I have Dwarf alberta spruce in my garden and I can assure you it is a fine plant to grow on the ground as well as in a pot. However irrespective of the place you grow them you need to plant them in a sunny spot and keep track of the watering. Because dwarf alberta spruce overwatering is a common problem among gardeners.
Dwarf alberta spruce plants usually grow at a slow pace and further it is famous for its tenacious vitality. If you have older people at home I suggest growing these plants, it literally symbolizes longevity, So in this article, I am going to address on what are the causes factors in Dwarf alberta spruce overwatering and the things which you could do to overcome it. Let’s have a closer look at this topic and learn how to help your Dwarf alberta grow healthily.
How do you know your Alberta spruce is suffering from overwatering?
You can not overwater dwarf alberta spruce purposely. However, if the weather is really adverse and if there is too much rainfall, chances are that your Dwarf alberta spruce may suffer from overwatering. Unfortunately, if you spot your Dwarf alberta spruce being overwatered, you will not be able to determine what exactly the cause is. For example, If you bring these plants from a nursery and if you see them die after one or two months you might think overwatering caused it. However, the reason would be the transplant shock, not overwatering.
Furthermore, Dwarf alberta spruce are vulnerable to pest attacks. The mites tend to attack these plants frequently. These pests would pierce the soft barks of the conifers and suck the juice in them. Those mite needles would be brown and they would crumble. However, what is difficult to identify is that they are so tiny and you cannot spot them properly.
So, many people think the damages made by them are due to overwatering. So, if you could spot any needles crumbling, you need to take a piece of paper and shake it off well from the branches. Thereafter, take a magnifying glass and check whether any of them have fallen. So, if you come across any tiny bug, it would be most probably a mite.
Dwarf alberta spruces usually exhibit damage, especially during the late winter or early spring. Those damages would usually develop due to exposure to the sun. one might think that is caused by overwatering. In fact, it would make the plants burn as the sunlight is too intense and by that time the sap movement has not taken place. So it is clear now many gardeners falsely identify other problems related to dwarf alberta as overwatering. Let’s look at real reasons for overwatering this plant.
What are the Reasons for overwatering and how to identify them
Prolonged exposure to rain, improper irrigation of clay soil and oversized pot are the main reasons for dwarf alberta spruce overwatering. If you are sure that overwatering has caused your precious Dwarf alberta spruce to deteriorate, the first thing you need to do is to check the moisture in the soil.
You can use a hydrometer to check the moister content in the soil. If you do not have a hydrometer think about buying one because it gives you much more accurate information on the soil moisture content. Apart from that, you can do a very basic procedure. Take a wooden stick and make a hole in the soil around the plants. Then, if you spot any water in the plant’s soil, it is a sign of overwatering.
Prolonged rainfall in spring could be one of the main reasons for this condition. For example, if your Dwarf alberta spruce plant gets more rainfall it can cause overwatering. However, only month-long rain only causes this problem. Additionally, if you had grown them in clay soil, it would worsen the overwatering problem.
This is what happens in waterlogged soil. Once the plant’s roots have excess water roots can not access sufficient oxygen. Once they run out of enough oxygen, it would make the plant cells starve for oxygen. Ultimately, the roots will die due to a lack of oxygen. Besides that, overwatering caused root rot as well. Usually, if your young dwarf alberta happens to go through over watering, it would badly impact their growth.
Improper watering is another reason for the situation. In fact, it can kill your precious Dwarf alberta spruce plants. If you don’t adjust the watering frequency depending on the season it will cause improper watering. Suppose you have a broken weather sensor or if it malfunctions it would also cause unwanted or improper watering. Thus, ensure you fix your weather systems immediately.
Further oversupply of water from your instigation system would also result in overwatering. You need to adjust this as promptly as you can. Besides if you are using a hose to water the plants, chances are that you may end up over watering them. Groundwater can cause overwatering in the plants. If you plant the Dwarf alberta closer to the natural water source I suggest replanting them somewhere else.
So, if you have made the above mistakes you need to immediately stop these things to help them grow healthily and vigorously. Literally, you need to water them only if the plants are dry. It is simple as that.
What to do if your Dwarf Alberta spruce is overwatered?
- First and foremost, you need to stop watering the plants when you do that it gives the plant, time to dry.
- If the plants have just started to exhibit over-watering damages such as root rot, you can encourage evaporation here. You can do that by using an electric fan.
- Next, you need to loosen the soil and exposed it to good airflow.
- Further, try to enhance the ventilation around the plants and try to enhance the lighting as well.
- Once you do all these steps, it would enhance the evaporation of the plants.
If your Dwarf alberta spruce plants suffer from severe overwatering, it is very likely that root rot has spread to a severe level. Further, it may also have a minor probability for the plants to survive. So, here what you could do is simply;
- Take the plants out of the pot and snip off rotten plant parts.
- Thereafter you can treat those with a carbendazim powder.
- Next, you may replant them in dry and fresh soil.
- Once you replant them you need to minimize the watering frequency.
How to avoid overwatering in the future?
Generally, dwarf alberta spruce plants are used to tolerate drought conditions. So, ensure that you water them sparingly without making any lapses significantly when they are actively growing. You need to water them to keep them moistened but not waterlogged. Ensure that you choose loose soil with good draining and good permeability. Suppose that you have chosen a poor draining soil mix, then it would be difficult for the plants to respirator effectively and grow healthily.
You need to increase watering during summer as during summer the water evaporation would be quite fast. So, you need to adjust the watering depending on that. When you are doing any maintenance to the plants you can place them in a cool well ventilated place and water them properly without oversupplying water. If you wish you may also spray some water 1-3 times per day during summer as it would act as a supplement of water for the leaves.
During winter you need to place these plants in a suitable place where they will be secure from unhealthy temperatures. Ideally, it has to be 10 degrees. Once the dwarf alberta spruce plants are dormant you should control the watering amount. Don’t ever overwater them during winter. Instead, you need to keep their soil dry.
Conclusion
Now you know how dangerous dwarf alberta spruce overwatering is. But if you stick to the aforesaid guidelines you can avoid overwatering your beloved dwarf alberta spruce plants. That said if your plants already start to exhibit the signs of damage of over watering you could practice the above tactics and it would help them to recover.
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