Need some info from the all knowing OB. This is my new Nuttall Oak that was planted back in May. It has a lot of browning going on right now. Any idea what is causing it? Shawn of Shawnee trees is who planted it, he was thinking it might be burns from chemicals or under watering. I haven't put any chemicals out since the tree was put in and it gets water every day from a bubbler unit.





Thanks if anyone can help.

For your troubles, here is a hottie with a tree.

Location? The drought conditions are doing that to a lot of my trees right now.

Those tiny spots might indicate oak mites. Have you had a lot of little bites on your arms, etc., after spending time tending to the tree? They are little *******s.

Geriatric Punk said:

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Those tiny spots might indicate oak mites. Have you had a lot of little bites on your arms, etc., after spending time tending to the tree? They are little *******s.

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Lots of bites, but its chiggers on my feet/ankles. Little ****s are annoying.

As for location, west katy/brookshire area

My first instinct is under-watering because trees shipped in pots are shipped in lightweight soil. You're watering daily, but how much water? That's a longshot, though...
It's in the red oak family, so oak wilt is always possible. You could try looking up pics of that.

The (unhelpful) short answer is that planting a tree in May (especially one that big) is a tough proposition with a hot, dry summer right around the corner. Even when I plant in October with small trees, they struggle the first summer or three. I planted a 9 foot bur oak one April, and it lost all of its leaves by the end of august. The second year it did fine.

The only container grown trees I've lost were actually due to over-watering. Check your soil under the tree to see how damp it's remaining (at a decent depth). Watering everyday, even in the summer, seems a bit extreme unless it's just a pissant amount of water from that bubbler. Deeper soak and not quite as frequent is generally the way to go. Your grass looks nice and lush for this time of year, which makes me think too little water is not the issue ...unless you are doing very short, shallow durations that the lawn is soaking up vs getting to the tree.

It may just be general transplant shock and will be fine. The comment about May is spot on, but it is what it is.

It gets sun all day long essentially, so i am prolly on the over water side than under. As for watering it gets a hefty flow from the bubbler. 25 mins on mon-wed-fri with the grass and 15 min cycle on all other days for just the tree zone.

I hope its not oak wilt. My 2 live oaks dont show any signs of it. Googling oak wilt has everything from dead trees to slightly brown leaves as "evidence" so not much help there.

I will keep watching it and if it gets really bad ill call shawn back to to look at it in person.

Location of hottie with tree?

Heat stress. Lack of water

Again, check the soil a few inches down for moisture level. Under and over-watering symptoms can look very similar. If you make the wrong call and ramp up your watering when it was already overwatered, it may very well be a goner before your tree guy can do anything.

That's an awful lot of watering is that bubbler puts out a decent amount, so at first look, I dont suspect lack of water.

Here's a Neil Sperry article on watering, which basically illustrates that checking the soil is the key (plant vs tree, but same issue).

https://neilsperry.com/2017/05/over-watering-under-watering-how-to-tell-the-difference/

DannyDuberstein said:

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Again, check the soil a few inches down for moisture level.

Here's a Neil Sperry article on watering, which basically illustrates that checking the soil is the key (plant vs tree, but same issue).

https://neilsperry.com/2017/05/over-watering-under-watering-how-to-tell-the-difference/

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Thats a very good link

Coming from N Mex (S Texas) im still surprised how much less watering is required in the Hou and CStat areas

DannyDuberstein said:

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Again, check the soil a few inches down for moisture level. Under and over-watering symptoms can look very similar. If you make the wrong call and ramp up your watering when it was already overwatered, it may very well be a goner before your tree guy can do anything.

That's an awful lot of watering is that bubbler puts out a decent amount, so at first look, I dont suspect lack of water.

Here's a Neil Sperry article on watering, which basically illustrates that checking the soil is the key (plant vs tree, but same issue).

https://neilsperry.com/2017/05/over-watering-under-watering-how-to-tell-the-difference/

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Thanks for the info. I will dig a few samples tomorrow. Had a ton of rain this afternoon so would be hard to tell.

Planting stress. Not uncommon on trees that large...lot of trees with thinner less waxy leaves doing this all over Houston with July's hotter weather. I doubt it's oak wilt. Was the tree planted with tree spade truck? If so it most likely came off of Shawn's farm between Katy and brookshire...no oak wilt at that farm that I'm aware of.

Also agree with over water-if you've had it on that same water schedule since planting. It's been a relatively wet late spring to early summer in Katy.

two1993ags said:

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Planting stress. Not uncommon on trees that large...lot of trees with thinner less waxy leaves doing this all over Houston with July's hotter weather. I doubt it's oak wilt. Was the tree planted with tree spade truck? If so it most likely came off of Shawn's farm between Katy and brookshire...no oak wilt at that farm that I'm aware of.

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Hand dug from both field (per shawn) and planting at my house from the large black bucket it was in. It did come from the Katy farm, i picked it from the available trees there.

As per the watering, i dug a bunch of holes about 10" deep all around the tree. Each had moist compost or dirt all the way down. No pooling of water in the holes, just moisture in the soil i could feel.

I planted a red oak in May of 2016, and the leaves did the same thing by late summer. Short answer is that I don't know what caused it, but it came back fine the next spring.

I came to post something similar. I've got the following and am wondering if it's oak wilt. DFW area. I have some friends up near Gainesville who have some sort of blight in their community. It's killed about 20 oaks and pines this year.

Yeah, I think it's mostly just transplant shock and will most likely be fine. If the top few inches of the soil are getting enough water to stay moist (not super wet/saturated, just damp), it's getting enough water. That said, watering every single day for 15-25 minutes from something that sounds like it puts out a lot of water, it could be staying saturated and struggling with overwatering. Might consider dialing back a bit.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Yeah, I think it's mostly just transplant shock and will most likely be fine. If the top few inches of the soil are getting enough water to stay moist (not super wet/saturated, just damp), it's getting enough water. That said, watering every single day for 15-25 minutes from something that sounds like it puts out a lot of water, it could be staying saturated and struggling with overwatering. Might consider dialing back a bit.

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I will let it water on the mon-wed-fri only for this week on 25 min runs and will see how the soil is this weekend.

Good plan. Keep the soil moist but not wet.

Reviewing pics you posted I wouldn't be too worried about the tree. It'll probably releaf next spring without,or with very little foliage burn.