongly correlated to its appearance, so one reason your spruce may not be as blue as you would like could be because it is not as happy as it should be. Genetics of blue spruce(Vol. While this is less researched, many people claim that using fertilizers can help maintain or turn your spruce bluer. This is especially true in trees with dead growth or fungal damage because pruning can help prevent spread! If you are trying to understand why your blue spruce is not fully blue, you first need to know the basics: what they need, what they want, and what makes them blue. I'm Zack DeAngelis, the creator of Tree Journey. Read on to learn more about how blue spruces grow, what they need to grow, and ways you can make them more healthy, vibrant, and of course, blue! Fertilizers are usually a good idea for your plants in any situation, as they add a boost of vitality to the soil that improves biodiversity, soil health, and the overall nutrition of your plant. The most important factor is usually light, as that is the ultimate source of energy for plants and trees. A decrease in wax can also lead to stunted growth, which is a reason why your pine tree (blue spruce) isnt growing. Increasing or supporting your trees production of this wax can act to increase and maintain its proper blue color. One of the best tools to fix most problems is to give them time. The waxy coating naturally reflects certain wavelengths of visible light, causing us to perceive them as a frosty blue color. Pruning, fertilizing, and watering could cause harm while attempting to help them. By proper care, people normally refer to basic needs, so you should find what your specific spruce wants in terms of water, sunlight, soil type, temperature, nutrients, etc. If you are in an area that receives regular rainfall (approximately 1 inch a week), you should be fine. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Amazon and other companies linked to on this site. While most fertilizers will do the trick to help plants, some situations require specific remedies. Both, Read More 9 Amazing Differences Between Eucalyptus And Gum TreesContinue. While the waxy coating is fairly stable and relatively water-proof, some things can physically remove it from your tree. Genetic variation in blue spruce: a test of populations in Nebraska(Vol. Hah! There is not a lot you can do to help this, other than making sure your tree is healthy and you are supporting your native wildlife. To start, if your tree is not getting enough water, nutrients, etc., it most likely wont have enough storage to maintain and create the blue wax. Just why are blue spruces blue? If your tree was recently transplanted or has gone through some sort of shock, like inclement weather, it may be more susceptible to this disease. There are other factors, such as temperature and wind, among others. In general, positioning your blue spruce in full sun exposure can help the tree appear more blue.
This allows the waxy covering to concentrate over a smaller needle, making your tree appear bluer. In the end, your tree has the genetics to be blue, so as long as you properly care for it, it should have enough energy and components to stay blue. In other words, if your tree is healthy, try to let it sort itself out! To elaborate on air pollutants, were referring to specific compounds such as nitrogen oxides, carbon particulates, and hydrocarbons. Other than letting more wax develop, another reason to give your blue spruce more time is that it allows them to grow more needles. For this reason, you probably want, Read More 7 Most Effective Evergreen Fertilizers (And How They Work)Continue, Florida, the sunshine state and most southeastern state in the United States of America, has one of the most beautifully diverse plant lives. That's the woodpile my Dad and I cut/stack for 10+ years to heat up our family home in Upstate, NY. Similarly, with the blue color of spruces, one of the best ways to help them is to give them time. These are all things associated with bad air quality and C02 emissions. Blue spruce trees have some special care requirements.
In most cases, new needles have an incredibly high concentration of this wax on them, making them appear extra blue. Another reason people recommend iron is because it combats things such as chlorosis, which causes yellowing or whitening of leaves and needles. Light allows spruces to create sugars and energy, which it then uses to carry out functions like creating and maintaining the waxy coating of needles. van HavVan Haverbeke, D. F. (1984). Just to add when you shop using links from Tree Journey, we may earn affiliate commissions if you make a purchase. This fertilizer releases nutrients straight into the root zone of your tree, promoting good health all season long! Therefore, blue spruce needles are often thick, waxy, and leathery on the outside. Overall, while keeping your spruce blue may be important, it is always good to remember to have fun while out in your garden, and to connect to your trees! While we have mentioned this before, the best way to have your blue spruce get a blue color is simply to find a correct care technique and stick to it. Mangroves grow along intertidal and coastal waterways as you may have seen them sticking out of the water along the coast. We can look at some simple steps to making your spruce appear bluer. Most people have selected fertilizer options that they claim will help maintain your spruces blue color. Research or call an expert, and apply the proper fungicide or recommended tactic. Blue spruces, are in the evergreen family of trees. Periodically checking if your spruce has dulling needles, algal spots, or falling needles, can help you assess and maintain its health. Along with adding things to your tree, assess the physical health of your tree. Spruces also prefer very fertile soil. So, the question of the day. Some trees look bluer than others which is the result of primarily tree maintenance and fertilizer. Fertilizers could help restore some blue color by giving plants the nutrients used to make the wax coating. Did you know that blue spruce trees are one of the trees that keep their leaves year round? I grew up on 50+ acres of pastures, woodlands, and a freshwater bass pond surrounded by apple orchards where I worked back in the day. One great example of an iron agent you can add is this 4-lb Iron Sulfate. To preface, these steps arent in any chronological order. Many diseases can affect your spruce tree, each with its causes and appearances. Many claims in favor of using some sort of fertilizer rich in iron have been made. You may simply want to give your spruce more time to see if it can bounce back to its blue color on its own. More sun allows for more photosynthesis to occur, making the blue spruce pigments more concentrated. Very heavy and consistent rains can wear down this wax over time, and reduce the wax on the blue spruce tree, which protects it and causes its blue color. Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture. They are magnificent and can add the perfect whimsical pop of blue to your garden all year long. If they are not met, it can lead them to change or lose their color. Spruce Diseases In North Dakota [E-book]. What steps can you take to make your blue spruce look more vibrant and blue? These methods act to keep it healthy, allowing it to create and maintain its wonderful blue color. To start, blue spruces like to have moist soil. Now you know what blue spruces are like, what causes them to have a blue color, and what can affect this blue color. Additives like fertilizers can also increase the hue of your blue spruce. Banana Tree Timeline: How Long Does It Take Bananas To Grow? Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture. In the end, while this isnt the only disease that can affect your blue spruce, it is a good example of how diseases show on trees, what they do, and some ways to treat them. 9 Amazing Differences Between Eucalyptus And Gum Trees, reason why your pine tree (blue spruce) isnt growing, Scotts Evergreen Flowering Tree & Shrub Fertilizer, 9 Best Maple Trees To Plant Pros And Cons Of Major Types. If your tree is being improperly watered or cared for, this can also cause the needles to yellow or fall off, which certainly affects how blue your spruce appears. 253). They look like thick-leaved, Read More Mangrove Trees: How And What They Actually EatContinue, Evergreens keep our lawns interesting in the winter when their deciduous neighbors have dropped their leaves for the season. Pollutants and other natural causes in the air can make the wax coating deteriorate, causing spruces to lose their color. Hanover, J. W. (1975). Simply keeping these factors stable and consistently in the range that your spruce likes could be all you need! One small thing to mention about your spruces color is protection. In truth, the blue color of blue spruce needles is mainly attributed to epicuticular waxes found on the outside of the needles. One common disease among spruces is a needle disease brought on by the fungus Rhizopheara. This is often referred to as Rhizosphaera Needle Cast. These will act to make your soil more workable for the roots of the spruce and create a natural water control system. Confused yet? As with most plants, improper care can cause your blue spruce to lose its luster. This wax reflects sunlight in certain wavelengths that appear to us as a frosty blue. Next, were going to talk about just why your blue spruce may have lost its color, and then get into how you can make it more blue again! From flowers, Read More Tree Moss in Florida: Why it Happens and What To DoContinue, Lets face it, most of us have at one time or another burned pallets, leftover construction materials, or other suspect wood that contained nails and, Read More 9 Reasons Why You Shouldnt Burn Wood With NailsContinue, Banana trees are quick to establish and produce heaps of fruit. As with most things, it takes time to grow new needles and create new wax. This can be beneficial, as sometimes we can hurt our plants and trees by doing too much for them. Instead, they are separate tips you can pair and use together to help your specific tree. If you've got a question about trees, we've got the answer. If youre thinking of planting a banana tree but dont know what timeline to, Read More Banana Tree Timeline: How Long Does It Take Bananas To Grow?Continue, Some gum trees are eucalyptus trees, and some eucalyptus trees are gum trees, but not all gum trees are eucalyptus trees. This site is owned and operated by Pest Pointers LLC | treejourney.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. In terms of watering, spruces want around an inch per week. While these are important, they have less of an impact on spruce color as compared to sunlight. However, if you are in a dryer area, you may need to hand water, or set up an irrigation system. Blue spruce trees are beautiful evergreen trees with a tint of blue to their needles. Areas with less rain in the summer can allow it to maintain its blue color for longer. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. This can help them get rid of old or dead growth, and make space and energy for fresh growth to come in. This color is caused by a wax coating they create, meaning you can specifically try to increase its production to make your tree bluer! Some spruces benefit from occasional pruning. Besides meeting your trees needs, it is important to maintain its health. There are a few necessities your blue spruces need to grow full and healthy. According to Nebraska Extension, this disease normally stays on living or recently dead needles and can cause your trees needles to darken, turn brown, or even fall off. Mangrove Trees: How And What They Actually Eat, 7 Most Effective Evergreen Fertilizers (And How They Work), Tree Moss in Florida: Why it Happens and What To Do, 9 Reasons Why You Shouldnt Burn Wood With Nails. 28). It also means finding out if it is healthy, or if it has a certain infection or fungal disease. This means figuring out if you are meeting its required water and sunlight needs. Some of these include having moist, well-drained, and fertilized soil. While some of these diseases affect the needles themselves, a lot is actually in the rhizosphere (root zone) of your tree, so you should target remedies towards your roots. This can vary to a certain extent, but it is important to know that your spruce would prefer occasional heavy watering compared to small, frequent waterings. Pigments within the needles, chlorophyll for example, also make a blue spruce more blue. A few of the methods you can use to make your spruce bluer are to add iron fertilizers, monitor its health, and have it in a location with full sun exposure. To begin, one of the best ways to boost the color of your blue spruce is to make sure that it has the right conditions, such as light, temperature, and moisture levels. In the end, blue spruces can be very rewarding to grow.
This means that you want to find soil that has larger, looser components, such as sand, compost, and organic matter. Along with watering and maintaining spruce needs, you should also maintain spruce health by monitoring its outward appearance. Other conditions, such as wind and animal activity, can also remove the wax, so look into things such as repellents or planting wind barriers to protect the coating! If you allow your tree to grow new blue needles, you may have more luck in caring for them so that they retain their color for as long as possible. Certain fungal diseases or improper care can also cause a loss of blue spruce color.
This means that maintaining proper sun exposure can help your spruce in creating and maintaining a blue color in your blue spruce. To explain this in more depth, the plant cells in blue spruce needles create exudate (wax) that coats the needles, leaving a waxy exterior. Behind me? Blue spruces want more well-drained soil as compared to other plants and trees. If your tree needs an all-around nutrient boost, look into specialty all-purpose fertilizers, such as Scotts Evergreen Flowering Tree & Shrub Fertilizer. Spruce health is strongly correlated to its appearance, so one reason your spruce may not be as blue as you would like could be because it is not as happy as it should be. Genetics of blue spruce(Vol. While this is less researched, many people claim that using fertilizers can help maintain or turn your spruce bluer. This is especially true in trees with dead growth or fungal damage because pruning can help prevent spread! If you are trying to understand why your blue spruce is not fully blue, you first need to know the basics: what they need, what they want, and what makes them blue. I'm Zack DeAngelis, the creator of Tree Journey. Read on to learn more about how blue spruces grow, what they need to grow, and ways you can make them more healthy, vibrant, and of course, blue! Fertilizers are usually a good idea for your plants in any situation, as they add a boost of vitality to the soil that improves biodiversity, soil health, and the overall nutrition of your plant. The most important factor is usually light, as that is the ultimate source of energy for plants and trees. A decrease in wax can also lead to stunted growth, which is a reason why your pine tree (blue spruce) isnt growing. Increasing or supporting your trees production of this wax can act to increase and maintain its proper blue color. One of the best tools to fix most problems is to give them time. The waxy coating naturally reflects certain wavelengths of visible light, causing us to perceive them as a frosty blue color. Pruning, fertilizing, and watering could cause harm while attempting to help them. By proper care, people normally refer to basic needs, so you should find what your specific spruce wants in terms of water, sunlight, soil type, temperature, nutrients, etc. If you are in an area that receives regular rainfall (approximately 1 inch a week), you should be fine. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Amazon and other companies linked to on this site. While most fertilizers will do the trick to help plants, some situations require specific remedies. Both, Read More 9 Amazing Differences Between Eucalyptus And Gum TreesContinue. While the waxy coating is fairly stable and relatively water-proof, some things can physically remove it from your tree. Genetic variation in blue spruce: a test of populations in Nebraska(Vol. Hah! There is not a lot you can do to help this, other than making sure your tree is healthy and you are supporting your native wildlife. To start, if your tree is not getting enough water, nutrients, etc., it most likely wont have enough storage to maintain and create the blue wax. Just why are blue spruces blue? If your tree was recently transplanted or has gone through some sort of shock, like inclement weather, it may be more susceptible to this disease. There are other factors, such as temperature and wind, among others. In general, positioning your blue spruce in full sun exposure can help the tree appear more blue.
This allows the waxy covering to concentrate over a smaller needle, making your tree appear bluer. In the end, your tree has the genetics to be blue, so as long as you properly care for it, it should have enough energy and components to stay blue. In other words, if your tree is healthy, try to let it sort itself out! To elaborate on air pollutants, were referring to specific compounds such as nitrogen oxides, carbon particulates, and hydrocarbons. Other than letting more wax develop, another reason to give your blue spruce more time is that it allows them to grow more needles. For this reason, you probably want, Read More 7 Most Effective Evergreen Fertilizers (And How They Work)Continue, Florida, the sunshine state and most southeastern state in the United States of America, has one of the most beautifully diverse plant lives. That's the woodpile my Dad and I cut/stack for 10+ years to heat up our family home in Upstate, NY. Similarly, with the blue color of spruces, one of the best ways to help them is to give them time. These are all things associated with bad air quality and C02 emissions. Blue spruce trees have some special care requirements.